A very rare set of four Pre-World's Columbian Exposition postal cards from 1892, Chicago.

Below is a very rare complete set of four unused pre-Columbian postal cards. Published by the American Lithographic Company, New York. 

These postal cards were issued mid-1892 to advertise to other world leaders and VIPs for the dedication ceremonies (held on October 21, 1892, but the fairgrounds were not opened to the public until May 1, 1893) and opening of the World's Fair in 1893.

The official World's Fair seal (right) is not present on these postal cards which included 1¢ postage. 

When the fair opened in 1893, a set of 10 postal cards, then 2 more were added quickly, for a 12 card set, were the first commercially produced postcards to be sold to the general public in the United States.

Courtesy of the Chicago Postcard Museum. 

You may examine these fantastic postal cards in high resolution detail by clicking on an image.

Pre-World's Columbian Exposition 1893 - U.S. Naval Exhibit

Pre-World's Columbian Exposition 1893 - Fisheries Building

Pre-World's Columbian Exposition 1893 - Woman's Building

About the S.C. Skipton Stamp. Mr. Skipton was the first Editor of the Philatelic Journal of Great Britain. He was a rabid collector of postage stamps from around the world. Mr. Skipton always had a fondness for British stamps. During the last ten years of his life, he accumulated what may be considered the finest collection of the world's rarest post cards, in Great Britain, numbering over fifteen thousand specimens. Mr. Skipton used an ink stamp to press on one of the post cards in each set he owned.

Pre-World's Columbian Exposition 1893 - Agricultural Building

The Back of the Pre-World's Columbian Exposition 1893 Postal Cards

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.