Show Us Your Oldest Picture Postcard From Any Country

A recent thread in the "US picture postcard" topic focused on the oldest US picture postcard. Within the discussion, SCF member gslaten provided an excellent link showing the development of the picture postcard. That link is https://worldpostcardday.com/history.

Here is one from my collection. It is an early German "Gruss Aus"/greetings from postcard with a lithographic print by K. Koch of Nordhausen. Inscription reads "Greetings from Rothenburg". Postmark is January 19, 1889 7-8 a.m., Kelbra, Kyffhauser area.

The lithographic print only takes up half of the card, leaving space for the sender's message.

If you have some early picture postcards, please show them here.

I got a lot of early 1900s *** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***

I'm surprised that I don't have any used picture postcards from the 19th century, but I do have several from the first decade of the 20th. This appears to be my oldest, written in Volapük and postmarked on 17 May 1903 in Graz, Austria. The image is of Johann Martin Schleyer, the inventor of Volapük.

Scanned below from my collection is one of my oldest picture postcards, from the Netherlands written 26 November 1898. This card also has more postal worker number markings than any other card or cover in my WW postal history collection. I count a dozen of them.

Linus

Nice cards guys! Thanks for posting them.

Here is a slightly different and earlier one. This is a German, 5 pf postal card to which a vignette has been added. The basic card is Michel #P12B. The small number"584" is printed on the bottom right of the address side of the card, signifying that this is from the batch of cards printed in May of 1884. Cancel is Ruedesheim 10 August 84. The picture on the back of the card is the National Monument in Niederwalde.

I believe this is Germany printed to private order postal card #PP6, of which there are several types. Presently, there is an 1888 card with a slightly different view of the Monument for sale on eBay Germany. Apparently the cards were sold to tourists/visitors over a period of years.


From wikipedia, "The Niederwalddenkmal is a monument located in Niederwald, near Ruedisheim am Rhein in Hesse, Germany. Built between 1871 and 1883 to commemorate the unification of Germany, the monument is located within the Rhine Gorge, a larger UNESCO World Heritage site.."

Color pic is friom wikipedia.

Used to have this homemade RPPC where a guy glued his picture to a Postal Mailing Card in 1887. Has to be among the earliest USA rppc's out there. Come to think of it I want to say I'v seen this from the Civil War where it was not even a postal card just a piece of paper with a picture glued on and mailed. Andy

It turns out that I have an early souvenir postcard from there, as well. It's not postally used, but it's stamped with the date, 13 Sep. 1902, which is earlier than the card I posted above.

Here is one that caught my eye at at bourse some years ago. It is an odd-sized photograph (6.7 cm x 17 cm / 1 5/8" x 6 11/16") with a very glossy, silvery sheen.

The photograph's imprint is visible at the back of the dress, above the floor. It is "Reutlinger, Paris". The photographer appears to be Leopold-Emile Reutlinger (1863-1937) who is shown in the last pic below. Reutlinger was born in Callao, Peru. In Paris, he continued the very successful business founded by his uncle. He is noted for his photos of famous people of the day, including Mata Hari, and Sarah Bernhardt.

Card was sent from Tomsk, Siberia, Russia. I cannot interpret the cancel date, but it appears to be 1904. The tiny message/letter is below the stamp.