When was postage 1.5 cents

Trade cards became popular with the enterprising merchants who distributed them from the s to the s. With the advent of the camera, which was developed in the mids, and later the post card, history would be forever immortalized in print. The back of a post card can give several clues about the age of a card.

If the postmark on a postally used card is readable, that is the first clue to its age. Most of the cards that made it to the post office were mailed within a year or two of being produced. On a card that was not mailed, the first place to look is the stamp box. Stamp boxes are the small rectangular boxes printed on the upper right hand side, where the stamp is to be affixed. By comparing identical mailed and unmailed cards, researchers have developed a pattern to determine when a particular style of card was produced.

Real photo post cards RPPCs are cards that have been produced in the darkroom on photographic paper. On real photo post cards, codes in the stamp boxes can also be helpful in dating the card.

Stamp boxes on printed or lithographed cards also offer dating clues. Often there is a reference in the box to the amount of postage required.

Of course, if the card is used and has a stamp, that too gives a clue, both by its value, and the style of stamp itself. For U. When World War I ended at the end of , the rate was lowered to its prewar level of one cent. The postal rate was raised briefly from 1 cent to 2 cents in and in ; the conclusive raise to 2 cents was in Commission Rate Board overestimated revenue needs in and was forced to reduce the postage rate in Post Card Eras.

Pioneer Era Most of the earliest American picture post cards that exist today are those that were sold at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, starting on May 1, These were illustrations on government-printed postal cards and on privately printed souvenir cards. The government postal cards included a printed 1-cent stamp; the privately printed souvenir cards required a 2-cent adhesive postage stamp to be affixed. Messages were not permitted on the address side of the cards; after attempting various forms of explaining that regulation, the U.

Private Mailing Card Era An Act of U. The required postage was a 1-cent adhesive stamp. At this time, a dozen or more American printers began to focus on post card production. Still, no message was permitted on the address side. Real Photo Post Cards to Post cards that are actual photographic replications were first produced around They provide a quality black and white photographic record of history in the making and they can usually be enlarged somewhat without losing image quality.

Report of the Postmaster-General. Greetings from the Smithsonian A Postcard History See how Washington, DC and Smithsonian visitors have shared their trips with others by taking a historic look at the Smithsonian through the picture postcard. Dating Postcards. Menu: Greetings from the Smithsonian. I Introduction and History. II Dating Postcards. III History of Postcards. IV Postcard Galleries. II Arts and Industries Building. IV Correspondence.

December 31, May 29, March 22, November 1, February 17, April 3, February 3, June 1, A surcharge was added to pre-printed postals on January 10, June 30, January 8, May 11, January 2, The USPS claims that rate increases are not keeping up with cost. January 26, May 31,