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The idea of the Post Card was conceived by Dr Heinrich von Stephan, the Secret Councillor of the Prussian Post. He presented his proposal to the Fifth Austro-German Postal Conference which was held in Karlsruhe in 1865. His idea was to introduce a form of communication which would be brief, simple and cheap, and he believed it would be welcomed by the public once the initial aversion to open communications had been overcome. The proposal was considered seriously by the conference, but it was rejected because the German Postal Administration lacked the resources to carry out the project and they were concerned that it would lead to a loss of revenue.

The idea was taken up by Professor Dr Emanuel Hermann, a Viennese civil servant and a teacher of economics, who published an article in the “Neue Freie Presse” on the 26th January 1869. He outlined ideas for a “Postkarte” and recommended its introduction as he believed it would result in an increase in postal traffic. The Austrian Post Office was impressed by Dr Hermann’s reasoning and decided to adopt his recommendations. As a result, the first Post Cards were issued in Austria on the 1st October 1869, and they proved to be very popular. Germany issued Post Cards in 1870 soon after the appointment of Dr Heinrich von Stephan as Postmaster General of the North German Confederation.

When the advance details of the proposals to issue Post Cards in Austria were released, they were brought to the attention of the British Public and the Government in an article published in the “Scotsman” on the 17th September 1869. This article is regarded as the basis of the inspiration to introduce Post Cards in Great Britain.

The article proposed “the introduction of a halfpenny card postage to lower the expense and diminish the trouble of sending formal and unconfidential notes by post”. It set out the advantages to the public of being able to communicate without the problems associated with the “cumbrous” system of using writing paper and envelopes. It would be of particular benefit when the writer wished to communicate an urgent message and the time available for communication was limited. There were also potential advantages for people receiving postcards to save the time which was associated with opening envelopes and unfolding the contents. It would be much easier to recognise “junk” mail and to reduce the time needed to dispose of it. It suggested that those who wished to keep messages secret could use cypher, which was already employed extensively in telegraphing.

As far as the Post Office was concerned, there would be some very positive advantages. The cards would be lighter and less bulky than letters and they would all be the same size. As a result they would occupy less than one third of the space required by the same number of letters. The helfpenny stamps were to be preprinted in the same place on every card which meant that machine cancelling could be employed. The labour involved in checking for unstamped cards could be eliminated and there was no question of the card becoming separated from its address. It would be impossible to remove and reuse stamps and the task of returning undelivered items to the envelope to be opened and resealed.

There were indications that there would be no diminution in revenue because many circulars were delivered by special messenger and if the rate of postage was halved there was the strong possibility that many of these would be sent by post. The final argument was that it would be relatively cheap to introduce post cards on an experimental basis and if the experiment was unsuccessful, the idea could be abandoned without an expensive penalty.

The article was reprinted in the form of a pamphlet and circulated to Members of Parliament and other people of influence. The initial reaction of the Post Office was to reject the idea out of hand but public demand and the undoubted success of the scheme on the Continent soon brought a change of mind. The Treasury gave their consent to the production of postcards on the 26th May 1870, and the Post Office Act 1870, which authorised the arrangements, was passed on the 19th August 1870. Once the decision was made to proceed with the experiment, De La Rue were given a contract to print 100 million cards at a price of four shillings per 1000.

An official notice was issued on the 19th September 1870 which read as follows: “On and after the 1st October next, Post Cards, bearing an impressed halfpenny stamp, will be sold at all Post Offices at a rate of one halfpenny each. They will be available for transmission between places in the United Kingdom only. The front (or stamped side) is intended for the address only. There must be no other writing or printing across the stamp. On the reverse side, any communication, whether of the nature of a letter or otherwise, may be written or printed. Nothing may be attached to the Card; nor may it be folded, cut, or otherwise altered. If any of these rules be infringed, the Card will be charged with postage on delivery as insufficiently paid letter.”

