Postcards - which style of sender are you?

A postcard from a member of the family or a close friend is always nice to receive.

The cards come in two forms. One, the card that you expected and the second type that come as a complete surprise. Frequently these are from people that you have not seen in years.

Knowing the date that your family or friend went off on holiday tells you a lot about their card sending habits, or possibly the speed of postal services involved.

For instance, lets say that a week from a UK South Coast resort can seem quite a long time, whereas a week from Central Africa is almost immediately.

The content again falls into two types. Four or five words to prove that they actually arrived, and printed in capital letters, fifteen degrees to the top edge of the card.

The alternative is a small epistle on everything that has occurred in the previous five days and comprising of the weather, the accommodation, the journey down, facilities for children, and the proximity of the nearest pub, etc. etc.

For these offerings you will certainly need a magnifying glass.

I have noticed that both these types of card have a habit of remaining pinned firmly to the corkboard in the kitchen. Here they gather dust for up to two years beyond the date of posting.

I remember a slogan from the nineteen sixties, ‘A postcard is better than a letter.’  With me that is very true.

 

David Taylor