On this date in 1898 the US Post Office authorised the use of postcards. 10 things you might not know about postcards:
The study and collecting of postcards is called deltiology. This comes from the Greek words deltion, small writing tablet, and logy, the study of.
Early postcards didn’t have pictures. There were strict rules dictating that the address went on one side and the message on the other. It wasn’t until 1902 that postcards had divided backs, where the address is written on the right and message on the left, leaving space for a picture on the other side.
The earliest known picture postcard was a hand-painted design on card created by the writer Theodore Hook. Hook posted the card, with a penny black stamp, to himself in 1840 from Fulham in London. It’s thought it was a practical joke on the postal service, as the image is a caricature of post office workers. In 2002 the postcard sold for a record £31,750.
The thing with a postcard is that, without an envelope, anyone can read the message. Hence in Victorian times, couples devised a code so they could express their feelings, based on the angle at which the stamp was stuck on. By angling the stamp in different directions, writers could send hidden messages like ‘Have you forgotten me?’ or ‘I love you’.
Postcards were vital forms of communication during the first world war. The postal service was very efficient back then. A postcard could leave Britain one day and just two days later be handed to a soldier fighting in France. Messages home boosted morale as the recipients would know their loved one was safe, so sending postcards home was encouraged, although the messages were often censored so that enemy spies who might come across them wouldn’t know the location of the sender. Communication was deemed important enough that all countries agreed that prisoners of war held abroad could send mail home free of charge.
The saucy seaside postcard was created by a company owned by one James Bamforth. Originally a portrait photographer, Bamforth diversified into picture postcards in 1902. At first, they were scenic photographs, but the company spotted a gap in the market. They became famous for saucy and innuendo driven postcard designs, which used caricatures to make the rather naughty themes more acceptable to the public. Seaside censorship boards were set up to pass judgement on which designs could be printed and sold. Bamforth and Company would send their initial concept sketches to the Blackpool Censorship Board. If the committee considered them appropriate they could be sold at seaside resorts around the country. One wonders how many cartoons passed by the Blackpool Censorship Board would get past today’s politically correct cancel culture proponents!
Another company called Raphael Tuck & Sons produced sets of postcards with serial numbers. This encouraged collectors to buy a whole set.
In the UK in the 1950s and 60s there was a trend of picture postcards with rather boring subject matter like shopping centres, airports and motorways. Enough that British photographer Martin Parr could collect enough to publish a book of them, called Boring Postcards. (https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/product/boring-postcards/)
In 1871 around 75 million postcards were sent in Britain and volumes increased over 800 million a year by the end of King Edward VII’s reign in 1910. Not so much today, thanks to the Post Office ending the cheaper rate for a postcard that used to exist, so they cost as much to send as a letter; and also because of the digital age. Sending postcards home during a holiday was part of the travel experience, but now it’s largely been replaced by putting our own photos up on Facebook or Instagram, and short messages can go in an email.
World Postcard Day is celebrated on 30 July.
Character Birthday
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
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