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We realize that our site visitors may be new to postcard and trade card collecting and may not know all the terms and definitions of industry words. Our Glossary of Antique & Vintage Postcard and Victorian Trade Card Terms gives new collectors the inside advantage in purchasing cards, trading them, and recognizing their history and value.
Airbrush: The application of a mist of colored ink using a small, precise air sprayer under high pressure. This technique added color to non-printed, highly embossed postcards as any ink printed on the surface prior to embossing would crack. It doesn't produce fine detail though. Airbrushing's benefit over the watercolor method was that it caused little damage.
Album Marks: Soiling, discoloration (fading), and/or pressure marks to the corners of postcards. Acid leaching out of the antique album pages, or being held tightly to the album pages for too long causes these marks.
Arcade Cards: Are the same size as postcards, had blank backs, and were made of thicker card stock. Arcade cards were obtained from penny vending machines usually found in amusement arcades.
Art Deco: A decorative art and architectural style of the period 1925-1940 (revival in 1960s) with an air of affluence and luxury. It is characterized by bold colors, and symmetrical designs such as zigzags, rounded corners, stripes, and simple sweeping curves. The term was never used while the style was in fashion.
Artist Signed: Any postcard that has a printed signature or initials of the artist. This does not mean the artist autographed the postcard. The original artwork was signed, so the signature was reproduced along with the picture. The signature allows a collector to seek out the cards drawn by a specific artist.
Cabinet Card: A style of photograph initially used for landscape views, that was universally adopted for photographic portraiture in 1870. They consisted of a thin photograph generally mounted on cards measuring 4¼ by 6½ inches. Cabinet cards usually included extensive logos and information on the reverse side of the card advertising the photographer’s services.
D.P.O. (or Discontinued Post Office): When a post office ceases to be a public necessity, or it's difficult to find a suitable postmaster, the office is discontinued. The number of post offices peaked in 1901 at 76,945. That number sharply declined in the ensuing decade, due to the spread of rural free delivery. At the end of the fiscal year 2005, there were 27,385 independent post offices. A list of discontinued post offices, by date, can be found via the USPS' Postmaster Finder.
Dry Goods: Textiles (i.e. fabric) and small items with no large value (sundries) that are distinct from those carried by hardware and grocery stores (i.e. toiletries, notions, etc.).
Embossed: A slightly raised, textured design or pattern pressed into postcards by passing them between engraved metal rolls during manufacture.
Ephemera: Transitory written and printed matter not originally intended to be retained or preserved after it's indended use (i.e. calendars, postcards, trade cards, tickets, valentines).
Foxing: A condition issue of ephemera where brown spotting (mildew) penetrates the paper's surface. It is caused by exposure to high humidity and temperatures, and/or the aging of inks used when originally published. These spots cannot be erased, but may occasionally be removed by bleaching.
Gilding: Art or process of applying a thin layer of simulated gold (in the case of postcards) to a surface. It's used to give postcards a superficially attractive appearance. This process creates an impression seen as a raised surface on the back and is not considered embossing. PFB was one publisher that used this process. They produced two versions of most of their postcards; one with and one without gilding (each with their ow series number). Gilding tends to increase a postcard's value.
Golliwog: A rag-doll-like, children's literacy character created by Florence Upton in the late 19th century. The golliwog has jet black skin, round/white eyes, and big red lips with wild, woolly hair. It is sometimes described as the blackest of gnomes. This literary character was inspired by a black face, minstrel doll Florence had as a child.
Krampus: A goat-faced demon in male form who accompanies St. Nick on his December gift-giving tours. St. Nicholas gave good children presents and Krampus gave bad children warnings and punishment. Tradition has young men dressing up as Krampus the first two weeks of December, particularly December 5th.
Oilette: A term used by Raphael Tuck and Sons which referred to their postcard series that reproduced scenes copied from paintings rather than photographs. Unless of the Oilfasism type, Oilette postcards were not embossed.
Oilfasism: The later Oilettes with an embossed textured surface that simulated the brush strokes of oil paintings.
Postcard: A rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for sending messages without an envelope and at a lower postal rate than a letter. Examples of postcards made of copper, cork, leather, wood, and other materials exist.
R.P.O. (Post Office):
Rotograph (Photography): A process where a strip or roll of sensitized paper is automatically fed over the negative so that a series of prints are made, then developed, fixed, cut apart, and washed at a very fast rate.
Sepia: A colourant prepared from the secretians of the cuttlefish and added to the ink to turn the postcard a dark, red-brownish color. Sepia-tone postcards were published in the 1930s and 1940s to emulate early photographs.
Switch: A slender, flexible rod, stick, or group of twigs. This European tradition gives a switch to bad children at Christmas tied to their Christ bundles (gifts) as a reminder to be good. It is most often seen on postcards of Santa either held by him, or attached to his belt. The Santa postcard on our home page is holding a switch.
Topics: Postcards that are not location oriented, but of subjects such as children in footed pajamas, sundials, cats, golf, etc.
Victorian: Definition pending
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