Founded by Thomas A. Dexter in 1920, Dexter Press grew from a small printing shop into one of America's major postcard printers. The company began producing postcards in the 1930s and became especially well known for its colorful “Natural Color” postcards and, later, the glossy photochromes that became a familiar part of mid-century American travel.
For National Post Card Week, May 4–10, 1986, the Half Moon Post Card Club honored Thomas Dexter, shown at a club meeting on October 25, 1985. Born in 1899, Dexter opened his first printing shop in 1920 and began printing postcards several years later. A process he developed allowed the production of “Natural Color” cards before World War II. At its peak, Dexter Press reportedly produced as many as 4 million postcards per day.
For collectors, dating a Dexter Press postcard can feel like solving a small historical puzzle. The number printed on the back can provide an important clue, but it is only one part of the story. The printer's location, postcard design, finish, publisher, copyright information, and other markings can all help narrow down when a particular card was produced.
This guide brings together documented Dexter Press history and the numbering research developed by longtime Dexter collector and postcard dealer Diane Allmen. The numbering ranges are useful for estimating the age of many cards, but they should be treated as approximate dating evidence rather than an official Dexter Press codebook.
A Brief History of Dexter Press
Thomas A. Dexter opened his first print shop in Park Ridge, New Jersey, in 1920. In 1928, the business moved to Pearl River, New York. By the 1930s, Dexter was producing postcards, including linen-finish and hand-colored cards.
The Newberry Library's Dexter Press records date from 1934 to approximately 1992 and include job printing files as well as examples of black-and-white, linen-finish, and chrome postcards. The collection provides important primary-source documentation for the company's postcard history.
In 1952, Dexter Press moved to West Nyack, New York. The company's West Nyack period is especially important to collectors because this is the era associated with the colorful “Genuine Natural Color” postcards and the later glossy chrome-style cards for which Dexter became widely known.
Dexter Press and “Natural Color” Postcards
Dexter Press made an important name for itself in color postcard production. In a 1963 advertisement, Dexter Press described itself as the “originator” of the Natural Color Post Card and stated that it had been a leader in the field since 1932.
That wording is an important piece of historical evidence, but it is also a claim made by Dexter Press in its own advertising. For that reason, it is more precise to say that Dexter claimed to have originated its Natural Color postcard process rather than to state that the company definitively invented color postcards.
Dexter continued to promote advances in color reproduction. A 1967 Dexter Press advertisement, for example, promoted a “SUPERGLOSS” coating designed to enhance the pictorial quality of color reproductions.
When Did Dexter Press Start Making Chrome Postcards?
Collectors often use the term “chrome” for the glossy, photographic-looking postcards that became common during the postwar travel boom. Dexter Press became a major producer of this type of postcard, but it is better not to describe Dexter as the inventor or founder of the chrome postcard itself.
Collector research places Dexter's move toward the high-gloss finishes associated with chrome postcards at around 1960. The company's later advertising confirms that high-gloss color reproduction was an important part of its business.
For dating purposes, the finish can therefore be useful as supporting evidence. A glossy chrome appearance, however, should not be used by itself to assign an exact year.
Dexter Press General Numbering System
One of the most useful dating tools available to collectors is the Dexter Press inventory number printed on the back of many postcards. Diane Allmen developed the following chart after years of examining Dexter Press cards, including cards from the Dexter Press archives.
The number is often found on the back of the postcard near the lower left corner or in the upper right area near the stamp box. Some 1950s cards may have the number in the lower center of the address side.
Important: these ranges should be considered an approximate collector dating guide. There is no known surviving official Dexter Press document that provides a definitive year-by-year decoder for every serial number. Actual postcards can sometimes fall outside the expected ranges, so other evidence should always be considered.
| Approximate Year / Era | Dexter Press Number / Code |
|---|---|
| 1950–1951 | #00001–39999 |
| 1951 | #40000–59999 |
| 1952–1953 | #60000s |
| 1954 | #70000s |
| 1955 | #80000s |
| 1956–1957 | #90000s |
| 1957 | Five-digit number with an “A” suffix |
| 1958 | #1–10000-B |
| 1959 | #20000-B |
| 1960 | #30000-B |
| 1961 | #40000-B |
| 1962 | #50000-B |
| 1963 | #60000-B |
| 1964 | #70000-B to 99999-B |
| 1965 | #0-C to 9999-C |
| 1966 | #10000-C |
| 1967 | #20000-C |
| 1968 | #30000-C to 49999-C |
| 1969 | #50000-C |
| 1970 | #60000-C |
| 1971–1974 | #70000-C to 99999-C |
| 1975–1983 | #00001-D to 99999-D |
How Reliable Is the Dexter Numbering System?
This is where collectors should exercise some caution.
The numbering chart above is valuable because it was developed from a very large body of actual Dexter Press postcards. Diane Allmen has stated that she worked with more than one million Dexter postcards and compared numbers with cards carrying known publication dates.
However, a serial number is fundamentally a printer's inventory or job number, not necessarily a date code. A modern examination of Dexter Press cards notes that there is no published, reliable serial-number-to-year decoder comparable to the documented production-number systems used by some other postcard printers.
As a result, a number such as 31155-C can be useful evidence, but it should not automatically be treated as proof that the card was printed in one particular year.
