And on the Reverse Side
Union Postale Universelle (Standard Type A - Arabic/French) - reverse of card 197
The images that constitute the front of each card understandably get most of the attention, however, the reverse side is equally if not more important. Initially, the back was solely used for the address, with small blank spaces on the front for correspondence. This changed in 1907 when cards when divided backs were introduced. A vertical line divided one side for the address and the other side for messages.
Additionally, there was a certain amount of standardization give to the reverse and over time it became increasingly text heavy with descriptions and other information. For instance, in 1906 at the sixth Congress of the international postal governing body the Union Postale Universelle, it was reconfirmed that postcards “must bear on the face the French heading ‘Carte Postale’, or the equivalent of this heading in another language.” In the present collection many items have headings in multiple languages such as Carte Postale, Carte postale Universelle, Union Postale Universelle, Postkarte, cartolina postale, postcard, and Carte Postale Egyptienne, etc., printed on the card backs. In total, some dozen languages are utilized including Japanese, Arabic, and Russian – suggesting the potential diversity of tourists coming to Egypt or the places to which one might send a postcard.
Finally, it should be noted that more than 90% of the cards in this collection were never addressed, posted, or contained correspondence. However, they will occasionally have handwritten notes describing the image, as well as inventory numbers and/or prices marked in pencil by dealers offering these items for sale to contemporary collectors of these historical documents.
Correspondence on the obverse of card 061 - dated 1904
Correspondence on Reverse to Postcard 057, dated 1950
Reverse Correspondance on postcard 166, postmarked 1910
Reverse of card 182 with handwritten description. The no. 84 may be a cataloging code of the original owner's album.