History of Postcards

As the basis of this website is my collection of Edwardian actress photo postcards, it seemed appropriate to include a page telling the story of how those postcards originated. This then, very briefly, is the story of the history of the photo postcard up to the Edwardian era.

Origins

Postcards, as distinct from letters, were first used in Austria from around 1869. The idea behind their introduction was to provide a cheap means for brief communications. Since postcards were lighter and more easily handled than letters, due to their standard size, they could be offered at a lower postal rate. They proved very popular with the public and were soon copied by other European countries, including Great Britain.

The postcard was first introduced to Great Britain in 1870. At first they were just plain unadorned cards, with the address to be written on one side and the message on the other, and could only be issued by the Post Office with a pre-printed 'stamp'. It was not until 1894 that the Post Office relinquished its monopoly on the publishing of postcards, and allowed their private publication for use with an adhesive stamp as proof that postage had been paid. This led the way to the widespread introduction of illustrated postcards, but since the Post Office still insisted that one side be used for the address only, the size of any illustration was limited by the need to reserve at least some space on which to write the message. Picture postcards of this type might allow space for only the very briefest of messages. Because of this, and the poor range of subject matter (mainly limited to seaside and city views), picture postcards did not immediately become a big success.
by Don Gillan.

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