The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-15
STORY OF THE POSTCARD
M IL THIRTY YEARS OLD AND HAS
PROVED ITS USEFULNESS.
A German Idea Promptly Adopted in
England and Is Now Indispensa-
BILE Throughout the World.
London Times.

(Nov. 1. 1891, Is a concession by the post
Office which will be hailed with great salts
faction by postcard writer's. whose number
is Iegion. II is one that has for some time
been widely agitated for in this country.
Both the inland and the foreign cards will
be increased in size 10 81 inches by 81
inches, and these cards will eventually dis
place the present thin nlaid and stout OBJ
long cards and the present foreign cards.
They will be sold at the same prices as
those for the cards they supersede, and the
stout court" cards will continue TO be is
sued. Likewise the maximum size of pri-
vate cards will be increased to 5A inches by
3k inches TO correspond with the size Of the
new cards. These changes may not seem
in themselves of vast Importance, but when
the number Of persons whom they will af-
feet is taken into account they certainly
appear deserving Of notice. TIL postmas-
ter general states that the number of post
cards used in the year is at the present
time at the rate of 3S2, 2OO.OO which means
that IL the whole population were given to
postcard writing the average number of
cards used by each person would be 95. So
rapid, indeed, has been the growth Of cor
respondence by postcard that the number
" u5C0 annually ID AhoAO NANA 49,
the number used twelve years ago. These
are interesting and noteworthy facts, and
the change which takes place to-day in the
size of the cards will. without question,
mark a further important development In
the history of the postcard. a brief glance
at which may not be inopportune at the
present moment.
BORN IN GERMANY.
This humble. though very useful. factor
in the social economy of this country dates
back nearly thirty years. 1t was on oct.
!. 1870. that post cards were introduced
here. The idea, however, was not due to
native ingenuity, for similar cards had
been brought into use in Austria jusi one
year previously. being sold at two kreut-
GERS each. But the merit of inventing the
idea is really due to DR.. Stephan. the late
indefatigable postmaster general. who in
1896 Submitted to the delegates of a Ger
man postal congress held at Carlsruhe In
that year a new kind Of letter in the shape
of an open post card ~(ofense postblatD,
on one side of which were TO be written
the name n address and on the other
side the communication. These cards were
to be sold at a very low rate OF postage.
The plan, however. was not adopted, owing
to the fact that the German postal service
had not at that time the necessary uni
form organization, and also TO a fear that
its adoption would tend 10 decrease the
revenue. Whether or not this scheme was
known TO DR.. Emanuel Herman, of Vien-
Ia, Is not recorded, but 1t Is the fact
that that gentleman made a similar sug-
gestion in 1859 to the Austrian postoflce.
1t appears that DR.. Herman was forcibly
struck by the fact that a large number OF
letters was sent the Importance of whose
contents was in no proportion to the waste
or trouble and polite sentences involved.
and which might as well have been for
warded without covers. One-third of all
the letters, he reckoned, contained merely
simple information which might easily
have hoQn nnGfQd nnQU AT a lower rate of
postage. So imbued was he with the idea
that he forthwith suggested Ii, in an arti-
Gle TO the Neue Freie Presse. to the Aus
TRAN postofice authorities, who recognized
the value and Importance of the PROPOSE
ton so promptly that 1t was carried into
effect on Oct. 1 Of the same year. The plan
met with immediate popul favor, as may
be judged by the fact that in the first
month OF their use as many as 2,926, 102
cards were sold. The success of the sys-
tenn soon attracted the attention of other
countries, and six months later was brought
into use by the North German Confedera-
ton. The Southern German states soon fol-
lowed suit, as did also Belgium, Britain
and France, and within less than five years
postcards were being sold in every civil
lzed country In the world.
ADOPTED IN ENGLAND.
In our own country the subject was
brought TO the notice OF the postal author
tiles by means of an article published in
the Scotsman of Sept. II. 1859. There was
also considerable agitation by private indi-
viduals, but the idea was at first rejected.
On Feb. II, 1870, however. DIR. Lyon Play
fair (afterward Lord Playfair) presented
an extensively signed memorial in favor of
what was termed a card post" with the
result that Inquiries were instituted in
Austria The investigation would appear
TO have been quite satisfactory, for a pro-
posal TO issue postcards formed part Of
the 0aWcnanar hostage hill IF 1870 and fha
system came into actual operation. as al
ready stated, on Oct. 1 of that year. 1t is
curious to recall at the present day the
rid.cule and even hostility with which the
postcard was met on its Introduction. The
main argument against the postcard was
that IL would afford an opening for the ILL
directed Efforts OF those who indulge in
public libel and defamation Of character
for the purposes of venting their spite and
malice. The gunner was. of course, not
without reason, for the moral assassin is
unhappiiy one of the evils OF the age.
Fortunately. however, conviction OF such
a misdemeanor carries with IL penalties of
a sufficient deterrent character TO depress
the number OF cases OF the ktnd to a very
low average. Some people, too, urged that
the use OF a postcard was little short of an
insult 10 the recipient, inaSmuch as If the
communication were not worth a penny it
was not worth sending at all. This some
what foolish idea became dispelled as the
use of the postcard rapidly increased. No
one helped more in this direction, perhaps,
AAIaA LAIC AaNC III A1EO WIN AAL5 ALaAN
countless numbers happy by the receipt of
a card bearing his weIl-known writing.
There was yet another class of persons
who resented the Introduction OF the post
cards. They were those who still regarded
letter-wrfting as a fine art. This old school
OF letter-writers naturally looked upon the
innovation as the deathblow TO the careful
~ written epistles Of the past. That the
postcard may nave had some such effect
IS not. perhaps. TO be altogether disputed
but in an eminently utilitarian age like the
present the fact that post cards have be-
come a most useful and, indeed. indispen-
sable adjunct OF social and commercial in
tercourse must far outweigh any disadvan-
tage which the old world letter-writer as
cribes TO it's use.
Notwithstanding all the objections urged
against the system of post cards. their ust
In this country spread very rapidly. Or
the very hrst day OF their introduction $50
600 cards passed through the office at St
Martins lie Grand alone. while the weekly
number or cards posted throughout the
country averaged 100000. In the first year
OF their use the number of cards sent was
15.000.000. and since then they have i'm.
creased each year at an EXTRAORDINARY
rapid rate, until the present almost fabu,
lous number OF IS. zoo. DOC. as already
quoted, has been reached.
THE SYSTEMS GROWTH.
The system has not attained its existing
huge proportions without undergoing many
changes and improvements. Al the outset
only cards issued by the postonce were
allowed TO be used, and these were sold al