History of Indian Post Card

            The quarter anna post card was introduced for the first time by the Indian Post Office in July 1879. This was meant to provide postage from one place to another within British India. This was the cheapest form of post provided to the Indian people to date and proved a huge success.

The establishment of a large postal system spanning India resulted in unprecedented postal access where a message on a postcard could be sent from one part of the country to another part (often to a physical address without a nearby post office) without additional postage affixed. This was followed in April 1880 by postcards meant specifically for government use and by reply post cards in 1890. The postcard facility continues to this date in Independent India.

Post Cards Elsewhere

            The private postal card was developed by John P. Charlton of Philadelphia in 1861 for which he obtained the copyright which was later transferred to H.L. Lipman. The cards were adorned with a small border and labeled "Lipman's Postal Card, Patent Applied For".  They were on the market until 1873 when the first Government Postcards appeared.

The United States issued pre-stamped postal cards in 1873.  The United States Postal Service was the only one allowed to print the cards until May 19, 1898 when Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act which then allowed private firms to produce cards.  The private mailing cards cost one cent to mail instead of the letter rate which was two cents.  The term "Private Mailing Card" was required to be printed on cards that were not printed by the United States Postal Service.  Only the government was allowed to print the word "Postcard" on the back of postcards.  Private printers used the terms, Souvenir Card, Correspondence Cards and Mail Cards.