Christmas special: Postcard Stockings galore! - Picture Postcard ...

Royal Mail keeps going... for now
The postal dispute is over for the time being, but the
underlying causes have apparently not been solved.
What we have is a truce, an opportunity for sober
reflection and discussion - a situation similar to the
end of the previous dispute, in 2007. For most people
the strikes that occurred in October did not have too
serious an effect, but the perception of possible delays
and disruptions badly dented users’ confidence in the
system. In some areas of London, where unofficial
walkouts have been causing chaos for months, deliveries
have been unreliable and intermittent.
We have argued many
times before for the continuation
of Royal Mail in public
hands as a universal oneprice-for-all
service with a
long and noble history. The
postal system touches postcard
collectors in two ways:
firstly, in a historical sense -
the mail service was the
means by which millions of
postcards were distributed,
and many collections focus
on postmarks or cards
showing post offices, postboxes,
or postmen and
women. Half the fascination
of picture postcards is in the
journeys they’ve undertak-
Postboxes unlimited. Royal
Mail holds all the cards on
this postcard published earlier
this year by the London
Borough of Hounslow and
designed by Lesley Jones
from Orleans Park School.
Sadly, the trend is in the
opposite direction, with the
service likely to be privatised
after the next election,
against the wishes of most
members of both parliament
and the public.
There’s no post for Miss
Andsum, not even a Valentine
card, on this Edwardian
postcard published in the
‘Smart Novels’ series. Perhaps
she popped in on one
of the strike days?
Right: Donald McGill’s
young lady is desperate to
catch the postman on this
Inter-Art Co.-published
card, posted at Blackpool in
September 1922
en. Secondly, the mail is
crucial for the smooth running
of the hobby as
approvals, or purchases
from auctions or internet
sites wing their way across
the world.
Royal Mail is still a
marvellous service, and
fewer packages go astray
than is often thought, but
the recent closures of post
offices, abolition of second
delivery (or, in many cases,
first delivery) and Sunday
collections raise fears of
how much the service
would be downgraded in
the event of privatisation.
Attempted and abandoned
by the current government,
it will be one of the first
things on the agenda of a
Cameron government if
elected. Derided by internet
buffs as ‘snail mail’ and
talked down by commentators
with an agenda as a
declining industry, Royal
Mail, the best brand name
in Britain, is crucial to collectors
and communities in
so many important ways. It,
and its excellent post office
and postal staff, deserve
support.
The place for postcards!
Spotted recently: an envelope
with an advert for the
shop of J. O. Emes of High
Street, Moreton-in-Marsh. It
described him as a hairdresser,
stationer and
tobacconist, but right at the
top of the advert was “The
shop for picture postcards”.
��A stunning exhibition of old postcards was held recently
at Terrassa in Spain’s Catalonia province. The show, and
an accompanying catalogue, was set up by collectors
Montse Saludes, Rafael Comas and Ana Fernandez.
Picture Postcard Monthly December 2009 5