This is the earliest real photo post card (RPPC) in our collection and it is dated 1909. If you don’t know the date of an RPPC, you can get an approximate idea of when it was produced by looking at the stamp box on the back which gives you a Logo with the type of paper used. 75% of the papers used for real postcards were made by Kodak. This picture was printed on SOLIO paper, a Collodion-type paper produced between 1908 and 1920. SOLIO was not very light sensitive and was only used for contact printing with direct exposure to the sun. Collodion emulsions produced prints with a very fine tonal range and sharp details. Collodion however was highly flammable, which detracted from its popularity and it quickly fell out of favour.