The Public Ledger

THE DECLINE OF THE OLD POSTAL CARD

Government statistics show that the sale of the plain old fashioned postal cards has greatly fallen off during recent years. The picture post card has of course driven it out of popularity.

Then, too, one questions if the old habit of postal card correspondence has not gone by.

Most of us can remember well maiden aunts and others who were noted for their ability to write long effusions on postal cards. Some of them prided themselves on the number of words that could be legibly written on a postal card. If memory serves aright, this would often run into the two or three hundreds. Fine pointed pens were pushed with a concise motion that is a lost art in these days when public school children are taught to use sweeping and quickly formed strokes

The cent that the postal card saved was a consideration in the eyes of maiden aunts and others. It was part of a well planned conservation of resources, by which bank books were acquired in days of small economies. A two-cent letter was a needless waste, in which not merely the stamp, but the cost of paper and envelope was an appreciable consideration.

The publicity of the postal card message of course might be considered a drawback. Still in the hey-day of this form of epistolary communication, it was assumed that if you lived in a small town your neighbors knew your business anyway.

The publicity of the message does not affect the sale of the modern post card. The messages thereon inscribed are so flat and routine that it is doubtful if the rural postmistress ever stops to read them.

It must be a tiresome task to wade through a score of cards, only to find such heart throbs as "Here I am at Washington! How are you? Fine weather. Goodby."