The McKinley Postal Card

THE FAMILIAR JEFFERSON CARD TO BE REPLACED

A NEW one-cent postal card is now being printed at the bureau of engraving and printing, and when the first issue of 4,000,000 has been counted and bundled, the new card will be placed on sale. Its distinctive feature is that the new card contains a vignette of President McKinley in lieu of President Jefferson’s portrait. The official description of the new card is as follows: “In the upper right-hand corner is a portrait of the late President McKinley, three-quarters face, looking to the left, with the words: ‘Postage One Cent’ above and ‘1843-McKinley-1901’ below the stamp and following its eliptical [sic] contour. The portrait used for the subject of the stamp is one which was preferred by Mr. McKinley himself. The stamp is practically devoid of ornament. To the left of the portrait are three straight lines of lettering, the top line being one and one-sixteenth inches below the upper edge of the card and containing, in small capital letters, the words, ‘The Space Above is Reserved for Postmark.’ The second line is made up of the words ‘Postal Card’ in large, plain capitals. The third line is in the same type as the first, and reads, ‘The Space Below is for the Address Only.’ In the upper left-hand corner is a coat-of-arms of the United States, its position balancing that of the stamp in the upper right-hand corner. Above the coat-of-arms, in the same style of capital letters used above the stamp, are the words, ‘United States,’ and below it the words, ‘of America,’ following the contour of the coat-of-arms.”