(IV) POSTCARDS
The idea of postcards originated with Dr. H. von Stephan, who submitted a proposal for their introduction at the meeting of the delegates of the German Postal Union at Karlsruhe in
1865. Dr. von Stephan had realized that the ordinary form of the letter missive, although most suitable in many ways for many kinds of correspondence, was not always convenient. Much commercial correspondence might be conducted with briefer and less formal communications, and for such short and urgent messages a simple and less costly means would be welcomed.
The proposal was therefore for the issue of cards which should be addressed on the front, and at the back should bear the written message.[522] The cards should be transmitted unenclosed. The proposal was not well received by the delegates. It was, however, revived in 1869 by Professor Herrmann of Vienna, who brought it to the notice of the Austrian postal administration. It was viewed favourably by that administration, and the cards were introduced in the Austrian service on the 1st October 1869, being sold at the price of 5 kreuzer. The innovation was an immediate success, nearly three million cards being sold in the first three months; and following on this success the cards were soon introduced in most other countries.
Except in France, and for the first two years in Germany, the rate charged has from the first been one-half the minimum rate for letters. In France the minimum for postcards bearing ordinary messages has never been less than 10 centimes.[523] This reduction of 50 per cent. cannot be justified
on any ground of cheaper handling. The manipulation and conveyance of postcards is perhaps slightly less expensive than that of ordinary light letters, but any such difference is small, and in point of fact postcards are usually regarded as causing a little more trouble in the process of sorting. For all practical purposes it may safely be assumed that postcards and ordinary light letters involve approximately the same cost for their handling and transmission.[524] This difference in the rates of postage charged on ordinary light letters and postcards, respectively, is therefore either a standing evidence of the fiscal character of the rate for light letters, or of the uneconomic character of one or other of the rates, or of both.
The postcard has proved immensely popular. Its use for formal and unconfidential communications is a great convenience. By avoiding the necessity for folding and enclosing in envelopes, time is saved in the making up of correspondence for the post; and the saving in postage when a quantity is sent out is very considerable. The cards are a convenience also in the practical working of the Post Office service. Their use diminishes both the weight and bulk of the mails; on account of their lightness and uniformity of size and shape large numbers can be packed together in small space. In this respect they contrast strongly with the irregularly shaped packets of books or of general merchandise, which represent the maximum of encumbrance to Post Office working. The introduction of the picture postcard gave a great impetus to the use of this means of correspondence. Except in France, the traffic has assumed large dimensions. In the United Kingdom in 1913-14 the total number of postcards was about 926,000,000, while the total number of packets passing at the letter rate was about 3,478,000,000.[525]