Postcards have a rich history in the United States and abroad with the first postcards being used in Europe in the 1840s.  In the United States, the first postcard was patented by John P. Charlton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1861 who sold the license to produce postcards to Hymen Lipman, noted for producing postcards with intricately engraved decorated borders.

Souvenir cards were first produced for the 1893 World’s Fair, the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois.  These cards were “private mailing cards” as opposed to postcards which could only be produced by the United States Postal Service at that time.  In 1901, legislation allowed private printers to produce “postcards” which could be mailed through the U.S. Mail.  The regulations created with that law prohibited the user from writing any message on the address side of the card.

This real photo postcard is “undivided”, meaning that no message could be included on the address side of the card.

On March 1, 1907, new legislation was enacted that allowed postcards to be divided on the address side to include a space for a written message, apart from the address. That change in regulations launched a boom in postcard usage in the United States.  For the next forty years, postcard use in America boomed, and the cards became a popular subject of private collectors.  Often, collectors stored their cards in albums, and while many people exchanged postcards for virtually every celebrated holiday, a new type of postcard gained enormous popularity in the mid-1900s, the real photo postcard.  The postcard bore a real photograph produced on a postcard blank which contained photographic emulsion on one side.  Kodak developed and patented a compact bellows camera that produced a negative that was 122-millimeters in width, roughly 3 1/2-inches by 5 3/4-inches in overall size, the exact size of a penny postcard. The cameras, in the “folding pocket camera series” were commonly called “postcard cameras”.

This Kodak folding pocket camera, also known as a ‘postcard camera’, produced a 122-millimeter negative, the exact size of a penny postcard.

Photographers began selling their service to businesses, providing real photo postcards for advertising purposes or for merchants to sell to their customers.  Real photo postcards became the most popular type of postcard collectors in American, particularly in the era between 1907 and 1918.  While photo postcards remained common in America throughout the last half of the 20th century, the collector market for real photo postcards is centered on the subjects photographed in the first half of that century.

While the use of postcards exchanged via the mail waned after World War II, private collectors began collecting old postcards in earnest in the 1960s and 1970s.  Many of those collectors were private local historians who collected local or regional photographic views.  Other postcard collectors focused on particular subject matter, such as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad views or Rock Island Railway real photo cards, while other collectors focused on views from a single city.

This photo postcard, produced circa 1908, shows the north end of the east side of the 200 block of Missouri Street in Alma, Kansas. Buildings seen from left include, Louis Palenske’s Commercial National Bank, F.C. Noller Mercantile, the Alma telephone exchange, the Simon building, and the Airdome Theater. Colorized postcards such as this one were produced by printers who would take a real photo negative and apply it to a printing plate, arbitrarily assigning colors to various sections of the card.

Virtually every professional photographer operating in 1910 was producing real photo postcards for sale by local merchants.  Some national companies such as C. U. Williams of Bloomington, Illinois aggressively marketed real photo postcards using photos produced by professional-quality cameras in the early 1900s.  By 1912, Williams had transitioned into a new line of work as a very successful automobile dealer.

This real photo postcard of the collapse of a bridge under construction at Dover was produced by M. L. Zercher Book and Stationery, circa 1908.

In Topeka, M. L. Zercher Book and Stationery Company became a giant in the real photo postcard business beginning in about 1907.  In addition to having their own photographers, Zercher also aggressively advertised his lab’s ability to reproduce any photo or negative provided by a customer.  Zercher produced more real photo postcard views of Kansas towns than any other photographer or company in the state’s history.

This card was produced to promote real photo postcard sales, listing the price for printing the cards. The card also notes that Zercher would make real photo postcards from customer’s pictures.

The Flint Hills Special’s creator, Greg Hoots, began collecting real photo postcards of the Flint Hills about twenty-five years ago.  Below you can view a selection of his postcard collection which includes scans of the front and back of each card.  The collection includes real photo views from the Flint Hills towns of Dover, Eskridge, Alma, Paxico, Maple Hill, Alta Vista, Harveyville, Cottonwood Falls, and Strong City.

Click on any photo below and view the entire collection in a gallery format or as full-screen images.

This real photo postcard looks north on K-4 Highway, two miles north of Dover, Kansas. The Highway crosses Mission Creek at the bottom of the hill.

Dover postmark, October 4, 1912.

The old bridge crossing Mission Creek at Dover is seen being demolished in this view by Zercher Book and Stationery, circa 1908.

This real photo postcard of the collapse of a bridge under construction at Dover was produced by M. L. Zercher Book and Stationery, circa 1908.

This card was produced to promote real photo postcards, listing the price for printing the cards. The card also notes that Zercher would make real photo postcards from customer’s pictures.

This postcard view the bridge over Mission Creek on Carlson Road was produced by Zercher Book and Stationery, circa 1908.

This M. L. Zercher Book and Stationery view of Dover, Kansas, circa 1910, is titled, “Dover Kans. in the Distance.”

J. W. Winter operated a general store in this building at Dover, Kansas when this real photo postcard was created in about 1908.

