To mark the release of Irish Politics in Postcards the Ulster Historical Foundation would like to offer an invite to the launch of this book. This event will take place on Friday, 24th June 2016 at 6:30pm (for 7:00pm) in the Discover Ulster-Scots Centre, 1-9 Victoria St, Belfast, Co. Antrim BT1 3GA.

Dr. Eamon Phoenix will be the guest speaker on the night and light refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP to:
Ulster Historical Foundation
The Corn Exchange
31 Gordon Street
Belfast BT1 2LG
Tel: +44(0)28 9066 1988
E-mail: enquiry@uhf.org.uk

Please be advised that Irish Politics in Postcards is also now available to order from our online bookstore at: www.booksireland.org.uk

The exact origin of the picture postcard is in dispute but all who have taken an interest in the topic would be in agreement that they date from the latter part of the nineteenth century. What would also be beyond dispute is the era in which they first flourished in Britain and Ireland. That phenomenon can largely be attributed to a decision of the Post Office in 1894, that henceforth, it would accept for delivery cards with pictures. Prior to this, plain cards only, had been accepted by the postal authorities.

Even the plain cards had already proved their popularity, for in their first year of production (1870-71), sales figures had reached 75,000,000. The introduction of pictures further stimulated demand, and yet a further surge was brought about by an Act of Parliament in 1902, which for a charge of a 1/2d (halfpenny), allowed the sender to include both the address and a message on the reverse, thus leaving the whole of the front available for a picture. This new concession helped usher in a golden age of postcards, which lasted for about a quarter of a century. at the peak of their popularity, about 800,000,000 postcards were being posted per year.