Postcards were legal pretty much from the start. The first known was handmade in 1840 in England.(It made fun of postal workers, at the time you could mail just about anything.)
Basically it was considered to be a letter, if you happened to write that letter so the content could be seen by anyone that was your own business.
The US government began supplying postal cards with pre-printed postage in 1873. The first picture postcards appeared around the same time.
So about 20 years between some of the early postcards, and the one in the auction.
It's probably the earliest with any sort of picture, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one advertising card either for equipment, or for a game.
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