The First British Postcard

The idea was later proposed again in Austria by Dr Emanuel Herrmann sometime in early 1869. The idea was accepted as being viable and quickly put into production with the result that the world's first postcard was sent from Austria on the 1st of October. Most history books give full credit for the idea to Dr Herrmann and disregard Dr Von Stephan's original ideas.

In Britain, postal usage and technology was on the increase and as such postal rates continued to rise. Such was the increasing pressure to reduce postal rates that they quickly adopted the idea of using postcards to satisfy the demand for a cheaper service. In a declaration to Parliament the Post Office stated that it was not concerned about the loss of revenue, as they did not believe that many people would be prepared to send private messages through the post for anyone to read. They believed the idea would not take off and would be used as a “low importance form of communication.”

The introduction of postcards was well advertised and large amount of stock was delivered to post offices for the issue date of 1st October 1870. Printing was done in bulk as cheap as possible and it was predicted the stock would last for years. The concept was that by offering the service they could keep the necessary customers happy and basically forget about the idea. Despite all the predictions and planning the Post Office was not prepared for what happened next!

On the first day of issue, the 1st October 1870, records show that over half a million cards passed through London alone. Records for the rest of the country show similar results although on a smaller scale, but surprisingly revenue did not seem to suffer as predicted. When the Post Office considered the reaction, it believed that the availability of the postcard had allowed people more access as the service was affordable. These people seemed to be additional customers and had not, as some had predicted, replaced traditional mail.

Two types of card were available at the time of release, a conventional postcard size as we still use today, and a longer slimmer version. They both cost 1/2d but the longer slimmer cards were often delivered with the ends damaged as mail was bundled up by the delivery workers. They were therefore discontinued within months of the service starting.

The cards were only available from Post Offices, so unlike any other pre-paid stationary sold by the postoffice, there was no extra charge for the cost of the card itself. Problems soon arose in 1872 when the Post Office allowed the use of privately printed cards. They were designed for business use, who were primarily interested the communication form, and not reselling the cards for profit. Complaints were soon made by stationers who wished to sell the cards, as they still had to pay a premium of 1/2d to have the cards impressed at Somerset House. Once you total up the cost of the card, postage and printing costs, there was no way to sell the cards without making a loss. The stationary trade argued that there was little point allowing private companies to sell the postcards when they had no chance of making profit, or even breaking even from them.

Very soon the Post Office took notice of the complaints and suggestions and raised the selling price of postcards to allow for these extra costs. This was the point when postcards became a normal part of the mail service, as the increased price meant they were more in line with conventional postage forms. This was a good idea from the Post Offices point of view, but for the general public it meant that they were back to the same range of services as were previously available, but with some cheaper options.

Today postcards are still used, but more as a convenient or extra form of communication. We have have all sent picturesque postcards to people while on holiday for example, where as we probably would not have written the same people conventional letters. Just like stamps, postcards have become very collectable, and due to the text they include, often give us an insight into the communications of the past. Victorian postcards for example are very collectable, whether they are preprinted or contain stamps. Due to the novelty value, postcards should be around for a very long time to come.

Mark Steele

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