Postcards: emotions on paper

Before social media and texting, communicating and keeping in touch was much more complicated.

When you left for a trip, whether it was a few days or a lifetime, sharing it with the desired people required a much more important commitment than a simple click.

The postcard was born with the intention of telling an adventure thanks to a postage stamp, a card and the strength of an emotion.

The invention of picture postcards

The first post card in history, named Correspondenz-Karte, was issued by the post office of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1869, with the aim of replacing – for short correspondence – the traditional exchange of letters.

Its inventor, Professor Emanuel Herrmann, quickly caught the attention of the director general of the Austrian post who, soon, obtained the decree for issuing postcards.

The first postcards were plain ivory cards with one side reserved for the stamp and the other side for the words that were to be conveyed.

The message, at the time, could not exceed twenty words.

Postcard: the first pictures

Picture postcards in Italy

In Italy, the first State Postcard was introduced in 1873.

In the Bel Paese, the postcards were – just like abroad – simple rigid cards, albeit decorated with the profile of the King, always accompanied by the Savoy coat of arms.

So soon, even in the world cradle of art, postcards with wonderful illustrations began to spread, capable of transmitting the beauty of the Italian Peninsula and all the emotions related to it.