Don't Think I Don't Like You Because I Am Stuck on the Card

1907. Private Post Card, with a real photo of a pensive young woman on the front of the card, the title embossed in relief to the right of the image. Undivided back, unused, with "2 Cent Stamp" box positioned in the upper right corner.

CDVs were popular before this period, and this is an interesting combination of a CDV-type photograph and a post card. The US Post Office held a monopoly on printing post cards until May 19, 1898, when Congress granted private publishers and printers the right to print them, with the proviso that they be labeled "Private Mailing Cards". This prohibition was rescinded on December 24, 1901, when private companies could use the word "postcard". As this "Private Post Card" expressly says "Address Only To Be Written on this side", it dates from between 1901 and 1907, when the Post Office allowed private citizens to write on the address side of a postcard, ushering in the "divided back" era. Real photograph approximately 2 x 2 3/4"; the card 6 x 3 3/4"