Postcards

Created in 1870 the postcard shot to popularity as a means of cheap, quick communication. This, along with a craze to collect, sparked the height of postcard sending from the early 20th century through to the First World War. Since then, postcards have predominantly been reserved for holidays and are increasingly eclipsed by newer forms of digital communication.

Austria-Hungary Postcard

The first cards were issued by Austria-Hungary in 1869, a proposal by Dr Emanuel Herrmann, though he was not the first to suggest the idea. They were produced in two languages – German and Hungarian – and were extremely popular.

Example of early Austrian Postcard, 1872, PS005/21.

First British Postcard

Postcards were introduced to Britain in 1870. They were produced in two sizes and drew heavily on the Hungarian design. Commissioned by the British Post Office, the cards included an imprinted halfpenny stamp that covered the price of postage and was half that of a letter. They were only printed on one side allowing the message or business correspondence to be printed on the other side.

The postcard was a postal innovation, allowing quick, punchy and cheap correspondence without the formality of the letter. In 1871 around 75 million postcards were sent in Britain and volumes increased vastly to numbers over 800 million a year by the end of King Edward VII’s reign in 1910. Postcards could be written and sent quickly, with numerous postal collections and deliveries per day.

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Postcard development

British Empire Postcard

The design of British postcards changed over time, with new cards being added for international postage. Postcards sent within the former British Empire featured an image of Queen Victoria based on a painting by Heinrich von Angeli from 1885. This design would become the only British stamp to depict the Queen both in old age and standing.

Private Postcards

Whilst most of us associate postcards with pictures, illustrated postcards produced by private publishers were not accepted by the Post Office until 1894. In these designs, one whole side of the card was used for the address and the stamp, whilst the message had to be squeezed alongside the picture.

Divided Back Postcards

It wasn’t until 1902 that the message could be written on the same side as the address. Then we begin to see the postcard with a divided back, where the address is written on the right and message on the left.

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Romance not only appeared within the message but influenced postcard design, with images of couples embracing and quotations from Shakespeare’s romantic sonnets.

Language of Stamps

Unlike the first postcard design with a printed stamp, illustrated postcards by commercial publishers required the sender to buy and stick on a stamp. Postcards were sent without an envelope, so anyone could read the message. To get around this, secretive Victorians developed the language of stamps to send coded messages. By angling the stamp in different directions, writers could send various hidden messages like ‘Have you forgotten me?’ or ‘I love you’. The secret language of stamps code allowed a private message to be sent within a very public form of correspondence.

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Sweethearts

The First World War separated couples and left many companionless. Postcards featuring images of women and their soldier sweethearts were very popular and frequently sent between couples throughout the war. Romantic postcards were a token of love and an image to treasure throughout their separation.

The Story of Harry and Olive

Olive Durst married Henry (Harry) George Daniels in 1914. During their courtship Harry illustrated the postcards he sent to Olive, writing about friends, their love of cycling and when they could next meet.

The language of stamps was used throughout Harry’s postcards. Many times, he said ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m faithful to you’ by angling the stamp in different directions.

The postcards are a window into their relationship. However, many of the messages do not make sense to us as Harry frequently carries on conversations started in person and refers to their ‘in jokes’.

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Even though Harry and Olive lived just a 15-minute walk away from each other Harry regularly created these beautiful cards for his sweetheart.

Sadly, their relationship was cut short when Harry lost his life in 1917 during the First World War. However, their love story remains in the beautiful illustrations and messages of their postcards.

On Active Service

Quick communication boosted morale and allowed friends and family back home to know their loved ones were safe. A simple ‘O.K.’ was enough to soothe worry. Soldiers were encouraged to send mail home and were given free postage.

On Active Service Postcard, 22 Oct 1918, PH64I/30a

Censorship

A huge concern for the war effort was the leak of information to the enemy. Soldiers’ postcards were censored to prevent leaks and to catch possible spies passing on secrets. Pictorial postcards also had their captions struck through to hide the location of the sender.

To help with censorship the Field Service Postcard was introduced in 1914. This forced the soldier to select from certain messages which limited the amount of information they could reveal. Postcards with any additional text could be confiscated by the censor.

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Images of War

Humour is so embedded in British culture that even in wartime people used it to make light of difficult and dangerous situations.

Trenches, troops and territory were all documented on postcards during the First World War. These images acted as propaganda showing those at home the strength of the British Armed Forces. Many of these scenes were an idealised representation of life on the frontlines.

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Prisoners of War

Prisoners of war endured extreme isolation and loneliness. During the First World War all countries agreed that captives held abroad could send mail free of charge to their home countries.

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Conscientious Objectors

Not everyone agreed with the war. Conscientious objectors refused to fight due to religious, political, humanist or personal beliefs. Thousands of men were sent to prison enduring solitary confinement and hard labour. The conditions of the prison were captured in the postcard below.

‘A Souvenir of C.O. Settlements 1918’, 1918, 2014-003

British Holidays

The British seaside holiday became more accessible with the expansion of the Victorian railways. More lines reduced journey times and made trips cheaper. This allowed more and more people outside of the upper classes to venture around the country. With the later introduction of the Holiday Pay Act in 1938 people could take time off work without losing pay.

The British postcard documents quintessential seaside views. Images of piers, deckchairs, donkeys and bandstands frequently appear, transporting the recipient of the postcard back to their own past holidays.

For many people, buying a postcard that best shows off their holiday destination and posting it back home is still an important part of the experience.

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Bamforth and Company Ltd.

James Bamforth set up business as a portrait photographer in 1870, moving into the production of postcards in 1903. His postcards were extremely successful and by 1910 there were Bamforth offices in London and New York.

