History
Plain postcards were first introduced in Austria in 1869 as a cheap and easy method of postal communication. Britain followed in 1870. The first picture postcards began to appear in continental Europe in the mid-1870’s, but were not permitted in Britain until 1894. At first, the picture and message appeared on the same side and it was not until 1902 that the picture could occupy the front fully, with the message and address on the divided back.
Embroidered silk postcards can be traced back to 1899 when they were a speciality novelty item. Over the following 10 years, they evolved into a standard shape and appearance with an embroidered silk panel stuck to a card and enclosed inside an embossed frame. This type of card was in production until the 1950's and the last dated card seen was embroidered with the date 1956.
Some attempts to resurrect them were made after this date, most notably in England, but these later cards failed to catch on and were only produced for a short period. A version of the cards is still in production in Spain: cards with a mix of embroidery and appliqued material overlaying printed images of people. These Spanish silks are mentioned in my book but lie outside the scope of this website.
It is estimated that perhaps ten million embroidered silk postcards were produced overall, and it is likely that as many as ten thousand different designs were created, but nobody really knows. The cards were novel compared to the usual picture postcards. They had a unique appearance and were expensive at the time, about 6 times the cost of a picture postcard. Consequently, they were treasured and looked after over many years so that a fair proportion of those produced have survived. It is possible to assimilate a good collection.
The years of the Great War and just after, from 1914 to 1920, were the Golden Period of the embroidered silk postcard, before that they were an expensive novelty item. This is the period when most of the cards were published and they are now genuine antiques. After 1920, their popularity waned, although production continued, especially in France. The patriotic and military themes of the Great War period had some resurgence in the Second World War, but the heyday of the product had long since passed.
My book: An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcard (ISBN 0-9540235-0-1) is the standard reference work on embroidered silk postcards. I attempted to include everything known about the cards when it was published, explain their history and development, and establish them in the context of their time. It has 270 illustrations that show the vast range of designs and diversity of subjects covered, with an indication of their rarity and value. Also there is some human interest from the messages written on the cards. The Appendix includes a listing of 2600 cards, compiled from the author’s own collection, cards that have been seen, and contributions from some other major collections. The purpose of this website is to list the additional cards discovered since the book was published. The new additions are shown in RED.
Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.
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