Costs for sending letters/postcards

[Sarah S]

Hello everyone,

this question is a bit “unusual” and I didn’t really know where to ask this..

The most important way to convey a message to friends and relatives in early 20th century was by writing them letters, sending postcards etc. There is an extra book about all the writings of Officer Wilde for example. Especially as officers, you were away from home for long periods so I assume they wrote many letters to their loved ones.

How much did it cost? Was it very expensive? Officer Moody often corresponded with his sister and brother so I wonder if he needed to worry much about the costs for these postcards and how many he wrote to them/could afford to send them? Thank you.

 

[Willow Sinclair]

hi! this was a super interesting question and I tried to find some answers for you but I had a hard time finding prices of sending mail via ship vs inland so take this with a grain of salt! to send a postcard in 1912 inland Britain it would have been half a penny (or maybe one penny). hopefully someone else will come along and have an exact answer but perhaps this will help! here are some sites I used:

GB Postcard Rates 1870-1968

Great Britain Philatelic Society: GB Postcard Rates 1870-1968

www.gbps.org.uk

Post Card History - Stamps on postcards sent to the UK

www.edinphoto.org.uk

have a great day

 

[Sarah S]

hi! this was a super interesting question and I tried to find some answers for you but I had a hard time finding prices of sending mail via ship vs inland so take this with a grain of salt! to send a postcard in 1912 inland Britain it would have been half a penny (or maybe one penny). hopefully someone else will come along and have an exact answer but perhaps this will help! here are some sites I used:

GB Postcard Rates 1870-1968

Great Britain Philatelic Society: GB Postcard Rates 1870-1968

www.gbps.org.uk

Post Card History - Stamps on postcards sent to the UK

www.edinphoto.org.uk

have a great day

Thank you, yes this was very helpful to me
Have a great day, too!

 

[Roger Southern]

The other thing to remember is that unlike today a letter posted one day would be delivered the next day unless there was some calamity. I have copies of correspondence from my grandfather to my grandmother posted from London at 5pm that were received in Manchester the following morning. All this thanks to the mail trains with on board sorting. Things have not improved with time...........

 

[Sarah S]

The other thing to remember is that unlike today a letter posted one day would be delivered the next day unless there was some calamity. I have copies of correspondence from my grandfather to my grandmother posted from London at 5pm that were received in Manchester the following morning. All this thanks to the mail trains with on board sorting. Things have not improved with time...........

Wow that’s really impressive. I wonder how long it took to deliver a letter from one country to another in those times. Moody sent letters to his family from ports in South America, so how long would such a delivery to England take?

 

[Willow Sinclair]

Hello I'm back again! I'm currently reading Titanic Triumph and Tragedy and in it they have a scan of an Olympic and Titanic post card and the back says "Domestic One Cent" "Foreign Two Cents" so there's an answer for post card postage but no luck so far on how long it would take from South America to England. I'll keep investigating though Also so true about mail not improving in time. I think I recall reading once about a family who sent their child through the mail? Like a precursor to unaccompanied minors on airplanes. Which was quickly stamped (pardon the pun) out after many publicity stunts.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I have a fine reproduction of a postcard sent by steward Alexander Littlejohn from Belfast to England. It has a green half-penny stamp. I've seen photos of other cards from Belfast and Queenstown, also with half-penny stamps. There's also one with a red penny stamp, for no obvious reason. Maybe the sender didn't have a half-penny stamp handy.

They are making me feel old I remember when you could actually buy something for one penny!

 

[Sarah S]

Hello I'm back again! I'm currently reading Titanic Triumph and Tragedy and in it they have a scan of an Olympic and Titanic post card and the back says "Domestic One Cent" "Foreign Two Cents" so there's an answer for post card postage but no luck so far on how long it would take from South America to England. I'll keep investigating though Also so true about mail not improving in time. I think I recall reading once about a family who sent their child through the mail? Like a precursor to unaccompanied minors on airplanes. Which was quickly stamped (pardon the pun) out after many publicity stunts.

Thank you for the research!