The cards were printed by letter-press using a specially prepared fugitive ink which was of a mauve colour, and cards of two dimensions were issued: 43/4 x 31/2 inches and 43/4 x 2 7/8 inches. The cards were also available in sheets measuring 29 5/8 x 211/2 inches containing 42 cards for those who wanted to print on them. The material used for the cards was a thin light buff coloured card stacking 120 to the inch. The legend on the front of the first postcards read “The address only to be written on this side” and this was followed by the word “To” so that it was clear that the address was to be that of the person to whom the card was being sent. The word “To” was omitted from the cards when a new design was issued on the 1st January 1875.

The cards proved to be very popular and it was estimated that 575,000 cards passed through the office at St Martin’s-le-Grand on the first day of issue. During the first full year of operation, 76 million cards were posted in the United Kingdom. This resulted in an enormous increase in the work-load of the Post Office letter-carriers and there was an immediate need for more staff to handle the volume. A system of punching cards to cancel them was tried on an experimental basis in a number of offices, but this led to complaints as it could remove part of the communication on the back of the card. Punching cards was discontinued in 1876.

The popularity of the official postcard was a source of extreme annoyance to the stationers who felt that they were losing a considerable amount of business to the Post Office and they launched a strong protest against the discrimination by the Government against their trade. The main complaints they made were that there was no extra charge for the cards in addition to the postal rate of one halfpenny and there was no provision for the stamping of private cards at the halfpenny rate. The Post Office responded to these complaints and they led to the issue of the following Post Office notice on the 27th March 1872: “After the 31st instant, Official Post Cards will be sold to the Public in packets only, - the smallest packet containing twelve cards, and the larger ones twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, and so on. The price of a packet of twelve cards will be sixpence-halfpenny, and the larger packets will be charged in the same proportion. Single Post Cards will no longer be sold. Arrangements will shortly be made for impressing with a halfpenny stamp, at the Office of Inland Revenue, Post Cards other than Official Post Cards, subject to certain restrictions.”

A notice was issued on the 10th June 1872 which provided for Private Cards to be taken to the Office of Inland Revenue to be impressed with a Halfpenny Stamp on and after the 17th June 1872. It stressed that the only Private Cards which contained anything of the nature of a letter which could pass through the post at the rate of a halfpenny were those which had been impressed by the Inland Revenue.

There were a number of significant developments during the years which followed:

From the 1st February 1875, the public were given a choice of thin buff card or stout white card.

The first Foreign Card with a value of 11/4d. was introduced on the 1st July 1875.

As a result of public demand, the front of the card was redesigned to provide more space for the name and address on the cards issued on 1st January 1878. At the same time, a redesigned halfpenny stamp was introduced which remained in use till 1901.

Overseas Post Card rates were revised and new cards valued at 1d. and 11/2d. were issued on the 1st April 1879.

Inland Reply cards were introduced on the 1st October 1882 to enable those who sought information to cover the cost of return postage.

Foreign Reply Cards were introduced on 1st January 1883 and the reply portion of these cards was valid for the payment of Foreign Postage in the countries which agreed to accept them.

As from 1st April 1886, Reply Paid Cards could be despatched to any country within the Universal Postal Union.

The British Empire card with a rate of 3d. to Australia was introduced on the 1st September 1889.

A Universal Penny Rate for all Foreign Post cards was introduced on the 1st October 1891 and new cards to cover this change were issued on the 1st April 1892.

By 1890, there was a growing demand from the public and the stationery trade for the lifting of the restrictions which prohibited the use of adhesive stamps to prepay private cards at the postcard rate. This required the issue of a Treasury Warrant to authorise the change. The draft warrant was prepared by the Post Office Solicitor in July 1891, but the Treasury showed a marked reluctance to agree to the proposal. The debate continued till 1894 when the Inland Revenue finally agreed to the change provided that the private cards did not exceed the dimensions of the official postcards. The warrant was signed on the 24th August 1894 and the 1st September 1894 was the first day on which an adhesive stamp could be used to prepay the halfpenny postcard rate.

The regulations governing Private Cards were as follows:

1. The cards were to be composed of ordinary cardboard which was no thicker than the material used for the official postcard.

