Queen Victoria Post Office Postcards 1870-1900

Introduction

Austria introduced the first postcard in 1869. A thin buff card, embossed with a 2kr yellow stamp, when the normal letter rate was 5kr. On the front were 3 lines for the address and a blank reverse for the correspondence. Its praises were sung by the British Press and by Members of Parliament, although the then Secretary of the Post Office was not of the same feeling. A petition was raised and eventually the Postmaster General Lord Hartington conceded and the halfpenny postcard was legalised in the Post Office Act 1870.

De La Rue were the printers and suggested a size of 4¾" x 3½" (size e) but this was slightly larger than the average letter, so the Inland Revenue requested a slightly smaller size of 4¾" x 2½"(size a). These were both sold as individual cards, packs of 12 or whole sheets of 36 or 42 respectively, for the purchaser to print their own adverts on, and then have guillotined themselves.

This display will show the vast range of the Post Office issued postcards of Queen Victoria up to 1900, when the colour was changed to green to follow new UPU guidelines on colour/rates for members.

Cards varied in style (Format), size and colour. Initial colour was Lilac (shades) but this only lasted for the first two cards, then changed to the GPO preferred brown ink. Subsequent cards were either brown or red ink.

Sizes are as follows:

(a) 2½" X 4¾".
(d) 3½" x 4½" (Court size)
(b) 3¼" x 5½"
(e) 3½" x 4¾"
(c) 3¼" X 5½"
(f) 3½ X 5½"

There were 8 different Head types (impressed stamps). The first two were only used once. The others were used on several different issues.

References:

Collect British Postal Stationery. Huggins and Baker, 2007
Collect British Postmarks. 9th Edition, Stanley Gibbons

(link)

Queen Victoria Post Office Postcards 1870-1900

Introduction

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