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Postal Cards

Postal cards are pre-stamped cards that have been used extensively in the past by business and library organizations to advertise and to conduct day-to-day business. Postal cards are not picture post cards. Postal cards that have been sent from and to libraries and that contain a printed message on the reverse is an interesting category of postal librariana. One of the primary advantages of postal cards for libraries was that they were cheap (1 cent each for many years). Libraries were quick to take advantage of them when they were introduced by the United States Post Office Department in 1873. Libraries used postal cards for sending out overdue notices, acknowledging gifts, requesting free material, interlibrary loan requests, and a variety of other uses. The New York Mercantile Library was one of the first libraries to use the cards. Members of the Mercantile Library, which was and remains a membership library, used postal cards to request materials for home delivery.

One of the drawbacks to the first postal cards was that they were too large to fit into standard sized library file drawers. Postal cards could be purchased in large uncut sheets, and libraries often had standard messages printed on the back side of these sheets and then had the printer cut the cards down to a standard library index size. Melvil Dewey who was a stickler for efficiency and standardization lobbied the Post Office for many years to issue postal cards in a size that could be used by libraries. In 1898 the Post Office responded to his request and issued a card that was 1/16 of an inch smaller on each side that a standard 3" by 5" index card. Scott’s Stamp Catalog identifies this card as UX 15. Collectors of postal stationary refer to this postal card and subsequent postal cards of this size as "library cards". One of the things I like about postal cards sent from libraries is that they are tangible artifacts of a working library. Often they include the name of the librarian of the library, and they are, of course, postmarked with the date the card was sent.

An example of the UX 15 library card that is unused but is preprinted with the address of Melvil Dewey. Dewey’s address in Albany, New York has been stamped out and replaced with his Lake Placid address. After he resigned as New York State Librarian he moved to Lake Placid.

The most valuable postal card is one that is often referred to as the Long Beach Public Library Card. It is listed in Scott’s as UX36 and is listed at $28,500. There was a recent article in Linn's Stamp News about this card. A collector who recently purchased one of the 3 or 4 cards known to exist indicates that he paid around $37,000 for the card, but wouldn't sell it for $100,000. The postal card was sent from the Long Beach Public Library to Mrs. Morton Joseph on March 22, 1921 notifying her that the book My Three years in America was being reserved for her. The reason for the cards rarity is that it was a 2 cent international postal card that had been incorrectly reduced to 1 cent by the post office with a special overprint. A one cent surcharge on domestic postal cards was eliminated after World War I, but the 2 cent international rate continued.

Modern postal cards are used to commemorate institutions. The Low Memorial Library of Columbia University and the Redwood Library have been subjects of commemorations.

For those who might be interested in further information about postal cards, there is an organization devoted to the collection of worldwide postal stationery including postal cards.  It is the United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS).

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Last updated: 02-22-05

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