Rare Vintage Images Produced as Postcards

New copies of vintage photo postcards are commonly represented as old. Many new cards have been made in Connecticut with over 200 different subjects such as baseball stars, advertising, railroad scenes, autos, motorcycles and other vintage images. Cards are sepia tone (brown) images and are true photographs, not halftone images made on a printing press.

The new cards can be detected in two ways: 1) ultraviolet light, 2) examining the stamp box. Longwave black light causes the edges and backs of the new cards to fluoresce bright white. New cards may also be identified by the word "Kodak" in the stamp box (Fig. 3) on the back of the new cards. The words "Kodak Paper" never appeared in the stamp box of any pre-1950 real photo postcards. If an old postage stamp has been applied over a new stamp box to conceal the "Kodak", shine a strong light through the front and you should be able to read what's under the stamp. The backs of the new cards are stained brown.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 3 The back of the new postcards shown actual size. Note the "Kodak Paper" stamp box. This back was not made by Kodak until the 1950s. Any photo postcard with this back is modern.