Posties, Letterboxes and Postal Services in Illustration

In or around June 1995 human character changed again. Or rather, it began to undergo a metamorphosis that is still not complete, but is profound – and troubling, not least because it is hardly noted. When I think about, say, 1995, or whenever the last moment was before most of us were on the internet and had mobile phones, it seems like a hundred years ago. Letters came once a day, predictably, in the hands of the postal carrier. News came in three flavours – radio, television, print – and at appointed hours. Some of us even had a newspaper delivered every morning.

In the Day of the Postman
Rebecca Solnit
1883, Walter Crane (1845 - 1915) London Town back cover
1883, Walter Crane (1845 – 1915) London Town back cover
Walter Crane 1845 - 1915 London Town The Shoeblack Brigade
Walter Crane 1845 – 1915 London Town The Shoeblack Brigade
Septimus E Scott 'Postcards Home' 1954
Septimus E Scott ‘Postcards Home’ 1954
James Clarke Waite – The Widow’s Consolation
1960 post office by Gordon Stewart Cameron
Mommies by Lonnie C. Carton, illustrated by Leslie Jacobs (1960) postie
Mommies by Lonnie C. Carton, illustrated by Leslie Jacobs (1960) postie
A child’s WW1 era writing pad Royal Mail
A child’s WW1 era writing pad Royal Mail
Ladybird Easy-reading Book People At Work The Postman and the Postal Service
Ladybird Easy-reading Book People At Work The Postman and the Postal Service
The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters by Enid Blyton modern paperback
The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters by Enid Blyton modern paperback
Seven Little Postmen
Seven Little Postmen
Liberty Magazine April 28 1934 postman
Menemsha Post Office, Massachusetts, by Stevan Dohanos (1907-1994) 1950
Maxwell House Coffee 1950 art by James Bingham ‘Everybody knows the sign of good coffee’
FEODORA (1947) Jan Goeting
FEODORA (1947) Jan Goeting

The following illustrations are from a 1952 children’s book called The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane. Post war children’s books tended to be very cosy and calming. This picture book is a good example.

The-Little-Mailman-of-Bayberry-Lane-end-papers
Fernand Le Quesne post
Fernand Le Quesne post

The poignant–and funny–story of a girl trying to be brave and find her place in the world after she’s sent to live with scheming relatives.

Right before Wavie’s mother died, she gave Wavie a list of instructions to help her find her way in life, including this one: Be brave, Wavie B! You got as much right to a good life as anybody, so find it! But little did Wavie’s mom know that events would conspire to bring Wavie back to Conley Hollow, the Appalachian hometown her mother tried to leave behind. Now Wavie’s back in the Holler–and in the clutches of her Aunt Samantha Rose. Life with the devilish Samantha Rose and her revolting cousin Hoyt is no picnic, but there’s real pleasure in sleeping in her own mother’s old bed, and making friends with the funny, easygoing kids her aunt calls the “neighborhood-no-accounts.” With their help, Wavie just might be able to prevent her aunt from becoming her legal guardian, and find her courage and place in the world.

A Christmas message from the kids vintage postcard
A Christmas message from the kids vintage postcard
Vintage Christmas Card mail boxes
Vintage Christmas Card mail boxes
Mail Wagon in Snowy Landscape, by Dale William Nichols (1904-1995)
Walter Hoyle 1950 for the Post Office Savings Bank shows the Post Office at Pennan, Aberdeenshire (Edward Bawden style)
Victor Olson (American, 1924-2007)
Victor Olson (American, 1924-2007)
Perry Barlow (1892-1977) New Yorker cover 1954
Perry Barlow (1892-1977) New Yorker cover 1954
New Yorker cover letters by Garrett Price 1941
New Yorker cover letters by Garrett Price 1941
Perry Barlow New Yorker Cover December 1977
Marland Stone (1895–1978) cover for the February 1956 issue of Coronet
Marland Stone (1895–1978) cover for the February 1956 issue of Coronet
Arthur Getz The New Yorker cover December 1, 1962
Arthur Getz The New Yorker cover December 1, 1962
vintage Valentine with an express delivery cat post
vintage Valentine with an express delivery cat post
Santa vintage postcard
Santa vintage postcard
Australasian Post 20 August 1964
Australasian Post 20 August 1964
JUFFROUW SPITS OP REIS [c. 1948] Piet Broos postman
JUFFROUW SPITS OP REIS [c. 1948] Piet Broos postman
Elisabeth Ivanovsky Tip the Postman, 1968
Elisabeth Ivanovsky Tip the Postman, 1968
Rooftop  Centerburg Tales
Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey
John-Philip-Falter-1910-–-1982-Letter-From-Overseas
John-Philip-Falter-1910-–-1982-Letter-From-Overseas
The Ladybird Book Of Bedtime Stories Geoffrey Lapage, Illustrations George Brook (Wills & Hepworth Ltd., Loughborough UK, 9th edition 1950)  post
The Ladybird Book Of Bedtime Stories Geoffrey Lapage, Illustrations George Brook (Wills & Hepworth Ltd., Loughborough UK, 9th edition 1950) post
Richard Scarry
CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.

Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project:

1. Get a pet dog

2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense.

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