It was very much part of a holiday. Arrive at destination. Buy postcards and stamps. Write postcards neatly. Post them quickly – in the hope they’d arrive back home before you did. 

It was tradition, therefore, that the contents were often less than highly interesting. After all, you’d only just arrived and had barely done very much.

Every destination looked much the same, with the vivid glossy blue sky - the same the world over. But at least the British seaside humour gave us a smirk as we twizzled the wire carousel looking for one which might just pass muster with the recipient.

Whilst postcards have been around many years, it was just before the First World War when the picture postcard was introduced. The Post Office relaxed its rules in 1902 and printers were allowed to have a picture on one side of the card, with the address and message sharing the other. Britain led the way and America borrowed the idea five years later.

The cost was attractive too – half the price of a letter, with the downside being that everybody could read your message.

During the dark days of WW1, the postcard naturally was a key form of communication as soldiers thoughts turned to their loved ones and home as they scribbled their carefully chosen words. In 1917, over 12 million postcards and letters were sent and many families to this day have faded treasured reminders of that time.

After the war, with the growth of the railway and more days off for workers, the popularity of the seaside holiday grew in the UK. Alongside, even though postal costs increased, the post card had become part of the ‘going away’ ritual.

And, into the ‘60s and ‘70s as we headed for our first overseas holidays, despatching a postcard from abroad was a must – if only to prove we really had been ‘On the Continent’.

If you’re off for a break, do send a postcard back to Boom. Our David Lloyd (Mon-Fri morning 10.00 -12.00, Boom Radio) would love to see where you’ve been. Do share something interesting about what you’ve seen too – it may prompt other Boom listeners to pay a visit.

They’ll land on our doormat if you post them to:  Boom Radio, PO Box 10946, NOTTINGHAM, NG1 9NX. You can find the address by clicking ‘contact’ on our website too. Have a great break.