Postcards are still used in many parts of the world, including India and
other countries:
India
Postcards are still used in India, though their use has decreased in urban
areas. Postcards are a preferred mode of communication for many people, and
are cheaper than phone calls or SMSs.
Holiday greetings
Many people still send postcards to loved ones back home as part of the
holiday experience.
Institutions
Some institutions still use postcards, such as residents welfare
associations (RWAs) and retail merchants.
World War I postcards
A Western history professor is leading a project to mail back replicas of
postcards sent during World War I.
Litho postcards
Litho postcards are still being printed today with an added “chrome”
coating.
Postcard apps
There are apps that offer free international shipping on postcards
Postcards are becoming a rarity as travellers tend to snap pictures and
share them with friends online, rather than seek out a post office and buy
stamps.
Although just 39 per cent of people surveyed say they never send postcards
when travelling, according to a British survey, only 18 per cent of Britons
still send a postcard each time they go away.
More than one in five of those questioned said they used to send postcards
to their loved ones, but do not any more.
It is not a generational shift, however. While older generations grew up
using analogue forms of communication, it is millennials who send the most
postcards, according to the poll by Britain’s InsureandGo, an online travel
insurance provider.
Postcard enthusiast Gesa Funke writes on a postcard in her flat in Berlin,
Germany, in 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: AFP
Postcard enthusiast Gesa Funke writes on a postcard in her flat in Berlin,
Germany, in 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: AFP
More than half of millennials (53 per cent) send postcards when they
travel, followed by Gen Z (aged 16 to 26), of whom 47 per cent send
postcards while away. After that came Gen X (aged 43 to 58), with 34 per
cent sending postcards.
Many who send postcards say it is because of a family tradition or a
personal habit, or wanting to connect with loved ones by sharing
experiences of travel.
Although fewer people may be sending postcards, some 41 per cent like
receiving them, the survey said. They cited feeling happy, remembered, and
loved as the three emotions most frequently mentioned upon receiving one.
People also often keep postcards they receive, sometimes for a very long
time.
One of them is Jürgen Hartwig, a German collector who has collected half a
million postcards over decades.
Kept in shoeboxes, some are pretty unusual. One is a portrait of a woman
covered with real hair. Another, from Lake Constance, is decorated with
dried edelweiss. Some are made of wood, silver foil or even cork.
A postcard showing a herd of pigs under a tree, by Franz Marc, 1913. Photo:
Altonaer Museum
A postcard showing a herd of pigs under a tree, by Franz Marc, 1913. Photo:
Altonaer Museum
Hartwig, reasoning he “can’t take the cards to heaven and I can’t take them
to hell, because they would burn”, is now searching for a museum.
Germany has no plans yet for a postcard museum, although the Altonaer
Museum in Hamburg has a large collection, with some 1.5 million postcards.
Postcards have a special place in Germany – they were conceived by postal
reformer Heinrich von Stephan. In 1865, he proposed the introduction of an
“open post sheet” as a simple and inexpensive alternative to the letter.
The Austro-Hungarian postal service introduced it on October 1, 1869.
A few years later, the plain postcard was spruced up with pictures,
resembling the cards we know today.
“Because printing technology was so well developed in Germany, cards were
produced for the whole world. Everyone was enthusiastic about it, there was
a real picture postcard mania,” says historian Veit Didczuneit, head of
collections at Berlin’s Communication Museum.
Collecting was widespread at the time and there was hardly a motif that did
not end up on a card. Wars and disasters were often depicted. Before
television, postcards were an important way to share information.
While collectors remain passionate about the cards, postal operator
Deutsche Post is not very optimistic.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing a similar trend with postcards as with
letters. Volumes have been falling for years and we expect them to continue
to decline in the coming years,” says spokesman Alexander Edenhofer.
In 2023, Deutsche Post delivered around 95 million postcards.
Didczuweit is excited about new approaches to postcards, citing
Postcrossing, an online site that encourages strangers around the world to
send postcards to others.
The concept of the individual postcard as we now know it was invented by
Dr. Heinrich von Stephan in Prussia in 1865. His idea was rejected at the
time, but the first postcard was sent in Austria-Hungary four years later,
in 1869 Antique Postcards - Although the word Antique is generally
considered to mean an item over 100 years old, many collectors use the term
antique postcards to describe cards of the 1893 - 1920 period, also known
as the Golden Age. Once you are sure about this hobby and willing to invest
money in it, you can bid on the more scarce or otherwise valuable lots. The
most expensive postcard ever sold ($ 45,370.70) is believed to be world's
oldest card, sent by writer Theodore Hook to no one other than himself in
1840.
