This November we take a look at a report published in the magazine "El Digital de Barcelona" which examines the origin of Barcelona’s first postcards, and particularly their design and use.
This November we take a look at a report published in the magazine “El Digital de Barcelona” which examines the origin of Barcelona’s first postcards, and particularly their design and use. The article was produced in collaboration with the Cercle Cartòfil de Catalunya, an organisation which, for the past 25 years, has been devoted to Catalan postcards, and specifically to studying, collecting and disseminating them.
The first postcard designed in Barcelona dates from the year 1894, and it adhered to the stylistic tenets previously used on postcards in Austria and Germany. The illustrated front of the card is comprised of small images of the city’s most famous sights, such as the Christopher Columbus monument, Ciutadella Park and Arc de Triomf. It also features the legend: “Recuerdo de Barcelona” (Souvenir of Barcelona). Not many copies of this card are known to exist, but the magazine report mentions that Ramon Pla, the chairman of the Cercle, has a copy in his collection dated 1898, and which was sent by a French tourist to his family back home.
In the late 19th century and the early 20th, postcards became very popular. At a time when photography was not widely available (and neither, of course, were audiovisual media in general), picture postcards enabled people to discover the most emblematic places and monuments in other towns and cities. It was a popular, practical way of using the postal service to enjoy the experience of tourism. What’s more, the cost of sending a postcard was half that of a letter, and this made it even more appealing to the general public.
By the way, you may have noticed that some of these postcards feature handwritten text in every available space. This is because at first, postcards were not designed for writing messages on. That function was reserved for letters, which explains why, as we have seen, it cost more to post a letter. However, people continued to challenge this rule until finally, in 1905, the Postal Service changed the design of the postcard to include a vertical line on the back, thus separating the space to be used for the addressee’s name and address from the much-desired space for writing a message.
You will find the complete article by clicking on the following link.
