I am fascinated by the messages on old postcards. The limited space means that they are often no more than single sentences written in clipped English.
This one was sent sometime after 1912 judging by the George V half-penny stamp.
The message asks its recipient to meet the sender off a train.
“Just a line to let you know I shall come on Friday. I shall reach Meldon with afternoon train and expect you will be able to come to the station.”
It’s succinct and to the point. It’s also social. A postcard can be passed around and shared. Now we’d use email, Facebook, SMS or Twitter of course, but the message would be equally brief.
Almost a hundred years on the content of our messages hasn’t changed, only the way we send and share them.
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‘Pat you slobbering, lethargic, union-crazed fool, stop reading this postcard and get on with your round’.
102 characters.
Doesn’t the postmark say Ap 22 09 — April 22 1909? In which case it’s Edward VII, not George V.
A
Yes the postmark is ’09 but the stamp looks like light green George V or VI. But you’re right it can’t be either if the postmark is 1909 as George V only came to the throne in 1910. It must be an Edward VII green half penny. Thanks for the correction
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Whatever the exact age of this card, a more hi-tech form of social media was also in use at this time – amateur radio. Similarly short social messages in morse code were being passed around the world, in real time.