Once So Popular, Now Dying Out,

how many of us now send postcards when we are on holiday?

at one time it was indeed a craze, above, “How Many Have You Sent?”, a cartoon by J. S. Pughe for Puck depicting Uncle Sam drowning in the “Souvenir Post Card Craze”, 1906 — Source,

as can be seen by this souvenir postcard showing the souvenir postcards for sale at Goodman’s Book Store in Manchester, New Hampshire, ca. 1900 — Source,

amongst the plethora of postcard styles Melina Moe and Victoria Nebolsin explore the style of postcards depicting people reading, Left: portrait postcard produced by John Jacob Unbehaun (1875–1959) for his Deshler [Nebraska] Art Studio without date or postmark, ca. 1904–18. Centre: portrait postcard without date or postmark, ca. 1910. Right: portrait postcard without date or postmark, ca. 1915–30 — Source: left, centre, right, there are more examples below, 

Left: portrait postcard without date or postmark; the typography of the words “Post Card” on the stamp back likely associates this postcard with Kregel Photo Parlors in St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota, ca. 1910–18. Centre: portrait postcard without date or postmark, showing Lilith (age 14) and Alma (age 16), ca. 1904–1920s. Right: portrait postcard without date or postmark, ca. 1918 — Source: left, centre, right, 

left: portrait postcard without date or postmark, signed “Paul J. Perkins” by an unknown hand, ca. 1925; another portrait of Perkins from what appears to be a few years earlier, taken in Indianapolis, Indiana, is dated to 1922. Centre: portrait postcard ca. 1907–14, postmarked in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, many decades later, on March 31, 1983. The inscription, written by “Truman” to Mr. and Mrs. Ron MacIntyre in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, begins: “Hi! Do you know this guy?” Right: Portrait postcard without date or postmark, ca. 1918–30 — Source: left, centre, right, for more postcards like these and a full discussion on them have a look here, a fascinating insight to a fad of a bygone era.