The Introduction of Postal Cards in Denmark

The introduction of Postal Cards in Denmark

By: Lars Engelbrecht

The idea is born

The world’s first Postal Card was introduced in Austria in 1869. In Denmark we find the first mentioning of Postal Cards in the following year. The documents regarding a possible introduction of Postal Cards in Denmark are kept in the Danish Postal Museum. This gives us the opportunity to reconstruct some of the thoughts that were done prior to the introduction of postal cards in Denmark in 1871.

In a document from 19 October 1870 the Danish Finance Ministry is informed by the Danish Post Office of the success of Postal Cards in England. Postal Cards were issued 1 October 1870 in England, and the sale of Postal Cards in the first period is described together with copies of the English Postal cards. This has obviously made an impression because soon after we find another document dated 7 November 1870 from H. H. Thiele.

H.H. Thiele was at this time the printer of all Danish stamps, and had also won the elicitation of envelopes in 1864, and in this document he estimates the production costs of Postal Cards. The calculation shows that the production of 100.000 Postal Cards would cost 245 Rigsdaler (Rdl) compared to the cost of only 28 Rdl for the production of 100.000 stamps. It is also interesting to see the distribution of production costs:

Paper for 100.000 cards 143 Rdl 32 sk Printing of 100.000 cards: 60 Rdl Counting and bundling: 41 Rdl 64 sk Total 245 Rdl

This shows how expensive the paper was compared to the printing. Paper in this thickness was not produced in Denmark but should be imported from Germany.

The difference in production prices of 217 Rdl between stamps and Postal Cards were also discussed a lot in the documents. This is because the success of Postal Cards in England to large extend was caused by the fact that Postal Cards were sold for the price of the imprinted stamp. This was different from the pricing of envelopes in Denmark (issued in 1865) where extra charge for the paper was taken. If the English pricing should be used in Denmark it would mean that expenses for paper and printing (0.24 sk per card) would not be added to the sales price.

But why was the Post Office interested in issuing Postal Cards? It was probably due to the same reasons as the Austrian Emanuel Hermann described in an article in January 1869 prior to the introduction of Postal Cards in Austria: 1) For the post office it will be easier to bundle cards of the same size instead of letters folded in different sizes. 2) A Postal Card is lighter than a typical letter. 3) The placing of the imprinted stamp the exactly same place makes mechanical canceling easier. 4) Lesser risk of fraud with previously used stamps. 5) Undeliverable Postal Cards are easier to return instead of opening and closing of letters. For the public the price of a Postal Card similar to the value of the imprinted stamp would save the expense for paper.

The discussion must have been in favor for introducing Postal Cards, so H. H. Thiele was asked to produce essays.

Postal Card essays

In late 1870 and early 1871 numerous essays were produced and sent for approval at the Danish Post Office.

The printed components on the essays are similar to those of other Postal Card issuing countries: Coat of Arms of reigning Monarch, the word “Brev-Kort” (Postal card), the word “Til” (to), instructions “Paa denne side skrives kun Adressen” (on this side write only the address), an ornate border and an imprinted stamp similar to the current stamp design.

There are five different types of essays recorded, and these five types are furthermore found in different colors and on different kind of paper. In the following the differences in the five types are described.

Text: The text on the five types vary in type, size and the use of hyphen or not.

Border: Two different borders were used: Greek style or crosses. The issued Postal Cards have another type of Greek border.

Imprinted stamp: The imprinted stamp used for the Postal Cards is similar to the one used on Danish stamps in the same period. The new stamp issue was introduced in 1870 and was printed in two colours (and they are still called “the bicoloured issue”). This means that there were two clichés – an oval and a frame. For the Postal cards the same stamp clichés are used – in fact a 2 skilling oval and a frame were combined and in the same way with a 4 skilling oval and a frame and only printed in one color. The 4 skilling Postal Cards have what is called a “normal frame” while the 2 skilling Postal Cards (and the essays) have an “inverted frame” (because the frame cliché was turned 180 degrees).

