At the Seaside Museum we have a collection of seaside picture postcards. Most of these show pictures of the sea or interesting places in the Herne Bay. Lots of them have a message on the back which to tell friends and family that the sender is having a happy holiday by the sea.
It is thought that the first picture postcard to be sent by post was hand-painted by a writer, Theodore Hicks. He posted the card to himself in 1840 in London. Printed cards were allowed to be posted in America in 1861. The first known picture postcard was made in France in 1870.
Wish you were here
The Royal Mail gave publishers permission to sell picture postcards in the UK in 1894. These could be sent through the post without an envelope. In 1902, Britain became the first country to divide the back of the postcard. The address and message would be written on the back and a full sized picture printed on the front.
Design your own postcard and send it to someone special
You will need
| card or thick paper | ruler |
| postcard template | scissors |
| pen or pencil | colouring pencils or pens |
Instructions
You can either print this template and cut it out or create your own blank postcards on plain paper or card using a ruler and the measurements shown.
This is the back of the postcard where you write your message and put the address and a stamp.
On the front you can draw a picture of anything, a special place, a person, your favourite toy or TV show! Then why not colour it in?