I attended an Estate Auction a few months back and was able to purchase a box lot of French Postcards that date back to World War II. The former owner of these postcards was a Chaplin in the Army and was able to travel to several countries during his tour of duty.
Collecting postcards is popular due to the various range of subject matter that is available. Not to mention the historical value of the postcards.
The French postcards I have are from the Divided Back Era - March 1, 1907 thru 1915 and the "White Border" Period. Most postcards produced during this era were printed in Europe, especially by the Germans. The threat of WWI brought a decline and eventually ended the supplying of postcards by the Germans. The war, influenza and a lessor quality of postcard brought an end to the postcard collecting hobby.

The next era for postcards is the White Border Period - 1915-1930. After WWI the German publishing industry was never revitalized. Some of the finest publishing houses both in England and Germany were bombed. With the higher cost of publishing brought down the quality of the postcards. "White borders" were left around the postcards to save on ink.

The "Linen Card" era was next for the postcard collector. Publishers now had the technology to print cards on a linen type paper stock. The high rag content gives the postcards a "textured" look. Most of the production of these types of cards ceased in around 1939 with the introduction of the color "chrome" postcard. With the onset of WWII the postcard industry again saw a decline, which forced many postcard companies to print older views and then only if the printing material was available.

Chisum Trail Mercantile has a large array of vintage black and white matt post cards from France, Brussels and Luxembourg. To relive these historical places stop by www.chisumtrailmercantile.ecrater.com