How to buy postcards in 1906

[Des_Beechey]

I have been reading the correspondence of 1906 between J. Walch and Sons and their London agent. This is wonderfully preserved in the Archives Office of Tasmania. Walch's were the main stationers in Hobart and published lots of postcards. But they also imported large quantities of cards from England - actresses, British scenery and towns, cathedrals and all the other cards that were used in Tasmania at the time.

Walch's retained a London agent named Herbert Bishop. Walch's told him generally or specifically what they wanted and he sourced, selected, purchased and shipped the cards to Hobart. In 1906, postage from Hobart to London took 5 weeks, so if goods were needed urgently a telegram was sent. But telegrams (sent by undersea cable) cost a shilling PER WORD at a time when the basic wage was 42 shillings per week. To cut down the number of words, they agreed on code words for particular goods.

The extract below is from a letter of 31 August 1906, from Bishop in London to Walch's in Hobart. It provides the code words to be used in future telegram orders for batches of postcards like those that Bishop (HB) had previously selected and sent:

Peasant £5 worth Philco plain silver print Xmas cards as invoiced by HB Aug 29/06.
Pebble £10 worth ditto ditto
Pectoral £5 worth coloured actresses assorted like those invoiced by HB Aug 29/06
Peculiar £10 worth ditto ditto
Pedant £15 worth ditto ditto
Parody £5 worth Cynicus cards the latest and best like those invoiced by HB Aug 29/06
Parol £10 worth ditto ditto

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The letters in 1906 are full of correspondence about postcards. Bishop was selecting the best and most saleable cards and sending them off to Hobart in bulk. This example shows that he was buying from Philco and Cynicus, but other letters show that he bought from Beagles, Rapid Photo, Rotary Photo, and the other brands that we on British cards that were sold in Tasmania.

Des Beechey