1848-1872 1873-1897 1898-1913 1914-1945 1946-1990 1991-2008
White Border Cards
1913
WHITE BORDER CARDS 1913 - 1930’s
There had been a general trend of increasing the image size on cards from the early vignettes of private mailing cards to the full bleeds that became common after the divided back card was introduced. But producing cards with bleeds required high production skills. Typically postcards were printed in large sheets and the paper cut down to size afterwards. When an image is printed as a bleed it must actually be larger than the finished card and then the excess image is trimmed off. In 1913 as German cards grew more expensive then impossible to import, more American printers began manufacturing cards and there was a noticeable increase in white borders. This type of card could be printed utilizing technicians with fewer skills than were found in Germany, for these cards only needed to be cut apart. The white border format was somewhat forgiving and small mis-cuts would only affect the blank border and not the image. The use of borders became common to postcards of the 1920’s and into the 30’s. Not all companies used white borders but with fewer printers left in the business, the major companies that did employ them produced a high enough percentage of cards to turn them into a noticeable style. The ink shortages at the end of the World War further encouraged this trend. Even when ink supplies were revived the cost saving aspect of this procedure in materials and labor ensured its popularity among printers. Though usually of poorer quality when compared to earlier cards, some companies managed to produce outstanding images. The pictures on these cards often tend to become more stylized and less detail oriented.
White Border Cards are defined by the period they come from and the publishers that produced them; they should not be confused with postcards that have a white border. Certain publishers used white borders throughout the 20th century and some even as early as the 1890’s. When these same publishers produced cards with white borders in the 1920’s they are not considered to be White Border Cards. Many cards produced by unknown publishers become impossible to define if the date of publication is unknown. The term White Border lacks precise definition making its introduction into postcard lingo an unfortunate occurrence.
Use the link below for a more compleate history of this period.