VINTAGE POSTCARDS

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A glimpse into another era, in most cases before computers, social media, emails, mobile phones and TVs, when mail was delivered a few times per day and people sent postcards to advise where they were and what they were thinking and doing.

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AUSTRALIA:

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Fashionable Edwardian couple extend ‘Hands Across the Sea’, c. 1910.

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‘Two Silly Asses’ at Ocean Grove, Victoria, 1952.

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Dromana Pier, Victoria, 1914

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Hop picking, New Norfolk, Tasmania, c. 1910.

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House built around a fallen tree, Sassafras, Victoria, c. 1910

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Saharet (an Australian dancer, born in Victoria), c. 1910.

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Balloonists’ Queensland greeting, c. 1910.

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Dame Nellie Melba (Australian opera singer), c. 1905.

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Glenelg Temperance Tent, South Australia, 1906.

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Esplanade, Manly, Queensland, 1920

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Paddle-steamer at Murray Bridge, South Australia, c. 1902

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BRITAIN:

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2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the British Postcard.

Created in 1870 the postcard shot to popularity as a means of cheap, quick communication. This, along with a craze to collect, sparked the height of postcard sending from the early 20th century through to the First World War. Since then, postcards have predominantly been reserved for holidays and are increasingly eclipsed by newer forms of digital communication.

The first cards were issued by Austria-Hungary in 1869, a proposal by Dr Emanuel Herrmann, though he was not the first to suggest the idea. They were produced in two languages – German and Hungarian – and were extremely popular.

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First British postcard, 1870

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‘Language of Stamps’ postcard, 1915. A bit bold, eh what?

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Northumberland Fusiliers postcard, 1916-1918

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Prisoners of war endured extreme isolation and loneliness. During the First World War all countries agreed that captives held abroad could send mail free of charge to their home countries.

Prisoner of War Postcard from Harry Brown in Bayreuth, North Bavaria. 22 Sep 1917

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‘N. Side of Capstone Hill, Ilfracombe’ Postcard, Early 1900s

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‘Why Don’t You Write?’ postcard. Early 1900s

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USA:

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Alabama postcard

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Kansas City postcard
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1909 postcard

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New York State Building, 1901

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1960s Dallas postcard