Postcards are the most representative type of printed ephemera. When the idea of writing a message on a card without an envelope was proposed, people were suspicious of this new mode of communication. For example, one of the concerns was privacy as messages were not covered. The practice of pre-paying the postage for postcards was also untried. The first postcards, then called Correspondenz-Karte ‘correspondence card’, were issued by Austria-Hungary in 1869. Surprisingly, shortly after the official release, sending postcards immediately became a fashionable mode of communication. One of the reasons for its success was the cheaper postage and quicker delivery compared to letters.
The design of early postcards was simply blank cards without any pictures. The front of the card contained the preprinted postage and a space for writing the recipient’s address. The back of the card was reserved for writing the message. Later, people began to add decorations such as drawings on the plain cards to make them look more appealing. For example, the featured postcard above shows the drawing of a typical Chinese junk. The drawer even noticed the painted eyes usually found on the bow of junks. The postcard was sent from Hong Kong to Hamburg, Germany in 1898.
The lack of privacy may be the main reason why messages are often short and formulaic. However, it is not uncommon to find long and quite detailed descriptions of the sender’s journey and experience. The featured postcard is one example. Given the limited space for writing, writers had to find ways to maximize the writing space. One creative method was using cross writing as shown in the postcard below. You can see that the lines intersect each other. Crossed lines were used in writing letters in the 19th century because postage was expensive back then and charges were determined by weight. Cross-writing not only increased the space for writing but also made it difficult for others to read the message.
Sending postcards became even more popular when illustrations, pictures, and later photographs were printed on one side of the postcards. While this change made postcards more attractive, it greatly reduced the space for writing messages. The layout of current postcards dates back to 1902 when the design called “divided back” began to be used. Consequently, while the image occupied one side of the postcard, the address and the message shared the space on the other side. As tourism prospered and printing and photography technologies advanced in the early 20th century, the period also saw the golden era of postcards. People not only send postcards but also collect postcards from different places. The study and collection of postcards is called deltiology. In order to fill their postcard books with beautiful pictures and photos, people even wrote to strangers to ask for an exchange of postcards. Hoping to get postcards and stamps from Hong Kong, a French girl wrote the following message:
“I have seen your address in Weldons. I would like to have post cards of Hong Kong will you exchange with me? and put the stamp on view side Tell me what could you like”
Hong Kong was occupied by Britain on 26 January 1841 and postal services were provided in the same year. The first Post Office was a small building erected near St. John’s Cathedral. In 1877, Hong Kong became a member of the Universal Postal Union.