Barbara Jones, 1912-1978

‘Remember – Inland Postcards need a 2d stamp’ by Barbara Jones, 1956 (POST 110/2524).

This poster, designed by Barbara Jones, is a friendly reminder to you. If you’re sending an ‘inland postcard’ (postcard to someone else in the UK) make sure you use the correct amount of postage.

Why did this matter? Well, from 1870 to 1968 the Post Office handled inland postcards as a separate type of mail. They had their own postcard rate, cheaper than ordinary letters.

In 1956, the year of this poster, it cost 2d (two pence) to send a postcard to someone else in the UK. The cheapest rate for a letter was 2½d.

Barbara Jones was an English artist, writer and mural painter. She attended Croydon Art School and then the Royal College of Art where she was taught by Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden amongst others. Jones created murals for the 1946 ‘Britain Can Make It’ exhibition and for P&O passenger liner ships as well as working on the children’s television series The Woodentops. She produced two posters for the General Post Office in the mid-1950s and submitted artwork for stamp designs in 1952 and 1965. She also edited a book on erotic postcards which can be found in our Discovery Room library.