6
The College of New Jersey Magazine
It was not until 1907 that postcards contained a divided back — the left
half for a message, the right half for the address. Prior to that, only the
address could be written on the back, so senders wrote their message on
the front, often covering the picture.
For the most part, postcards cost one cent
to send from the 1890s to the 1950s.
There were two brief periods after World War I
and right before World War II when the cost
increased temporarily to two cents.
In the 1930s, cards were printed with high
rag content, meaning more cotton or textile
fiber in the paper pulp, so they felt like linen
on the front. The backs were smooth.
linen texture
POSTAGE
DUE
It costs 53 cents to
send a postcard today.
FUN FACT
