Grab these fun vintage 4th of July postcards to see & share

Sending a 4th of July postcard used to be as routine as sending a birthday card. In the early 1900s, Americans mailed millions of patriotic postcards each summer, often picking one up for a penny or two at the local drugstore or stationer on their way to the parade.

Postcards became a mainstream way to communicate once the US Post Office loosened its rules in 1907 and let people write a short message on the same side as the address, rather than reserving the whole back for an image. That change kicked off what collectors now call the golden age of postcards, a stretch running from roughly 1898 to 1915 when elaborately embossed, full-color cards flooded the mail.

Fourth of July designs from this period leaned on a familiar cast of patriotic imagery — George Washington, Uncle Sam, the Liberty Bell, eagles, flags and fireworks all showed up again and again.

Illustrator Ellen Clapsaddle, working for publishers like the Wolf Company and International Art Publishing, turned out more than 3,000 postcard designs during this era and was one of the best known names in the business, even though her signature wasn’t always printed on the card.

A 1909 newspaper ad from Pennsylvania advertised 50 4 of July postcards for a quarter, or a dozen for a dime, which gives a sense of how cheap and disposable these cards were meant to be at the time.

The golden age wound down by the mid-1910s, as World War I cut off the supply of German-printed cards that had set the standard for quality lithography, and cheaper domestic printing took over. 

Here’s a selection of vintage postcards to celebrate Independence Day — aka the 4th of July — all dating back to the first two decades of the 20th century!