| Description | This series contains the postcards and greetings cards that have been published by the Museum. DF509/1-177 contain the pre-war cards that were published in sets and sold in a printed envelope with an explanatory leaflet. Cards were published in eight series: A - views; B - mammals; C - birds; D - minerals; E - insects; F - plants; G - fossils; and H - historical.
Each set within each series, and then each card within each set, was given an alphanumerical reference, so for example, set E1, 'Representative British Insects', contains cards E1 to E10; E2, 'Remarkable Insect Types', contains E11 to E20. Each set of cards came in a little paper envelope complete with an information leaflet on the specimens depicted. There was also a list compiled every few months, of all the postcards on sale (DF1011/5).
The collection of pre-war cards is complete. The collection of post-war cards (DF509/178-255) is incomplete.
There are 'duplicate sets' (duplicate note books) relating to DF509/205, 207-210, 213-215, 218-228
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| AdminHistory | Postcards and greetings cards were originally sold through the bookstall and via the Museum's agents, Bernard Quaritch and Dulau & Co. The Museum postcards were introduced in 1922, with the approval of the Treasury, as a result of their successful introduction at the British Museum some years earlier.
It was possible to buy postcards separately, and they were on sale in the Museum and at a few other places such as the Museum's agents, Messrs Bernard Quaritch Ltd, of New Bond Street, London. In 1932, the price of a single card was advertised as 1d for plain, 2d for coloured (source PH/1/1/6). Various newspaper articles mention the popularity of Christmas cards produced and sold by the Museum. Christmas cards were produced with photographs of various collections, including the bird gallery, insects and mammals.
There appears to have been three printers used. From 1922 to 1923 it was Henry Stone and Son Ltd; from 1924 to 1926 it was W F Sedgwick Ltd; and from 1926 to 1927 it was Waterlow and Sons Ltd.
The last Museum postcard set appears to have been produced in 1930. After the war, in 1966, a new range of postcards was brought out. Redevelopment of the bookstall in 1966 prompted the Director, Sir Terence C Morrison-Scott, to propose an entirely new range of coloured postcards. Many of these were issued in sets, but only the cards were given reference numbers.
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