The Cardmaster Postal Card Printer

I recently ran across The CardMaster Postal Card Printer, source of some of the most poorly printed commercial messages ever to grace the message side of a postal card.

"As for the finished product, well, ever remember the horribly-rendered Gestetner-produced papers of high-school yore? Same principle - same result."

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157115...calling-card ... what looks like a near-mint late-model example of the CardMaster for only U$D 45 (including domestic USA shipping) ... the sort of thing I would buy & never use, 'cause its just too pretty to get dirty.

Q/ (for the lister) How come he gets a Nerd/Man Cave, and she gets a Crafts Room? Why not a Crafts Parlor, while we're at it?

http://www.briarpress.org/8182 ... a friendly discussion of how to jury-rig the stencils you would need to use a CardMaster, should the opportunity arise.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I actually remember using one of those devices! Before the age of computers and/or being able to visit your local Staples copy center, it was the only way to duplicate a vast number of postcards for distribution to a large audience. In my case, it was used in a church setting and would be the way to announce a special event or meeting, Bible School or some similar church event. It worked along the same principle as a Gestetner or AB Dick mimeograph machine, but on a much smaller, slower, manual scale. The ink was messy; the stencils were a bit on the expensive side, you needed a typewriter or stylus (which I was able to re-use from the mimeograph machine we had at the office), and storage was always a problem as the ink would dry up if not used regularly. On the other hand, it got the job done at the lowest possible cost. I think we could buy it from the local stationery store (thinking pre-Staples or pre-Office Max days) at a cost of around $40 or $50 or so -- which was quite a bit of money back in the 1960s or early 1970s. The one I remember came in a kit custom made into a reinforced cardboard box. It was always referred to as "postcard stenciler" as I recall.

The desktop with a printer attached, has certainly changed things.

Here's another one, in very poor shape, for sale right now:

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auction...3882593.html

Those would be post cards, not postal cards.

I do not know why you would think so.

Printed messages on postal cards are common.

Unlike postcards, on a postal card you get one whole side for your message.

Unlike postcards, postal cards can be purchased for the cost of the postage, only.

Cheers,

Sorry, my mistake as you could print on either.