The Bamforth Company’s early postcards used scenery sets from their photography work until they saw a market in the seaside trade. They became famous for their saucy and innuendo driven postcard designs.

Saucy seaside postcards were illustrated, using caricatures to make these rude themes more acceptable to the public.

However, the designs still needed to be appropriate for public sale. Seaside censorship boards were set up to pass judgement on which designs could be printed. Bamforth and Company would send their initial concept sketches to the Blackpool Censorship Board. If the committee considered them appropriate the finished postcard designs could then be sold at seaside resorts around the country.

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Companies such as Raphael Tuck & Sons produced sets of postcards with serial numbers. This encouraged people to collect not only an image but an entire set. Messages often refer to postcards as ‘P.C.’ and suggest the recipient should add the postcard to their album.

Many cards were never sent but collected purely for their image. Pictorial postcards depict a wide variety of scenes – from railway disasters to chickens.

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Postcard Fairs

The hobby of postcard collecting (deltiology) was reignited in the second half of the 20th century when many of these Edwardian collections could be purchased at postcard fairs around the country.

The images and messages featured on old postcards offer a window into the past. For a small price collectors can carry on the life of these 2D treasures.

Museums and Attractions

Visitors to museums and attractions have been buying souvenir postcards since the early 1900s. Today, you can purchase postcards featuring some of the most important and recognisable artworks in the world. Many of these cards will never be used, however each time you find one holding your page in a book you’ll be drawn back to the memory of an experience.

In 2019 we sold 3,241 postcards at The Postal Museum to visitors young and old. This is nothing compared to the National Portrait Gallery who in the same year sold 67,000 images of their permanent collection. The family of Tate galleries across the UK went even further, selling an astonishing 1.2 million postcards.

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Cost

Postcards gained popularity as a cheaper means of communication, initially costing half the price of sending a letter. This ended in 1968 when the two-tier system was launched, introducing 1st and 2nd class postage but removing the cheaper postage rate for postcards.

Poster announcing the introduction of the class system, Jul 1968, POST 110/4353

Speed

In a modern world of instant communication, waiting for the arrival of a postcard can seem slow, especially from abroad. Much like the expansion of the Victorian rail network cheaper air travel expanded holiday destinations. These further afield destinations often meant postcards arrived home after the sender.

Postcards were very much the WhatsApp of their time – short punchy messages accompanied by a picture. However, the postcard has now been supplanted by numerous forms of instant communication that offer replies, retweets and likes.

Boring

Boring Postcards edited by British photographer Martin Parr brings together postcards of shopping centres, airports and motorways. These everyday images of British life make you question why they were ever produced and who was buying them?

Postcard of Forton Service Area, M6 Motorway, from the ‘Boring Postcards’ collection of Martin Parr.

Digital Postcards

Postcards can now be produced without having to pick up a pen or find a post office. Written and posted online you can customize the designs and even add your own photos. Companies such as TouchNote, Moonpig and MyPostcard now offer a digital means of sending a physical card. Many also combine the cost of printing and postage making the process even easier.

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Postcard from the Past

Tom Jackson is the inventor of Postcard from the Past. The Twitter account started in 2016, connecting people to forgotten postcards through imagery and small snippets of the postcard message. He brings humour, intrigue and a new appreciation for the classic postcard.

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Postcrossing

Postcrossing, a free to join postcard exchange programme, was created in 2005 by Paulo Magalhães as a means of encouraging communication through traditional postcard writing. For each postcard a member sends they will receive one in return. Postcrossers are randomly connected across the world, fusing postcards with digital technology.

Art on a Postcard

Art on a Postcard is an initiative that uses art to raise money for The Hepatitis C Trust. The artists that work with them use the postcard format as their canvas. The organisation holds auctions and sells artists’ limited edition prints on their website.

Francesca Colussi Cramer

Francesca Colussi Cramer uses postcards as the canvas for her work. By embroidering into the postcards, she can bring colour to a black and white landscape or abstraction to a familiar scene. Taking these forgotten items, she gives them a new purpose and enhanced beauty.

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Emily May

The artist Emily May was inspired by postcards, painting both the pictures and messages in her own unique style. These designs were then turned into a repeated pattern and printed on fabric – presented here in the form of a dress.

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The Daily Postcard Project

#TheDailyPostcardProject started during the first UK national lockdown. Nathan Huxtable, an artist from Cambridge, began to paint individual postcards for people around the world. Images of these postcards were tweeted with messages of thanks, showing the importance of human connection.

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Love from Cleethorpes

Produced by New Perspectives, a touring theatre company, ‘Love from Cleethorpes’ is a drama told over 6 postcards. By using postcards, the theatre is brought to your home via the messages of the characters. Delivered over 2 months, recipients had to eagerly await their next instalment.

Postcard Design

Postcard design responds to the time and its audience. These TouchNote cards reflect on the ‘new normal’ of everyday life during a pandemic. In the future they will represent the period of history we lived through.

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Technology

We have already seen technological advances in postcard production, moving away from handwritten cards to customisable digitally produced designs. Physical postcards, however, are still produced from trees. As the planet strives to be more sustainable can we find alternative materials, or should we move all correspondence online?

Vintage

The postcard, much like vinyl records, could have a revival. In a time when technology can both connect and isolate us, we may look to classic forms of communication. The postcard is an emotive, tangible representation of affection.

‘Why Don’t You Write?’ Postcard, Early 1900s, 2020-0003/28

The postcard has had different functions and uses over its history. Its future however is down to us. How we decide to use the postcard going forward will determine whether the postcard in any capacity is part of the lives of the next generation.