UNWRITTEN EPIC

Hokitika Guardian, 19 January 1931, Page 6

UNWRITTEN EPIC

HISTORY OF POSTCARDS. ONCE PEOPLE FOUGHT 11 Sixty yl*ars ago the postcard was first issued, and police had to regulate L> tile crowd that gathered at St Mar-tin's-le-Grand to get .speciments of the new medium of correspondence. At some provincial offices there were free fiylits. At that time the postcard made a novel appeal as an economy both in money and in effort, savs “The. Obserj ver.” It could he bought, already . stamped, for a half-penny, which represented a 50 per cent saving on the penny 'post, and it filled a gap in the system of greetings, enabling one to write a mesage instead of a letter. No body was more delighted than .Mr ’Gladstone, who introduced it, and later on, when nearly a couple of mil-, lion postcards a week were being sold he testified that the inovation had “prolonged bis life”—meaning the life of his Ministery. He threatened to write an epic poem a,bout the postcard. “Did not Cowoer write an epic poem about the-Sofa.” be asked. “T am sure that the postcard is a much worthier theme as regards its serviceability to man. C'owper began with fine abruptness. “ I sing the Sofa.’ I shall imitate him and begin, ‘I sing the Postcard.” Certainly nobody patronised the postcard more than Gladstone did I himself. AUSTRIA SHOWS THE WAY. The father of the postcard was not Gladstone, hut Dr Emanuel Hermann, of the Military Academy of Vienna, who suggested the idea in the “ Non* Freic Prose” of January 25th. 1850. having experienced th need for something simpler than a letter whi’e he was Catherine data for Ids “ Guide to the Study of National Economy.” A similar proposal bad been made to the German Postal Union at Kalsruhe in 1855. and had been laughed out of court, but Hermann got the idea quite i independently, and the Austrian postal authorities, taking it up. issued on Or- < tober Ist. 1869. the first- “Correspond- i j enz-Karte.” Many of these cards [ came to England, and the post office i immediately determined to imitate ( them. Like its Austrian predecessor, < the British card, which made its ap- ( pearance exactly a year later (October < ; Ist. 1870). had a .fancy air about it, be- < ing buff, with a mauve Grecian holder < on one side. On the address side was ( “ To,” indicating where the address i was to he out, but the word was wide. < Iv misunderstood, and sorters were faced with cards running, “To my J dearest Aunt Agatha, hoping this finds * you well as T am at present.” etc... | with the address anywhere—or no- J wliere. Not the least attractive feature of the postcard was its cheapness. Only official cards 4-J inches by 3) inches, I with the halfpenny stamp embossed, could be sold, and as the price was a halfpenny they were obtained for nothing. Seventy-five millions were bought in the first year. THE PRINTERS CAME IN. Nautrnlly, the free .postcard was not popular with stationers, and in 1872 a small charge was imposed to cover the cost of manufacture. Sales dropped by four million in the following year. Nevertheless, the tiny charge remained until 1911, only to be reimposgd during the war. It is now a shilling for eleven cards. Privately printed cards, purchased in bulk, might be stamped at Somerset House from June 17th. 1872, but it was not. until 190-L j when 500.000,000 cards were going, through the-post annually, that the j(, .turn of tile stationers really came, j Privately printed cards, with adhesive stamps, wore permitted. They had to -j be of a certain size, had to be not j thinner than the cheapest official card, jj and not thicker than the stoutest. It , was not to he wondered at that the j | printers were constantly in trouble. | However, to-day 90 per cent of the ]J trade is theirs. i

To-dav the DOstoa rd for which the Public clamoured so eagerly in 1870 is i tboroughlv out of favour. -Tust before j (he war 1 >00.000.000 a year were he- ) mg used, but the flay it ceased to <'o j for a lialfnennv it ceased to be regardJed as cheap. Tn 1021. when the nostI aae on it was not up to three halfnonce. I its sale was 570.000.000. which >ve« re- [ dared to 500.000.000 bv the extra ball i ! neunv. The prompt removal of tins hnlfneunv was expected to arre«t the decline, but in 1028 the sales bad "»n» down to 470.000.000. Trade is doubtless one reason for this. The introduction of notenaper consisting of one sheet, which without bearing the appearance of curtness, encourages short letters, is certainly another. And one of the obstacles in the wav of the restoration of the m’linv nost is that, while such a post would itself pay it way though fPerhaps not providing a it would necessitate a retorn to the half pennv postcard, which, it is considered, could he handled only a loss.