Page 53 - Delcampe Collections classiques EN-004

Postcards

100% aluminium postcards first appeared
at the start of the century. If you look at the
back of the postcards, you’ll see they aren’t
split, as was the case in France prior to
1903.
Aluminium was a very important material in
France at the start of the 20th century. The
Maurienne Valley, where it originates, had
at least six operating aluminium production
plants from 1892 to 1907.
Aluminium is a light and flexible metal. This
characteristic gave birth to the concept of
the aluminium postcard, which was more
original than the paper postcard. Alumi-
nium postcards were initially made entirely
from this metal and printed with black ink.
The motifs varied: realistic and humorous
drawings and sometimes photos... the back
of the cards had space for the address and
a stamp.
Aluminium postcards were also used in
countries other than France. In Italy, for
example, there were aluminium postcards
at the First International Exposition of Mo-
dern Decorative Arts in Turin in 1902. Other
countries also used this unusual means of
correspondence including Spain, England,
the United States, and more.
Some artists earned their reputation via
this medium. For example, Achille Beltram
in Milan…
100% aluminium postcards disappeared
in the early 20th century, to be replaced
by “hybrid” postcards. They were made of
paper but contained some aluminium ele-
ments, which made them shiny. Quite a few
embossed fantasy postcards used the pro-
cess, notably many postcards for the ho-
lidays, like Christmas, Easter, and for April
1st. Note that aluminium postcards belong
to the golden age of postcards, a time when
postcards were sent daily. Paper postcards Old April 1st aluminium postcard.
with aluminium were used between 1905 Old embossed aluminium postcard - Milan.
and 1935.
Françoise Valette introduces us to three of

Delcampe Magazine 53