Paper size: The first four types of essays were made the “English Size” (126x93 mm). The fifth type is in the size of the issued cards (142x77 mm).

Paper color: The paper is found in different colors: White, crème, grey and yellow.

Colors: The different colors of the essays match the colors for each of the stamp values at the time: Blue (2 skilling), Lilac (3 & 48 skilling), Red (4 skilling), Brown (8 skilling) and Green (16 skilling).

The five types

In the table the characteristics of the five essay types are shown. Essay type Size First text line Second text line Border Colors

1 126 x 93 mm BREVKORT 65 mm Cross Blue Script type Without brackets Lilac 35 x 6 mm Without hyphen

2 126 x 93 mm BREV-KORT 48 mm Cross Blue Script type Without brackets Lilac 39 x 6 mm Red With hyphen Brown Green

3 126 x 93 mm BREV-KORT 59 mm Greek Blue Roman type Without brackets Brown 57 x 7 mm Green With hyphen

4 126 x 93 mm BREV-KORT 48 mm Cross Blue Roman type Without brackets Lilac 42 x 4½ mm Brown With hyphen Green

5 142 x 77 mm BREV-KORT 52 mm Greek Blue Roman type With brackets Red 40 x 4½ mm With hyphen

The sequence is not random, but probably shows the development of the essays ending with the actual issued Postal Cards. The use of the different colors could indicate that it was intended to produce Postal Cards in numerous values. When making the type 5 essays it must have been decided to only produce 2 and 4 skilling Postal Cards, since this essay type only exist in blue and red.

I have recorded the number of each type of essays in private hands as well as in the Danish Postal Museum (in brackets).

Blue Lilac Red Brown Green Type 1 2 1 Type 2 2 4 4 (+2) 3 2 Type 3 1 2 (+2) 2 (+1) Type 4 4 (+1) 2 (+2) 2 (+1) Type 5 2 (+2) 1

In total 45 essays are recorded. 34 of these are privately owned. Most of the 34 essays originate from R. Friedl and S. Ringström and they have both numbered and signed their essays on reverse. Friedl was a stamp dealer in late 19th and early 20th century based in Vienna with good relations to Postal Administrations. Ringström was a Swedish collector who wrote the so far most detailed catalogs of Danish Postal Stationary. In these catalogs from 1968 and 1985 Ringström has described the 2 skilling essays, but his listing is incomplete: For instance has the type I essay been discovered since then. The introduction

Postal Cards were introduced in Denmark with Law of Post of 7 January 1871, that from April 1871 introduces blue 2 skilling and red 4 skilling Postal Cards. 2 skilling Postal Cards were for local use, but could also be used as printed matter in all of Denmark. 4 skilling Postal Cards were for domestic use. The rate for Postal Cards was the same as the rate for letters.

There is not an exact date of issue. The Official Announcement sent to the post offices 30 March 1871 mentions that Postal cards are available from the beginning of April. On the other hand we know from the recordings that Thiele delivered the first Postal Cards 28 March to the Post Office, so even though it is possible that the post offices received the Postal Cards before or on 1 April 1871, it is unlikely. The earliest recorded use of a Danish Postal Card is 5 April 1871.

More information on Danish Postal Stationery on the internet: www.postalstationery.dk

I would like to thank Ray Kelly, Australia and Erik Jensen, The Danish Postal Museum for valuable information for this article.

If you are in possession of a Danish Postal Stationery essay, I would very much like to hear from you in order to record the item: Lars Engelbrecht, Bistrupvej 53, 3460 Birkeroed, Denmark. E-mail: [email protected]

References:

Ringström, S. Danmarks, Dansk Vestindiens, Slesvigs, Islands helsager. Aarhus 1968 and Trelleborg, Sverige 1985 Benedictus, S. R. The Skilling Postcards of Denmark, Scandinavian Contact jun. 1970, page 132-133 Engelbrecht, Lars Danmarks helsagsbrevkort med de tofarvedes tegning 1871-1879. Artikel 1: Introduktion og typer i rammegruppe 1. NFT 2000, 1