Postcard from Cromer, 1921

The Picture Postcard Show 2009, or BIPEX (British International Postcard Exhibition) takes place in London later this week, and includes a special exhibition of Seaside postcards.

Holidays at the seaside became affordable and popular during the Victorian era thanks to the expanding railway network. For the first time resort towns such as Brighton and Blackpool were within reach of ordinary families, and alongside the obligatory purchase of a stick of rock, many postcards were bought and sent to family and friends back home.

Pull-out postcard from Cromer, with a concertina of mini photographs, 1921

Postcards were invented in Austria in 1869 and quickly became popular. A year later they were issued in Britain by the Post Office, but many people were opposed to the use of postcards. They felt that it would be too easy to read other people’s correspondence, that the art of letter writing would decrease, and that it promoted loose morals. However, postcards were an extremely easy and fast method of communication and were taken up by businesses. In the first year of use the number of postcards sent was 75 million.

Although early postcards sometimes had little black and white designs on them, the full picture postcard arrived in 1889 for the Paris Exhibition, where a souvenir card was on sale of the Eiffel Tower. The idea developed quickly on the continent, but not in Britain where strict regulations meant that privately printed postcards were not allowed.

Many felt that the Post Office was creating a monopoly by including the price of the stamp in the price of the card and in 1894 the printing of private cards was allowed. This meant that picture postcards of a standard size were now available to be sold throughout the British Isles.

Many novelty cards were developed, such as the pull-out. These usually had a concertina of mini photographic views of towns or places hidden inside a postman’s mail bag or in a pillar box. The example from our collection on the left and was sent on 3rd August 1921 from the seaside town of Cromer.

The village Post Office was a common sight on postcards. Perhaps the popularity of depicting the Post Office on a postcard was to show where the postcard itself had been posted, especially if it was a quaint little Post Office like that in the Cornish seaside village of Tintagel.

Postcard showing Old Post Office, Tintagel, circa 1910

Postcards were also an excellent way to share a joke. Humourous or comic postcards became very popular after the Great War, partly because they were so colourful. The jokes on the cards could often be quite risqué, with partial nudity and double entendres commonplace. These are now very collectable.

Postcards, particularly those of the saucy variety, are intrinsically linked with the British seaside holiday and so it is perhaps no surprise that five seaside postcard cartoons were used on Royal Mail’s 1994 stamps celebrating 100 years of the picture postcard.

Centenary of Picture Postcards stamps, 1994

Yesterday we uploaded the catalogue of our library collection to our online catalogue for the first time. The library, housed in our Archive Search Room, has a fascinating array of around 3,260 books, journals and pamphlets about postal history and the history of Royal Mail, covering a period from the 18th century to the present day.

There are thirteen main sections to the library – General Postal History, Transport, Technology, Military History, Industrial Relations, Journals, Local Postal History, Philately, Biographies, General Historical Reference, Savings Banks, Art and Design, and Fiction.

The Penny Black Anniversary Book - 1840-1990

The oldest book that has been recorded in the library is John Watson’s Gentleman and Citizen Almanac, which is part of the transport section.

Other fascinating items in the library include The Penny Black Anniversary Book, celebrating the Penny Black’s 150th anniversary and charting other famous stamps such as the ‘Seahorses’ Collection, and two books on saucy seaside postcards by comedian Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Barker’s Book of Bathing Beauties and Ronnie Barker’s Book of Boudoir Beauties. Barker, who died in 2005, began collecting postcards in the 1950s and ended his life with a collection of around 40,000. Many of his postcards featured saucy puns and these are said to have inspired some of his comedy.

A complete list of the publications in the BPMA’s library collection can be viewed by clicking here. To find out about accessing items in the library collection please read the Visit the Archive section on our website.

Sketched by my clever daughter

If you are thinking of visiting Bournemouth between 24th October 2008 to 1st February 2009 and you like art, museums or would like to explore something a bit different, consider visiting The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum where there is a cheeky new exhibition about ‘the secrets of the saucy seaside postcard’.

The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth, UK, is a wonderfully individual museum. It has art galleries and a museum, a licensed café, a shop and a children’s area. With opportunities to learn, explore or socialise, it caters for a wide variety of tastes and admission is FREE.

The dramatic cliff top where it is located over-looks seven miles of award-winning beaches in one of the last Victorian villas in Bournemouth.

Cheeky postcards! They are a bit of fun and so much part of the history of English seaside resorts with huge nostalgia value.

Hopefully, while you are visiting the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, you will consider staying at Newpoint Hotel. We are a small family run hotel providing cheap budget room only accommodation and bed and breakfast that believes in clean and comfortable rooms and good old fashioned friendliness and service to our visitors. (Unfortunately, you won’t see the picture top right at the exhibition as it was sketched by my clever daughter.)

We have single bedrooms with or without en suites, twin bedrooms with en suites, double bedrooms with en suites and family bedrooms with en suites. Tea and coffee making facilities are in each bedroom as is television and free Wi-Fi Internet connection.

So, if you are looking at what’s on in late November, December 2008 or January 2009, why not treat yourself and take advantage of our midweek or weekend discount breaks at Newpoint Hotel. With room only singles from £15 per person per night, it’s not a big decision

Call me to check out my latest deals and availability on (01202) 425047 or visit Newpoint Hotel contact page.

Bye for now

Chris

Christine Watson – Newpoint Hotel room only and bed and breakfast accommodation