postcard.co.uk

I'm writing a thesis on the picture postcard which is proving extremely interesting. I've got a couple of questions which I should like to be able to answer but I cannot seem to find out where to go. I wonder whether anyone on this board could point me in the right direction?

First question - I'd like some stats on how the usage of postcards has risen and fallen. Can anyone tell me where I can find out how many cards were posted in 1900, 1910, 1920 etc right up to the present day? I sense that way fewer postcards are posted nowadays but I'd really like to be able to see when the numbers began to fall. I'd guess post 1970s but that is just a conjecture - anyone got any ideas or pointers please?

Lots of numbers are bandied about, getting a definitive series of stats is harder.

The postcard boom years were those from the very early 1900's through to the end of WW1. Millions of cards were sent each year and the numbers increased in most of those years. Think in terms of a world where a simple family message could only travel swiftly and economically by postcard (like text or email today). No access to phones. A world where family life was disrupted by war. News services were largely limited to newspapers. There were several postal deliveries per day. Letters cost a penny to send but postcards were less formal, moe fun, and half the postage price.

After the First World War there was a reduced appetite for such communication. Families had lost loved ones. Telephone usage was slowly increasing. The economy was in dire straights, jobs were few and far between and so on.

It's said that there was an upward blip in usage in the run upto and just after WW2 and then some continuation in the decade that followed as people started to take holidays again.

The British Postal Museum and Archive is a good place to start for some background statistical data.
Here is a link
They have some PDF files with total early 1900's (letter + Postcard) volumes towards the base of the page.

I've also seen statistics in postcard publishers financial reports (e.g. Tuck) that refer to growth rates and so on. To locate these you need access to historic newpaper archives (thats where I found the limited Tuck data).You might also get some results if you contact the very few postcard publishers who were in business 100+ years ago and still exist.

Linda

Thank you very much for this and for responding so quickly. You've given me some very useful leads to follow up

PB

It's a pleasure.
Good luck with your research.