The writer of this postcard, dated March 16, 1909, tells that he works at J. W. Winter’s store, and reports that Dover had experienced a big snow storm the previous week.

The Dover State Bank was located on S.W. 57th Street,next to Winter’s store, when this photo was taken in about 1908.

This residential view postcards shows homes on SW 57th Street in Dover, Kansas.

This real photo postcard by Zercher Book and Stationery shows the Congregational Church at Dover, Kansas as it appeared in 1910.

The writer of this postcard, dated July 17, 1910, reports that he had just traded his Ford for a Stanley Steamer but added that he had not gotten the Stanley yet, as it needed some work.

This real photo postcard is an undivided type, circa 1906, and shows two churches at Dover, Kansas, the Baptist Church and the Congregational Church.

The Dover Public School was located on SW Douglas Road in Dover, Kansas.

The old District No. 18 school at Dover is seen in this real photo postcard, circa 1910.

This postcard, dated March 10, 1910, refers to the “old school house” at Dover, Kansas.

The M. E. Church and Parsonage at Dover, Kansas are seen on this real photo postcard by Zercher Book and Stationery, circa 1910.

This real photo postcard view of the Haines home, demolished by a tornado, has handwritten notes noting directions in the view from April of 1911.

This postcard, written on April 13, 1911, by “Ida”, tells her father, Mr. E. C. Haines, of the destruction of their home in Eskridge, Kansas by a tornado.

This view of Main Street in Eskridge dates from 1913.

This postcard view of Main Street in Eskridge bears a postmark of August 14, 1913.

This view of west side of Main Street in Eskridge looks to the south in a view from about 1908.

This interior view of E. R. Brown’s drugstore in Eskridge dates from about 1910. This photo card was produced by C. U. Williams.

A crowd of people stand in front of the Security State Bank in this Zercher view from about 1908.

This 1911 view of the Waugh Building in Eskridge shows the Walker house at the far left when the house still had a turret on the roof.

This real photo postcard by Zercher bears a postmark date of April 4, 1911, just eight days before a tornado ripped through the town.

This postcard view of the Security State Bank in Eskridge bears a 1911 postmark.

This 1908 view of the Security State Bank in Eskridge, Kansas was produced by The Albertype Company.

This advertising postcard was produced for the Security State Bank in Eskridge in about 1910.

This postcard, dated 8-8-1906, shows the Eskridge Bible School. Notice that this card has an undivided back.

This real photo postcard is “undivided”, meaning that no message could be included on the address side of the card.

When the photograph for this Zercher card was created the trees in the Eskridge City Park were quite young.

Trees obscured the bandstand at the City Park in Eskridge in this Zercher view bearing a postmark date of 1912.

The Eskridge High School was virtually new when this 1910 photograph was taken for a Zercher real photo postcard.

This C. U. Williams real photo postcard shows the Eskridge Public School in about 1910.

The residence of E. R. Brown, an Eskridge druggist, is seen in this Zercher real photo postcard and bears a 1914 postmark.

This colorized real photo postcard showing the M.E. Church in Eskridge bears a postmark of January 1, 1908.

Not a postcard, but a trade card, this printed card advertises Haubold & Burnett’s Standard Oil Service Station which was also the Chevrolet and Dodge Sales and Service dealership.

The reverse of this trade card has a listing of Kansas towns and their distances from Eskridge.

This real photo postcard shows the upper lounge at Cap MacKenzie’s Lake Wabaunsee Lodge, located three miles west of Eskridge, Kansas.

This birdseye view of Alma, taken from the school hill where the water tower is located today, was created by C. U. Williams.

This real photo postcard view of the Louis Palenske’s flour mill at Alma, Kansas dates from about 1910.

This view of the upper dam on Mill Creek at Louis Palenske’s flour mill at Alma, Kansas dates from about 1908.

This colorized photo postcard of Louis Palenske’s Commercial National Bank at Alma bears a postmark date of 1911.

This real photo postcard shows the Alma Hotel on the left and the Bank of Alma on the right in a view from about 1910. Today this street is East 4th Street.

This 1908 view of the Kinne & Kearns Building was offset printed from a photograph rather than being produced with photographic chemicals and photo paper.

This 1906 view of the Limerick Block in Alma, Kansas was produced by offset printing rather than being produced with photographic paper.

This view of the Alma Salt Works was probably produced by an unidentified studio from an original photograph that was taken in about 1874-1877. This card was probably produced in about 1910, some 35-years after the photo was taken.

When this real photo postcard was created in about 1909, the “old school” at Alma had been closed for three years.

Construction on Alma’s second high school was almost complete when this real photo postcard photograph was taken in late 1906 or early 1907. Notice that the steps and sidewalks had yet to be constructed.

The new Alma High School, seen here, was constructed as a Works Progress Administration public works project during the Great Depression.

The German Evangelical Church, located at the corner of 4th and Grand in Alma, is seen in this Zercher real photo postcard bearing the postmark date of 1913.

