A new dabbler into deltiology (the hobby of postcard collection) is sometimes confused as to when the linen era of postcard making ended and the modern era of chrome postcards began--for good reason, because the production overlapped for a period of about 5 years (some say more) and there is still some dispute as to the true end date of the linen era.

Linen Postcard Era (1930-1944)

There is no question that the first linen postcard was produced in 1930. It is the end date that is under some dispute. Some say it ended in 1945, others say linen survived until 1960!

In 1930 new technology enabled publishers to print postcards for the first time on a linen paper stock with exceedingly vivid and bright colots. This was a vast improvement over the 'white border' card board postcard of the 1920s. If you haven't actually seen a linen postcard, it looks and feels like a tightly waffled mat (hence the name). (See some sample pictures just below.) Many linen postcards still had the white border at the beginning but over time, they began being printed to the edge of the card. (Note then that you can detect an earlier linen postcard by its white edge.) During the 1930s, state view, comic, and advertising postcards were the most prevalent types of opstcards being made on linen. In fact, you can pretty much see the development of the US highway infrastructure if you had a colleciton of all the linen highway building postcards in front of you! You will not see the glorious holiday greeting postcard theme of the early 1900s in linen postcards, because by the time linen postcards came around, the modern folded greeting card sent in an envelope was the mainstay for mailing holiday greetings.

Here are some typical linen postcards. Note the brilliant colors!

Chrome Postcard Era (1939-Present)

When most hear "chrome postcard" they think of the 1950s through 70s. But it was actually all the way back in 1939 that the Union Oil Company launched the beginning of the modern chrome postcard era. Chrome--you know the everyday postcard with a glossy smooth color finish. Well, those hadn't been seen before 1939. So Union Oil started producing these and selling them at their western gas stations. They sold like hot cakes and spelled the doom of the linen postcard. It wasn't long before chrome postcards completely took over the marketplace,and for a few key reasons. They were cheaper to produce and the color--though not always as quaint and brilliant as linen--was truer to life. Also the photo quality of chrome was close to the black and white real photo postcards--certainly closer than linen was.  So it is no surprise then that by the dawn of 1945 chrome postcards replaced linen and black and white real photo postcards on the sales racks in stores and gas stations. As such, by general consensus 1944 is viewed as the end date of the linen postcard era.

In general but not altogether, linen postcards stopped being made in 1939, and the modern age of chrome began. But there was about a 5 year overlap in the production of both, as linen postcard companies either switched to chrome or went out of business. There were a few stubborn publishers who refused to part ways with linen and continued printing linen postcards all the way through to the end of the 1950s. So if you want to count these straggers (as a few do), you can argue that the linen era wasn't over until 1960. But by large consensus, 1944 is seen at the true end date of the linen era, and as the emergence in full force of the modern chrome era.

Here are some examples of early chrome postcards, some produced by Union Oil:



If you are new to postcard collecting, ebay is a fabulous place to start looking. Collectors used to have to travel from city to city to collect the postcards they desired. Now hundreds of thousands are available to you as you sit on your couch! Please visit my postcard store Auntie Em's Postcards and take a look at what I  have to offer. To see linen & chrome postcards for sale at Auntie Ems, please click here!  Thank you!