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.