Leather postcards - Popular fad from 1903-1907
Leather postcard, 1905. From the collection of J Garner.
Believe it or not, leather was a popular material used in making postcards in the early 1900's. I bought this leather postcard at an antique shop last month. It was postmarked on March 26, 1905. According to an article on the website, Auction Finds, the first leather postcards were produced in 1903. They were typically made of deer hide. A process called pyrography was used to burn the design into the leather. Ink was also used to print a message or design on the leather. Many of these cards contained humorous messages and cartoon drawings - see photo below from Kovels.com. Leather postcards really became a fad when women started collecting them and sewing them together to make pillows. That sounds like a fun project! Below is a photo of a vintage postcard pillow that was sold on Etsy by SweetLoveVintage in 2012. What a great find! Leather postcards lost popularity when they were banned by the US Postal Service around 1907. The post office complained that the leather got caught in their sorting machines and the postage stamps didn't stick to the leather very well. I hope to add more leather postcards to my collection. They are quite an interesting novelty.
