A HISTORY OF POSTCARDS
Mention postcards and most people probably think of idyllic seaside or rural scenes, or perhaps Donald McGill’s saucy artworks (actually banned in the 1950s as the government were concerned at the apparent deterioration of morals in the UK).
Cowbridge U3A History Group, however, were treated to an entertaining talk in October 2017 by Dave Salter of the South Wales Postcard Club on the history of postcards, illustrated mainly by documents held in his own collection. The title of the presentation was “What the Postman Saw”, but what he could read was just as important, as many of the messages ranged from the poignant to the hilarious.
The sending of postcards was only allowed by the Royal Mail from 1st September 1894, although they had been popular on continental Europe well before that date. The oldest surviving UK picture postcard, a view of Scarborough, is dated the 14th of that month (cue: search of family heirlooms for a valuable earlier one!). Until 1902, any message had to be written on the same side as the picture, where a small, dedicated blank space obscured part of the image.
Postcards proved to be popular, as they were cheap to buy and the postage was half that of a letter. The postal service was fast and reliable, with up to seven deliveries per day in Cardiff and 11 in London. Postcards became the telephone/text/e-mail of the early 1900s, with an anticipation of same-day delivery and even reply to messages.
As well as the standard scenes of seaside resorts or tranquil scenery, postcards often featured, to present eyes, the mundane: schools, hospitals, churches, municipal buildings, shop fronts and local events. These are now a photographic boon for historians.
There was even a 25 postcard set of the Senghenydd mining disaster of 1913 (439 men killed), showing scenes such as coffins being taken to the mortuary and a miner’s funeral.
Family photographs would often be in the form of a postcard. (Check through your old family photos and see how many are like this.)
Postcards of over 100 years ago could even feature a gramophone record with an appropriate tune or song on it.
What was written on cards could range from an instruction from a holiday destination to check the mousetraps back at home regularly, through requests for money from boys at boarding school, to complaints about sensitive family information being divulged as gossip. A 1906 postcard of Barry bears the words “Looks better than it is”.
Mr Salter kept his favourite inscription to last: a postcard of 1909, showing two ladies in Welsh national costume, with a testament of the writer’s long term, undying love for the recipient, a Miss Williams, and how he will marry her if she is free. It ends with the sentence “If you are spoke for, is your sister spoke for?”
Steve Monaghan