When was the last time you received a picture in the mail of an exotic location along with the words, “Wish you were here”?
The journey of a classic travel item- Postcard!
Postcards, as we are familiar with them today, have taken a considerable amount of time to develop. First restricted by size, color, and other regulations, postcard production blossomed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Postcards were popular because they were a quick and easy way for individuals to communicate with each other. Postcards have been very little studied as historical sources. The following is a quick history of the postcards in the United States.
Uses of Postcards from back in history
Why use a postcard? Why not a regular size piece of paper, you can fit more information on it? Many people think that postcards are just something that gets sent to friends when they go on vacation. Although that is true, one can see there are a number of other reasons. They can also be used to see a distant place that someone would want to go to. Postcards, in that sense, can be used as advertisement. Postcards can also be used as a way of showing that you are a tourist, by collecting them wherever you go. Along with these uses, postcards have also been used as propaganda during war times and for political purposes to show who was running and to tell people who to vote for.
Postcards can also be used as a means of communication, just a means to simply say "Hi." People often send postcards from vacation or use local postcards as greeting cards. Also, postcards can be used to show someone how nice of a time you are having on your vacation. As tourism became a bigger industry, postcards became more popular as a way to show where you have been and where you are going.
Another use of postcards is as a collector’s item. The most common people who would use postcards today would be historians and postcard collectors. Collecting postcards was a common pastime and still is today. Many people collect postcards to learn more about cultures, lifestyles, Architecture, etc. of the past. Modern postcards can be compared to one from hundreds of years ago to learn more about lifestyles back then. Postcards portray how people used to dress versus the present. For example, comparing the dress of people or the crowded streets of a city or the buildings today, how they have changed from those of the past.
Today deltiology, or the collection of postcards, is a popular hobby in the west but the postcard culture in India is a dying one! So, in 2017, do you still send postcards? Do you still receive them? Do you think the postcard will survive in the future?
The fading Postcard Culture
A telephone call today is equivalent to the postcard of the early twentieth century. Postcards were used to convey everyday messages. This occurred not only in large cities, but also in small towns. Postcards were the cheapest and easiest means of communication at one time. People even posted them from street to street, as there were no phones in those days.
Postcards would often arrive weeks after the sender's return but were always a welcome reminder of the sights and experiences of the trip. POSTCARDS could soon disappear as texts and emails replace the traditional "wish you were here" holiday greetings. Today's hi-tech world of emails and text messages has been blamed for the dramatic drop in the number of postcards sent by holidaymakers in recent years.
Each postcard was a tiny, memorialization of the traveler’s time exploring the world and themselves.
Today, the old picture cards have become popular among collectors and local historians. There is nothing like an old postcard for nostalgia value! They show you times and places that don't exist any more. It is sad really that postcards are going out of fashion, as it means similar cards featuring today's scenes and people won't be around in the future.
Reviving the Golden Age of the Postcard!
We as humans are losing that communication and that humanity. There’s nothing to look forward to, everything is so predictable now with our high connectivity. It’s good in a way, but the way it’s being portrayed has been very negative overall. Social media has become more of a bragging platform than a tool for communication.
Punctuation, grammar, and spelling were paid less attention to, as postcards became more and more popular. People began to favour a less formal message system, rather than one of stiff letter writing, especially by the younger generations, who did not quite know how to follow the strict regulations of the proper form and etiquette of a formal letter. It became acceptable, and almost appropriate to converse using this simple way of communication. "Your photo received ok. We think it very good intended to see you before this but will some time soon." A quickly scribbled message, not restricted by punctuation or clear thought.
So to continue the slowly fading Postcard culture, I have written to a lot of people wishing them through Postcards. Spreading happiness and awareness, one postcard at a time!
I announced it on my Facebook account, to family, friends and strangers to send me their addresses if interested. And in a months time I had more than 50 addresses from 25 cities across India, which is more than a postcard a week, so I decided to send a couple a week.
Sending a postcard each week of the year has taught me how to stick to a project. The cards are interactive and they include my Sketchlogs and Artworks tagged with thoughts, quotes, poems, notes and message from me.
Its nice just mailing people things which have a human touch because we’re always texting. We don’t even call people any more, and its heart warming when people are looking forward to this.
Just a small step to spread a bit of love in an increasingly unstable world!
I am planning to upscale this by inviting more artists to the cause, where each artist can get their artwork on the back of the postcard, with the title, year of production, name of the artist and their Instagram account. Taking one step at a time spreading smiles.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/travel-tips-and-articles/76764
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/spreading-happiness-and-awareness-one-postcard-at-a-time