The Indian Postcard (Image Source: UX Planet)
The journey and the history of Indian Postcards are long and intricately connected with the evolution of the Indian Postal service. Though the communication services in India have their roots connected with the system of exchanging state messages through pigeons in the earlier days the present postal system is framed in the structure after the Colonial age came into existence in India on 31 March 1774. In the year 1837, the postal services developed a system, as the British government arranged for the distribution of mail State monopoly designed carriages, and made the service open to the general public accordingly. Because of this, the Indian Postal Service has become a public utility organisation. Hence, the Indian Post organisation that we know today was recognised as a separate institute in 1854.
British India King Edward VII Quarter Anna Post Card (Image Source: Amazon)
One-and-a-half Anna U.P.U. Postcard Sea Post Office (Image Source: Collector Bazaar)
The concept of postcards did not exist at the time when the first postal stamp that belonged to India was first issued on 1 October 1854. The concept of the postcard was conceived by Dr. Emanuel Hermann, the Austrian Economist who is known as one of the inventors of international postal cards. He coined the concept in 1869 when he stated that postcards are the cheapest means of communication. On 1 July 1879, the first postcards were issued in India. The designing and printing were done by Messrs Thomas De La Rue & CO. from London. The cards then were issued and circulated under two denominations, the ‘one-and-a-half Anna’ card for the countries that were associated with the Universal Postal Union and the ‘quarter Anna’ card which was used domestically.
Postcards were first printed in medium light buff or straw cards. The quarter Anna postcards used to have an “East India Post Card” inscription on them. It had the diademed head of Queen Victoria and the ‘coat-of-arms’ of Great Britain in the middle. The foreign postcard had the inscription of ‘Universal Postal Union’ in French and English on the top line. Both these postcards carried the message “the address only to be written on the side” on the diametric.
In the course of its long history, the postcard has gone through a great deal of evolvement. The word 'East' was removed and finalised with 'India Post Card' in 1899. In 1911, several new postcards were issued specially for official usage by the provincial and Central Governments to celebrate the coronation of King George V. Right after the Independence of India the first postcard was issued on 7 December 1949 with a new stamp design of Trimurti (three supreme trinities of Hindu religion i.e., Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara). The price of the local delivery postcard has got cheaper and has a brown base colour with a stamp of Konark Horse sculpture by 1950. As a token to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi, a series of three postcards portraying Gandhiji while spinning, Gandhiji at the Sabarmati Ashram, and Gandhiji’s bust frame on 2 October 1969.
In the fast-paced world of evolution and technological upliftment, postal services have faded a lot and are going behind the archival curtains. Still, it holds massive popularity and enjoys an immense number on the global postal exchange which nearly counts up to 2100 million and shares a fraternity among countries around the globe.
References:
