Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-29
POPULAR POSTCARDS
AT THE ZENITH OF PUBLIC
FAVOR NOW.
Idea First Preached as Long as Forty
Years Ago-The Many Varie-
ties Used.
From the London Globe.

popularity. Thousands of people collect
them, and what strikes the philatelist as
strange is that the majority do so, not for
any postal interest that the card may pos
sess, but merely for the picture on the
back. Doubtless the views of localities,
the reproductions of famous pictures, por-
traits of celebrities and representations Of
geological specimens-which all but cover
the back of the picture postcard. and
which leave the writer but scant room
for his episte-are very well executed;
but why should these representations be
the more priced because they are printed
on pieces of cardboard sent through the
post, and consequently pictures more or
less injured? We admit that there is logic
in writing to a friend from a locality he
does not know beneath view of that local
ity. but why Edwin at Chaplain should
write to Angelina at Hampstead beneath
the representation of a rhinoceros battles
understanding.
However, it is not from the pictorial but
from the historical standpoint that we are
going to speak of the postcard. Nearly
forty years ago the doctrine that an open
communication should pass through the
post for half the amount charged for one
closed up was preached at a postal confer
ence held at Carlsruhe, but the doctrine
was regarded as heresy, and was not again
publicly propounded. 1t did not need to be,
for in October, 1869, the experiment was
tried-tried by Austria and tried so sue
cessfully that it became evident that the
universal acceptance Of the postcard was
only matter of time. The officiahsSrgu-
ment against 1t was always the Same|t
would give the would-be libeler an excellent
opportunity of disseminating his libels in
singularly dangerous fashion. This conten-
ton had no public acceptance, for the pub
lie desired the postcard; but it was so sue
ceSSfully urged that nearly a year elapsed
before any country followed Austria's lead
Then the North German Confederated
States, Wurtemberg, Bavaria and Luxem-
burg, did so, and Great Britain followed
suit in October of the same year, 1870.
The Postcard in India.
Somewhat amusing are the means by
which the use of the postcard has been
forced upon reluctant governments, that of
British India, for instance. Europeans in
India, accustomed to the convenience Of the
postcard at home, clamored for similar
convenience in the east, but the Indian
post office met their petitions time after
time with one and the same answer: If
postcards were issued, no one would use
them The obvious retort Then why do
SO many people ask for them?" had no
weight on the obdurate post office, and so
matters went till 1877, when a certain
military officer determined to prove that
the Indian public would avail itself Of the
postcards were they able to do And
he Issued a card bearing on the CORE
spondence side his name and rank: Fred
erick Brine, lieutenant colonel, Royal En-
gineers,' and on these cards he conducted
SO much Of his own correspondence as
could be conducted on a card and induced
his friends to do the same, OF course affix-
ing to the cards stamps to defray the cur
rent rate of postage for an ordinary letter.
Numbers OF these card letters passed
through the post, and annoyed at the OBJ
ject lesson taught to it, the Indian post Of
flee directed Colonel Brine to discontinue
using them. The colonel replied that if he
and his friends chose to write their letters
on pieces Of cardboard instead of sheets Of
paper, they would continue to do SO. and
that the post office could not compel the
1nclosing Of letter in an envelope. The
legal advisers of the post office held he was
right, and the Indian government had to
admit that, as numbers Of persons found it
convenient to conduct their correspondence
on cards-though by so doing they saved
nothing in postage-still greater numbers
would use postal cards which would pass
through the post at half the ordinary let
ter rate. And so the gallant colonel won
his victory.
In Tasmania
That the battle should have been neces-
sary seems remarkable Yet just such an
other was fought between the public and
the authorities in Tasmania, and, strange
to say, late as the year 1880. The in
land postage rate in Tasmania for let
ter was then twopence, and the outcry for
a penny postcard was loud. 1t was put
forward and passed in the house of as
sembly, but condemned by the legislative
council for the regular stock reason. Then
the proprietor of one of the Hobart Town
newspapers issued, as Colonel Brine had
done, card inscribed, ''Walch's Tasma-
Man postcard
''All persons who approve of the introduce
ton of penny postal card for delivery in
any part of the colony are solicited to en-
courage the movement by the use Of this
card The cards had, of course, to bear
the 2-penny stamp as ordinary letters
Walch's card was quickly in general USE
and in 1882 the Tasmanian post Office is
sued an official postcard, which passed
through the post for one penny. These In
dian and Tasmanian postcards had of
course, no artistic merit Other colonial is
sues at first possessed little more, for they
were executed in the particular little colony
that issued them, and In only a Few cases
was the stamp impressed upon them; they
were franked by an ordinary adhesive
stamp. After a time, however, many of
the outlying parts of our empire INDUCED
in postcards of ornate design, which were
mostly executed at home by Messrs. De
La Rue & Co.
Interesting Specimen.
In the opinion of one Of the leading phil
atelsts Of own country, Mr.. e. D.
Bacon, the most curious postcard ever pro-
duced is that put forth by the Japanese
government In 1873. 1t is, he says, really
a sheet of paper folded so as to form four
pages of a narrow book. On the front page
is border inclosing an impressed stamp
for the postage rate and q space for the
address. On the second page are printed
In native characters only, minute directions
for use On the third page ruled a
number Of vertical lines, between which the
sender was to write his communication
and the fourth page was blank" An i'm
mense number of differences occur in the
type and wording of instructions-so many
in fact. that the number of varieties ex-
ceeds those furnished by any other country.
They remained in use until May, 1875 when
cards of an ordinary shape took their
place.
So much for the history of postcards,
which certainly forms an important chapter
in the annals of the postal system of the
world Let us in conclusion add a few
words as to its interests as an object of
philatelic collection. For some reason 1t
| has never been popular with the stamp COL
| lector; It's present interest with the public
| at large is-as we pointed out at the COM
| meDcement of these observations--certa
| not philatelic. Yet for the philatelist the
! postcard should have this attraction over
great many issues of adhesive stamps-it
| was never made to draw money out Of his
| pocket. Numbers of postage stamps 1--WE
| quoting again from Mr. RacopN uo,l3