The collection of postcards presented in the museum Collection features several thousand items with the images of a wide variety of plots printed in different techniques. Most of them are postcards depicting city streets and landscapes, monuments and landmarks, the images of representatives of different social and ethnic groups; photos of famous artists, dancers, singers and writers. Of great interest are postcards with the images of domestic and genre scenes, as well as postcards with drawings of theatre sets created by famous artists.

Postcards are signs of a bygone era, keepers of feelings, warmth of human souls... Senders and recipients of many of them are long gone, but the lines, diligently written out in ink, pencil, ballpoint pens, as if connecting the threads of the present with irrevocably gone time.
Nowadays, postcards have long lost their original meaning – to transmit information across a distance. Now it is more like a cute retro, a way to surprise the addressee, to show originality. And just a hundred and fifty years ago, it was an innovation that was treated with distrust.

The postcard was first proposed by Heinrich von Stephan, one of the founders of the Universal Postal Union, a German, in 1865. His idea was rejected because it left the text of the letter open, which was perceived by the public as a breach of confidentiality. Further similar attempts by his compatriots were also unsuccessful. But the Austro-Hungarians were not so picky about the privacy of messages, and in 1869 the first postal card appeared there, which was officially called: ‘Correspondence Card’.

The first unmarked post card was issued in Russia on March 26, 1872 under the name ‘Open Letter’. Not illustrated, it was more like a letterhead. Instructions for payment and writing were placed on the front. Soon labelled ‘open letters’ were put into circulation.

Until 1895, the cards were issued only by the Postal Department, and no images were printed on them. When the Russian Ministry for Home Affairs authorised ‘open letterheads of private manufacture’, various publishers began to produce them.

The turn of the 19^th – 20^th centuries was the peak of the popularity of postcards. It was at the turn of the century that postcard designs became themed and the sender had a perfect opportunity to pick a card to match the occasion. Postcards were often used for campaigning and charitable purposes.
Illustrated postcards were a phenomenon that developed mainly within urban culture. The popularity of open letters in society was directly linked to the spread of literacy and education.

The end of the 19^th century can be considered the peak of the postcard's popularity. According to the world history of postcards development, the ‘golden age’ of postcards lasted from 1898 to 1918. The fashion for postcards with photos spread lightning fast in Russia, from central to provincial cities, including small district towns. Since then, almost every small town, not to mention the provincial capitals, considered it necessary to leave views of local landmarks in the memory of the present and future generations.

Phototype was a popular printing technique in the 19^th century. This technique allowed obtaining images with high detail and tonal transitions. Phototype, a method of continuous tone lithography of illustrations, was based on changing the physical and chemical properties of the photosensitive layer. Phototype was invented in 1855, by the French chemist Louis-Alphonse Poitevin. The method involved photochemical processes through the use of chrome gelatine he properties, which is capable of tanning in proportion to the amount of light hit and selectively accepting grease paint after appropriate treatment. Phototype, also known as photo engraving and light-typing, was widely used for reproducing paintings, drawings and printing photographs. The main advantage of phototype was its ability to reproduce accurately the textures and nuances of light and shadow of the original. The phototype method allowed production of printing clichés on glass or metal plates with a light-sensitive layer of chrome gelatine.

At the time when it was invented, phototype was the only photomechanical technology that could replicate photographs with high quality at a much lower cost per print than albumin and silver gelatinе photo print from the original negative. About 1,000 prints could be made from a single plate. Of all the methods of printing reproduction of photographs, phototype is considered to be the highest quality, second only to helioengraving.

The term ‘phototype’ is used to refer to both the process itself and the prints produced by it. It was also the name given to small print shops specializing in duplicating images using this technology (e.g. " Typography and art phototype of A.F. Dressler").

Postcards printed by this method were monochrome, and, apart from black and white, cards in blue were also popular. In Russia, the postcards produced by the Moscow "Phototype Scherer, Nabholz and Co.” were particularly popular.

Halftone printing allowed for quick and high-quality replication of photographic reproductions using the typographic method. But monochrome postcards were not as popular with customers as colour ones, so publishers found a method to ‘colour’ the postcard.

On old postcards, a summary of the plot or the name of the object was printed on the front side. The name of the publisher, the name and number of the plot in the series, the city or printing house where the postcard was issued were always indicated on each postcard. Each publisher strived to ensure that his series did not repeat the postcards of his competitors. Thanks to this feature, it is easy to recognise the name of the publisher at a glance, even before reading the name on the postcard rear side.

In the 19^th century, phototype was utilised to produce postcards, prints and small runs of illustrated albums. However, with the spread of more technologically advanced offset printing, phototype gradually fell out of use, being implemented mainly for facsimile reproductions of art works. Today, phototype printing is not used in the printing industry.

Thematic photo album ‘Vintage postcard: retrospective’ is posted in the museum Photo Gallery.

The museum Collection is currently hosting the exhibition “Handwriting of the Time. Cabinet accessories and postcards of the Silver Age”. The exhibition is devoted to Russian epistolary culture of the late 19^th – early 20^th centuries.

Traditionally, as part of the exhibition, the museum Collection has prepared a new excursion program, during which visitors will see a wide range of cabinet accessories – from fountain pens and inkwells to exquisite stamp collection boxes and business card holders. Such items were created by the best jewellers of that time: the firms of Carl Faberge, the Grachev Brothers, Pavel Buhre, Ivan Sazikov, Ivan Khlebnikov and many others.