2. The maximum size was to correspond with the size of the ordinary inland Postcard.

3. The minimum size was not to be less than 31/4 x 21/4 inches

4. The card was not to be folded..

5. Noting was to be written on the address side apart from the address and the Sender’s name and address and nothing was to be attached to it apart from a postage stamp and a small address label.

6. Nothing was to be attached to the reverse the card apart from a receipt stamp.

7. The use of the Royal Arms on the address side was not permissible.

8. Any infringement of these rules would render the cards liable to letter postage.

The restrictions on the communication permitted on the address side of postcards were relaxed over a number of years. The first move was at the U.P.U. Congress of Vienna in 1891, when permission was given for the sender to add his own name and address. The next change came on the 1st February 1897 when the Treasury authorised a change which allowed advertisements to be printed on the address side. The next move was to change the legend on the front of postcards from “The address only to be written on this side” to “The address to be written on this side”.

The development of picture postcards increased the pressure from the public to be allowed to write messages on the address side. In 1902, Britain was the first country to divide the address side of the card to make provision for both the address and correspondence. In October 1904, the Post Office issued a warning that this concession applied to inland cards only and if cards were sent abroad with communication on the address side they were liable to be treated as letters and surcharged. It was recommended that Post cards should bear a printed warning on this matter. The final abolition of this restriction was agreed at U.P.U. Congress in Rome and the change came into effect on the 1st October 1907. After this date, it was permissible to send cards with communication on the address side to any country in the world at the postcard rate.

A number of cards were produced which contravened the postcard regulations and, in some cases, the printers claimed that they were issued under the printed paper regulations. The problem was that they looked like postcards and members of the public used them for communication purposes without appreciating that this made them liable to postage at the letter rate.

There is an interesting field of study to be followed in the collection of surcharged postcards. Cards decorated with glitter and other appendages were difficult to handle and as these additions to the card were contrary to regulations, they were liable to postage at the letter rate. Novelty cards with strips of pictures depicting the main attractions of seaside towns concealed under a flap were issued as printed papers, but many people treated them as post cards and wrote messages on them which meant they were liable to the letter rate. If any message was added to cards which were outside the size limits, they too were liable to postage at the letter rate.

During the early years of the 20th century, the collecion of picture post cards became a popular hobby, but interest waned after the First World War. During the 1960’s, the collectors of the Golden Era died and, as their collections came onto the market in large numbers, it was possible to obtain post cards for a few pence. This situation has changed considerably during the past twenty years and there has been a strong resurgence in the hobby of post card collecting, which is supported by a large number of dealers and post card fairs throughout the country. There is now a healthy demand for the picture cards of earlier years and the hobby looks set for a healthy future.

The issue of official post cards by the Post Office continued until February 1980, when the decision was taken to stop production. There were a number of changes in design, format, colour and size over the years as monarchs died and postal rates changed. In 1890 a special Guildhall card was issued to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Penny postage, but as it contravened Post Office regulations for postcards it could not pass through the post at the halfpenny rate. In 1924 and 1925 special cards were issued for the British Empire Exhibition: these are the only official commemorative postcards which have been issued by the Post Office.

When the post card was first introduced, it enabled people to send a simple message at half the price of a letter and as a result, it met with an immediate popular demand. During the past 119 years the main purpose of the post card has changed from being a cheap means of business communication to a simple, but not so cheap means of sending greetings to friends as the private picture card has replaced the official card. When the two tier postal system was introduced on the 16th September 1968, the post card rate of postage disappeared and the cost of sending an inland postcard was set at the same rate as an inland letter. The only concession which now remains for the writer of a postcard is a reduced rate of postage for sending it abroad to a country outside Europe.

REFERENCE BOOKS:

1. British Postal Stationery (A Priced Handbook of the Postal Stationery of Great Britain) by A.K. Huggins M.Sc., Ph.D. Published by the Great Britain Philatelic Society London in 1970.

2. The Evolution of British Stamped Postcards & Letter Cards (Their History & Documentation) by H. Dagnall M.A. Published by the Author in 1985.

*Singpex 71 National Stamp Exhibition was the third stamp exhibition, the first was held in 1969, and a joint effort by the Postal Services Department, the Singapore Stamp Club and the Singapore Philatelic Society.