The Dexter Press “S” Number Series
Collectors will also encounter Dexter Press cards carrying an S-prefixed number, such as S-75241, S-57333, or S-9832-B.
These are genuine examples of Dexter Press numbering. However, the evidence currently available does not justify treating the S as a simple decade code or automatically converting the first digit after the S into an exact production year.
For example, an S-numbered Dexter postcard has been cataloged as approximately 1965 with the number S-75241. Another surviving Dexter postcard carries the number S-9832-B and the “Genuine Natural Color” Dexter Press imprint. These examples demonstrate that S-prefixed numbers were used, but they do not establish a simple S0=1960, S1=1961, S2=1962 formula.
For collectors, the safest approach is to treat an S-prefixed number as an identification and research clue and then compare it with the card's imprint, publisher, artwork, postcard stock, finish, copyright information, and any postmark.
Why the Dexter Press Location Matters
The address in the Dexter Press imprint can sometimes provide a stronger dating clue than the inventory number.
Pearl River, New York identifies an earlier period of the company's history. Dexter moved from Park Ridge, New Jersey, to Pearl River in 1928.
West Nyack, New York indicates the later plant that opened in 1952. Many of the colorful natural-color and chrome-era postcards familiar to collectors carry the West Nyack imprint.
Therefore, when examining an undated Dexter postcard, always check the small printer's imprint on the back before attempting to decode the serial number.
Other Clues That Can Help Date a Dexter Postcard
The best way to date a Dexter Press postcard is to combine several pieces of evidence.
- Printer's location: Look for Park Ridge, Pearl River, or West Nyack in the Dexter imprint.
- Inventory number: Compare the number and suffix with the approximate collector ranges above.
- Postcard finish: Linen, matte, natural-color, and high-gloss chrome finishes can help establish a general period.
- Card stock: Heavier stock and flatter finishes are particularly useful clues on many earlier postwar Dexter cards.
- Copyright date: A printed copyright date can establish a useful minimum date for the particular image or edition.
- Publisher or distributor: Dexter Press printed cards for many regional publishers, so identifying the publisher can provide additional historical context.
- Subject matter: Buildings, businesses, highways, attractions, and other identifiable subjects can sometimes be dated independently.
- Postmark: A postmark does not necessarily tell you when the card was printed, but it can establish that the particular card existed by that date.
- Reprints: An image may have been printed more than once, so the date of the photograph, the date of the first edition, and the date of a particular printing may all be different.
A Note About “Genuine Natural Color”
The phrase “Genuine Natural Color” is one of the most recognizable Dexter Press markings. It appears on many of the company's West Nyack-era postcards and is particularly associated with the colorful postcard production that followed World War II.
Seeing this phrase is useful evidence that you are looking at a Dexter Press natural-color card, but it should not by itself be used to assign an exact year.
Dating Dexter Press: A Collector's Method
If you have an undated Dexter Press postcard in your collection, a good starting point is to work through the clues in this order:
- Read the printer's imprint. Determine whether the card identifies Dexter Press as being in Pearl River or West Nyack.
- Write down the complete inventory number. Include every letter, hyphen, and suffix.
- Compare the number with the collector dating chart. Use the result as an approximate range, not an exact date.
- Examine the card's finish and stock. Compare it with known Dexter examples from different periods.
- Check for a copyright date or dated publisher information.
- Look at the image itself. A building, business, automobile, highway, attraction, or other identifiable subject may provide an independent date clue.
- Check for a postmark. Use it as evidence that the card existed by that date, while remembering that a card could have been printed years earlier.
Why Dating Dexter Press Postcards Is Not Always Simple
Part of the difficulty comes from the fact that Dexter Press was primarily a printer for the postcard trade. The company produced cards for many publishers, photographers, hotels, restaurants, attractions, businesses, and regional distributors.
That means two cards with similar Dexter numbering may not necessarily represent the same type of production, and a particular image may have been revised or reprinted.
This is why the most reliable approach is to think of Dexter's inventory numbers as pieces of evidence rather than answers.
A Window Into Mid-Century America
Dexter Press postcards offer more than colorful souvenirs. They document American towns, tourist attractions, hotels, motels, restaurants, highways, beaches, landscapes, and everyday life during a period when automobile travel and tourism were rapidly expanding.
The company's surviving records at the Newberry Library include thousands of postcards and production materials, providing an important resource for researchers studying American postcard history.
For collectors, learning how to read the markings on the back of a Dexter Press postcard adds another layer to the hobby. The inventory number may provide a useful starting point, while the printer's location, finish, publisher, copyright information, and other details can help build a more complete picture of when and how the card was produced.
In the end, dating a Dexter Press postcard is less about finding one magic number and more about putting several pieces of evidence together. That detective work is part of what makes collecting these pieces of American history so rewarding.
Sources and Further Research
This guide draws on published collector research, surviving Dexter Press advertising, postcard examples, and archival information from the Newberry Library. The Dexter Press corporate records at the Newberry Library include approximately 37,000 postcards, art files, photographs, and other company materials dating from 1934 to approximately 1992.
Collectors interested in researching individual Dexter Press cards should compare multiple examples rather than relying on a single serial-number interpretation.
If exploring the history of mid-century printing has inspired you to add to your own collection, you can browse our current selection of vintage Dexter Press postcards to find your next piece of postal history.