For those who have forgotten, Francis Crick, along with his partner,
James Watson, discovered the nature of the DNA molecule. To put it more
bluntly, they discovered how physical characteristics, and life itself, is
transmitted from one individual to another. They were first to understand
how the DNA molecule could copy itself, and thereby transmit life to
another. Crick and Watson had been working on models of the DNA molecule,
trying to break the code. On the last day of February, 1953, they had their
voilà moment. They suddenly realized how everything must fit together
within the molecule for it all to work.
Crick was not shy in recognizing its importance. He announced to others,
only “half-jokingly” as Watson would later write, that they had found “the
secret of life.” The two spent March busily constructing models to get it
down right, and began to prepare a paper they would submit to Nature
magazine on April 2 announcing their discovery. It was during this period
that Crick would write his $6 million letter. It was not directed to a
fellow scientist or researcher. Instead, it was sent to a 12-year-old boy.
That boy was Michael Crick, Francis's son, off at boarding school. Crick
regularly explained such things to his son, who was interested in secret
codes, so this clearly would have fascinated him. In his letter, Crick
explains as clearly as possible what has been discovered. This is the first
known written explanation of the discovery, and probably the only first
account of such a major scientific discovery to conclude with the line,
“Lots of love, Daddy.”
Crick Francis Crick begins his letter modestly with, “Jim Watson
and I have probably made a most important discovery. We have built a model
for the structure of des-oxy-ribose-nucleic-acid (read it carefully) called
D.N.A. You may remember that the genes of the chromosomes - which carry the
hereditary factors - are made up of protein and D.N.A. Our structure is
very beautiful.” He goes on to say, “...we think we have found the basic
copying mechanism by which life comes from life.” He also explains in more
detail how its reproduction works, and even provides a crude drawing of
their double helix model. Crick promises to show the model to his
12-year-old son when he comes home.
The importance of the discovery and the significance of this letter
was well understood by Christie's. Its existence has long been known, it
carrying the sobriquet of the “Secret of Life” letter. They slapped an
estimate of $1 - $2 million on it. Not even they were prepared for what
happened. By the time the bidding stopped, the price had crossed the $6
million mark (including commissions). The final price was $6,059,750. The
letter was purchased by an unnamed buyer who placed a bid by telephone.
The auction included only two other items, both relating to Crick,
and both easily surpassing estimates. An early 1950s four-page manuscript
notebook, estimated at $4,000-$6,000, sold for $21,250. A pencil drawing of
Crick by his wife, Odile, estimated at $8,000 - $12,000, went for $17,500.
Odile Crick was an artist, though she is best known for her drawing of the
double helix used by her husband and Watson.
Thank you all K Rajaram IRS 201024
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'venkat giri' via iyer123 <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 at 08:31
Subject: [iyer123] POST CARD
To: Iyer <[email protected]>
*Respected Sir/s,*
*SUBJECT: **POST CARD*
*October 19, 1869 -* *The postal card was introduced 155 years ago.*
* In 1869, the first postcard was issued by the
Austrians. It was designed by **Dr. Emmanuel Herrmann **of the Military
Institute of Vienna.*
* When the International Postal Union was formed in 1875, the
postal card system was introduced in India in 1879 by the efforts of an
English officer named **MONTEIAH**, who was the then **Director General of
the Indian Post Office.*
*Post Card is an open communication on a card of prescribed size*. It is a
card on which a message may be written for mailing without an envelope and
to which the sender must affix a stamp. A postcard is a small, rectangular
piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically used for sending messages
to recipients. Postcards are particularly useful for sending greetings,
sharing travel experiences, or staying in touch with friends and family*.**
It* is *a** card* that one writes a message on and sends to somebody. Postcards
are used to convey clear messages, ideas, or communicate with other people
in a short*, eye-catching way*. Postcards are also used as souvenirs.
*Nowadays,
due to their effectiveness, most companies and people use postcards for
commercial purposes.*
* First restricted by size, colour, 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**. Today **deltiology, or
the collection of postcards, is a popular hobby. **The word comes from the
Greek word DELTION, which means "small writing tablet". *
*Deltiology is the third most popular collecting hobby in the world, after
collecting stamps and money. *
*The hobby originated in the late 19th century when postcards were first
printed. Postcard collectors are called, Deltiologists.*
*The postcard is an emotive, tangible representation of affection. The
postcard has had different functions and uses over its history. **Its
future however is down to us.*
*POST CARD* *is available in two varieties: Single & reply Post
Card. Post Cards are used for transmission within India only.*
*Dimensions: 14 cm × 9 cm (length and breadth).*
*Privately PRINTED post cards shall not be thinner or more flexible than an
embossed post card; will have to be of the same size and thickness. *
*All along, the humble **yellow* *postcards occupied a greater space*
*World Postcard Day is observed on 1st October every year.*
*Regards*
*V.Sridharan*
*Trichy*
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