History seen through postcards
Postcards from then and now provide insight into our communication, everyday life, and cultural history
Today, postcards are mainly used for private holiday greetings, as merchandise from companies, or as a coveted collector's item, but a historical look at postcards tells of another and more communicative function.
- Postcards show our cultural and communicative history, says Henrik Selsøe Sørensen, Associate Professor at the Department of International Culture and Communication Studies. He has recently published a book about the history of postcards called "Fra billedhilsen til postkort" ("From picture greetings to postcard")
Postcards in Denmark can be dated back to 1883, when the first picture greetings were sent through the mail services, and the illustrated card had its heyday in the beginning of the 20th century - just before the telephone became the fastest communication tool. Until then, postcards were a medium for everyday practical messages and thereby an attractive alternative to writing letters.
Evidence of that time
Postcards moreover have the quality that they tell about their age.
Postcards reflect the everyday life and development of society. Often they are satiric commentaries to, for example, politicians and, more rarely, business people, says Henrik Selsøe Sørensen.
The picture below is a good example of this.
Today, postcards are the world's second most popular collector's item after stamps, and in rare cases, they are sold for several thousand Danish kroner.
In this card, drawn by Carl Røgind in 1904, Axel Heide, Director of the old Danish bank, Privatbanken, is in a splendid mood. He has all the pieces, while Isak Glückstadt, Director of another old Danish bank, Landmandsbanken, is cleaned out. They were both on the board of the company, Østasiatisk Kompagni, but it was Heide who had the most pieces to play with, for instance, the trams, which his bank had taken control of in 1902 after the collapse of the company, Strandvejens Dampsporvejsselskab. Valued at: 100-200 Danish kroner.