Well into the 20th century, the states of the South publicly and vigorously celebrated their own Confederate Memorial Days on different dates, some of them still legal holidays below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Memorial Day postcards, with their unforgettable images of aged Union veterans, patriotic processions and a grateful people honoring the living and dead soldiers and sailors of the North, were published in the early years of the 20th century.

Nearly three dozen different sets of cards and countless singles - most of them undergoing huge printing runs - filled store racks in the years between 1905 and 1916. In the other hand, postcards with Confederate themes were produced in far fewer numbers. Difficult to find now, they are part of a fascinating footnote in America's cultural history: the commemoration of the "lost" Southern cause and the passionate reverence for the fallen warriors of the crusade and their still living comrades. Collectors and historians alike continue to be excited about these postcards.

Memorial Day observances in what had once been the Confederate States of America began very slowly. Within a year after the end of the war, several Southern women from Columbus, Mississippi', began the custom of decorating the graves of the Confederate dead in Shiloh. The ladies also paused to pay homage to the one hundred Union combatants buried on the battlefield.

Soon, these and other similar happenings grew into a tradition throughout the South. But the ceremonies remained purely Southern. 

Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Georgia chose April 25 (the day of General Joseph E. Johnston's surrender) as their Memorial Day; Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky picked June 3, Jefferson Davis' birthday; and the two Carolinas preferred May 10, the day President Davis was captured by a small Union force, effectively ending the existence of the Confederate government. Texas decided upon Robert E. Lee's birthday, January 19, as its Confederate Heroes Day.

For the first 30 years or so, the North and South held separate Decoration Day (as it was once called) observances.

But the passage of time and the relentless reduction of the once substantial army of Civil War veterans caused emotional differences to begin to fade.

After Americans from every part of the nation fought side-by-side during the Spanish-American War, the Mexican Incident, and World War I, and after the names of the men who died in those wars were added to commemorative honor rolls, an unmistakably national Memorial spirit emerged.

Not a single postcard associated with Confederate Memorial Day specifically bears a caption for the holiday. But given the nature of their designs and texts, it is an inescapable conclusion that such cards were clearly intended for such a purpose. Quite likely, many of these cards were sold year round in the former states of the old Confederacy.

Each year from 1904 to 1911, the giant British publishing firm of Raphael Tuck & Sons, through its New York City branch office, issued a new set of Memorial Day postcards for sale in the North. In 1908, however, the company also issued a beautiful, extremely patriotic series intended for distribution throughout the South. Illustrations included civil War weaponry, battle flags, foot soldiers, generals, and Lee's farewell message to the men of the Army of Northern Virginia. All were heavily embossed and beautifully colored. The artwork was quite superior, even by the high standards normally ascribed to Tuck. Of the dozens of patriotic sets published by Tuck for sale in the United States for the 4th of July, Washington's Birthday and other holidays, this unnumbered set ranks among the best.

Other Confederate sets of the same era, while not published by Tuck, are equally attractive and elusive to find.

Souvenir Post Card Company sold what is probably a six-card series. The style imitates Western News Company's flag-and-eagle American presidential set. Souvenir's name is never found on these cards, only their distinctive trademark of a bee resting upon the elongated "c" of "Post Card" on the address side. Among Southern leaders pictured were Jefferson Davis, and Generals Lee and Jackson.

Another publisher, also anonymous, produced a fascinating set of six postcards. Each has two black-and-white, gold-framed photos of important generals of the rebellion.

Behind them is a patriotic illustration of Confederate flags and regalia in full color. Among those honored were Beauregard, Johnson, Gordon, Street, Forrest, Wheeler, Hampton and Stewart.

In 1906, Veteran Art Co., of Minneapolis, Minnesota, produced an interesting "National Souvenir" set. The same flag-draped illustration of two infantrymen - one a Confederate and the other a Yankee - shaking hands is found on all, cards.

Small insets of Grant and Lee flank each side. In the center is a black-and-white photo, the only change from card to card. President George Washington and President William McKinley are among the four famous people pictured. All cards bear the caption, "The-Veterans of '62 in Defense of the Flag." In all likelihood, this souvenir set was published for a joint reunion in Minneapolis of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the organization of Yankee veterans, and the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), their Southern counterpart. Postcards printed for sale in conjunction with the annual encampments of the United Confederate Veterans are not to common but certainly not rare. They were often released by the host city's business commission or the convention hotels. The 1939 UCV reunion in Memphis, Tennessee, is one example.

Because of the role he played in the conflict, Robert E. Lee emerged from the war highly respected by all sections of the country. In time, his nobility of character and inspiring leadership turned him into a sort of national folk hero, just a few pegs below Washington and Lincoln. A number of postcards were published about him, the best being his inclusion in the "Famous American Heroes" set sold by Donaldson Brothers in 1908. Another important source of Confederate-theme postcards is the 1907 Jamestown (Virginia) Exposition. Besides commemorating the 200th anniversary of America's first permanent English settlement, this gala World's Fair celebrated the coming together again of a nation once divided by civil war. A magnificent set published by the Jamestown A&V Co., which runs to more than 50 titles, includes some exceptional Confederate subjects, including "White House of the Confederacy," "Surrender of Lee," "Leading . Statesmen of the Confederacy," and "Portrait of Jefferson Davis."

The Golden Age of the American picture postcard came along just at the time when the civil War was finally loosing its stranglehold on the nation and the American people. The old antagonisms were disappearing and a feeling of optimism was in the air.