Ever since their birth more than 150 years ago, postcards became the preferred – and sometimes only – means of communication. Prior to the invention of the telephone, they were the most prevalent, efficient and inexpensive means of communication worldwide. Postcards first began circulating in Vienna in 1869, and quickly came to be viewed as the preferred platform for the transmission of short, succinct messages.
The golden age of the postcard began in the early 20th century: parallel to the expansion and institutionalization of the photographic medium, postcards came to bear photographs on their front side. Their meteoric success and the flourishing of this field can be ascribed to changes related to modernity: mobility, the mass media, rising literacy, tourism, and consumer culture. These innovations encouraged the accelerated development of transportation, printing and reproduction technologies, and improved postal services.
The photogrpahs on postcards described a wide range of visual images – landscapes, archaeological sites, cities, people, artworks, everyday life and historical events. They allowed for the delineation of geographical borders or their absence, and for the spatial capturing of movement patterns. The printing presses of postcard manufacturers revealed a world without borders that was eagerly awaiting discovery. Postcards possess many faces, both exposed and concealed. They constituted an expression of popular culture and a collector’s item that evoked excitement across social classes, while serving as an agent of commemoration and memory.
