The Brighton Area Historical Society has many collections; one is a collection of Postcards. This collection of postcards came from several sources, Marianna Maclasky, Larry Lawrence, John Rawcliffe, Jim Vichich and others. The collection totals over 300 cards of just the Brighton area. Interestingly the largest collection of Michigan postcards totaling 66,470, is the David V. Tinder collection which has been turned into a searchable digital database by the University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library.

In an attempted to make available to our members, and the general community, we are putting together four sets of cards with about a dozen cards in each set. The four sets are, Grand River, Main Street, Brighton area lakes and Island Lake. The first set, Grand River, is available today for $10.00 at the CoBACH Center at 202 W. Main Street in downtown Brighton.

A brief history of Postcards in America would start in the mid-19th century, but it wasn’t until the 1880’s that the modern postcard format we are familiar with today began to gain popularity. In 1898, Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act, which allowed private printers to produce postcards that could be mailed for a penny. These postcards were known as “Private Mailing Cards” and were the precursor to the official government – issued postcards that would come later. The early 20th century is often referred to as the “Golden Age of Postcards” in America. During this time, postcards became incredibly popular as a means of communication and a way to share images of travel destinations, landmarks, and everyday life. In 1907, the United Postal Service allowed for the production of postcards with a divided back, meaning that the address could be written on one side and message on the other. An interesting thing about postcards over the years has been the cost of mailing. It was a penny postcard from July 1, 1989, until November 2, 1917, when it was raised to 2 cents as a war time emergency. On July 1, 1919, it was returned to 1 cent. A couple dates to see the rate increases are August 1, 1958; 2 cents again; January 7, 1968, 5 cents; January 10, 1999, 20 cents and on July 12, 2026, 65 cents.

To learn about mail delivery in Brighton check out our story entitled, “The Brighton Area receives mail” by Marianna Bair on the BAHS website at Brightonareahistorical.com December 2014 through April 20, 2015.

Please Call (517) 304-5044 for more information.
Nancy Fredenburg, President Brighton Area Historical Society
info@BrightonAreaHistorical.com