Free postcard supplements to magazines of the late 19th – early 20th centuries as a form of publisher’s statement

The article presents the results of a study of magazine publishing concerning postcards as a form of free supplements. Having only recently emerged as a type of print product, illustrated postcards rapidly gained popularity. The first domestic magazine to include postcard supplements is currently considered to be Fotograf-Lyubitel’ (Amateur Photographer), published by the photographer A. M. Lavrov in 1898. In his publication, Lavrov called upon Russian photographers to issue postcards featuring their work. He observed that the Russian postcard market was saturated with foreign editions containing photographs by foreign masters, and he himself provided an example of such a publication in his magazine. His initiative was taken up in 1900-1901 by the magazine Strekoza (Dragonfly). These two periodicals established two primary forms of interaction between postcards and magazines: as unannounced free supplements (surprises) and as advance-notified bonuses for subscribers. In 1902, a postcard intended for collecting was issued as a supplement to the Pskov magazine Kollektsioner (Collector). Specialized children’s magazines quickly adopted the idea of producing magazine postcards as auxiliary didactic and educational material (e.g., Zadushevnoe Slovo (Soulful Word), Drug Detey (Friend of Children), Svetlyachok (Firefly), Uchenik (Pupil), Gazetka dlya Detey i Yunoshestva (Newspaper for Children and Youth)). By the middle of the twentieth century, postcard supplements began to appear in many publications. However, this period also saw a divergence in how magazine editors perceived their target audience and the purpose of publishing such postcards. The editorial desire to distinguish their magazine - an “editor’s statement” - led to the practice of illustrating issues with postcards and, ultimately, to replacing all content with them. Heading the publishing house of the Community of St. Eugenia and editing the magazine Khudozhestvennye sokrovishcha Rossii (Artistic Treasures of Russia), A. N. Benois and V. Ya. Kurbatov, due to the parallel work on both publications, came to view postcards as a kind of branch of the magazine. The Community of St. Eugenia’s own magazine, Otkrytoe Pis’mo (Open Letter) (edited by F. G. Berenshtam), was formatted like a postcard, so the free postcards included with it were perceived as its illustrations. The satirical magazine Moment (Moment) went even further in this direction. Its editor, M. S. Kaufman, created covers from several postcards arranged like puzzles. Finally, the satirical magazine Otkrytka (Postcard) (published and edited by M. M. Brodovsky) became a monthly set of tear-off cards. The publication of free magazine postcard-supplements can be termed an “editor’s statement”. The small picture, which would subsequently begin an independent life while still bearing the mark of its “supplement” origin, was intended to encapsulate the entire program of the edition. Recipients who encountered such postcards in correspondence and were previously unaware of the magazine were meant to understand immediately, through this visual message, what the publication was dedicated to and to become unconditionally interested in it. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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