The Holy Family Catholic Church, seen in this Zercher real photo postcard, was constructed in Alma in 1899 after the first church was lost to fire.

St. John Lutheran Church, located at 218 W. 2nd Street in Alma is seen in this J. Bowers real photo postcard, circa 1910.

This colorized photo postcard by the Kansas Post Card Company of Salina, Kansas bears a 1910 postmark. The card, written in German, is addressed to Mrs. Moritz Kraus of Alma, Kansas.

This real photo postcard by C. U. Williams, circa 1910, shows the Alma Congregational Church located at the corner of 7th and Ohio Streets.

This postcard shows a Volland, Kansas postmark of October 31, 1955 on the last day that the U.S. Post Office operated in Volland.

This real photo postcard shows the Henry Grimm cabin, located on the Grimm ranch at Volland. The card was sent by Volland merchant, Otto Kratzer to Henry Grimm’s son, Joe Grimm, in 1915.

This photo postcard, dated 1915, shows the interior of the dining room of the Modoc Hotel, owned by the Rock Island Railway at McFarland, Kansas.

This real photo postcard, postmarked 1910, shows a woman and two children standing in front of their home in McFarland, Kansas.

The M. E. Church in McFarland, Kansas was located on Main Street when the photo for this 1912 postcard was taken.

An unidentified ball player for the McFarland team poses for this real photo postcard.

The Strowig brothers mill, located on Mill Creek at Snokomo Road at the site of the first town of Paxico, is the subject of this Zercher real photo postcard, postmarked 1911.

The Paxico depot for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway was located on the north side of the main tracks, as seen in this Zercher photo, circa 1910.

The Paxico Hotel, located at 201 Newbury Street in Paxico, was moved from the town of Newbury in 1887 when the new town of Paxico was established by the Rock Island Railway.

William Muckenthaler, owner of the Muckenthaler Lumber Company in Paxico, seen here, mailed this real photo postcard from 1911 to his wife who was visiting in California.

The Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Newbury, Kansas is seen in this 1907 real photo postcard.

This 1914 birds-eye view of Maple Hill, Kansas was taken from the grain elevator for this Zercher real photo postcard mailed to Hamburg, Germany.

This real photo postcard by photographer J. Bowers, shows the Frank Adams residence at Maple Hill, Kansas.

This view of the bridge over Mill Creek at the Romick crossing at Maple Hill is dated 1908 and was produced by postcard photographer, J. Bowers.

This real photo postcard by Zercher, shows the west side of the 200 block of Main Street in Maple Hill, Kansas in 1909.

This view of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe depot at Harveyville, Kansas bears a 1955 date.

This real photo postcard showing Wabaunsee Avenue in Harveyville, Kansas dates from about 1915.

This 1908 real photo postcard looks down the ATSF railroad tracks leading into Harveyville, Kansas. Notice the depot and grain elevator on the left side of the tracks.

This real photo postcard by Zercher Book and Stationery Company shows the Corner Drug Store in Alta Vista, Kansas. Notice that the new Post Office, next door to the drug store, was under construction when this view was taken.

The rock crusher operated at a quarry leased by the Rock Island Railway located on the north edge of Alta Vista.

This real photo postcard by Zercher, shows a bandstand located in the City Park of Alta Vista, Kansas.

The Baptist Church and parsonage are the subjects of this real photo postcard, dated December of 1907.

This real photo postcard showing the intercity horse-drawn trolley at Strong City, Kansas dates from about 1910.

This real photo postcard from about 1910 shows the horse-drawn trolley entering Strong City from the south.

The horse-drawn trolley is seen stopped in front of the Bank Hotel at Strong City in this photo postcard bearing a postmark of 1920.

Half-way between Strong City and Cottonwood Falls there was a section of double track that allowed two trolleys to pass each other on the tracks.

The U. S. Post Office at Strong, Kansas is the subject of this real photo postcard. Commonly, the town is also known as Strong City.

This real photo postcard, circa 1910, shows a bustling downtown district in Cottonwood Falls, punctuated by the picturesque Chase County Courthouse.

This real photo postcard view of the old mill at Cottonwood Falls bears a postmark date of 1910.

This undated real photo postcard shows a cattle feed lot located at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

This real photo postcard view of the ATSF railroad bridge at Cottonwood Falls dates from about 1910.

This real photo postcard view of the Chase County Courthouse at Cottonwood Falls bears a postmark date of 1910.

This real photo postcard of the Chase County Courthouse at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas bears a postmark of 1952.

This real photo postcard of the Chase County Courthouse at Cottonwood Falls dates from the 1940s.

This real photo postcard from Cottonwood Falls shows “Uncle Billy Wolfrom’s garage” and the Hoel Hardware Company in the spring of 1915. I donated this card to the Kansas State Historical Society after making my scan.

Workers operating a steam-powered trenching machine lay water lines in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, circa 1915. George Capwell’s photography studio is visible in the background. I donated this card to the Kansas State Historical Society after i scanned it.