John P. Charlton was an American printer and stationer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, who is often credited as the inventor of the private

postal card Postal cards are postal stationery with an imprinted stamp or indicium signifying the prepayment of postage. They are sold by postal authorities. On January 26, 1869, Dr. Emanuel Herrmann of Austria described the advantages of a ''Correspo ...

, which he copyrighted in 1861 together with

Hymen Lipman Hymen L. Lipman (March 20, 1817 – November 4, 1893) is credited with registering the first patent for a pencil with an attached eraser on March 30, 1858 (). Hymen L. Lipman was born March 20, 1817, in Kingston, Jamaica, to English parents. H ...

History of Charlton's postal card

The first postal cards have been used by

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Am ...

, an artist and photographer, who painted

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

battlefields in the beginning of the 1860s and used them to write to his family. Charlton invented the private postal card around the same time in 1861 in

. He copyrighted and patented the idea in the same year. He later transferred the rights to the idea to his friend and fellow printer

who was also credited for the invention and who printed the postal cards with a decorative border and a small print reading "Lipman's Postal Card. Patent Applied For." (see picture). Lipman's cards were also the ones that were first known as "post cards".

Design

Charlton's invention was a plain card (except the decorative border), the face of which was completely reserved for the message. The reverse side was for the destination address and the 1¢ stamp. Neither side bore a picture or similar decoration, as modern picture postcards do. The well-known postcard format of a divided back (for text and address) with an image on the whole front was not used in the US until 1907, although they were used earlier in other countries.

End of production

Charlton and Lipman stopped production of their postal cards in 1873. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

had previously allowed non-government issued post cards to be circulated as long as proper postage was affixed to it and they confined to the government's regulations. Starting in 1873 however, the government began to issue their own post cards measuring 130 x 75 mm. This lasted until May 19, 1898, when Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlton, John P. Postcards Postal history Year of birth missing Year of death missing American printers

History of Charlton's postal card

Design

End of production

See also

References