A story behind ‘The Seasonal Postcards’

Hello and welcome!

Not so long ago, I came across a huge cupboard in the antique store filled with vintage postcards, and I found myself lost in curiously flipping through sepia-toned cards. Then I spotted a postcard from Balloch - a small town in Scotland on the South end of the famous Loch Lomond - a place I call home. Although it’s hard to guess from what decade this postcard comes from, amazingly, the view is still recognisable today. This little discovery made me wonder about the role a postcard once played in people’s life.

Just imagine for a second—for more than a century, a postcard was a popular messenger, a kind of analogue version of the digital social media we all use now. A few weeks after my discovery, we travelled to Dundee to see the V&A museum built by the famous architect Kengo Kuma (more on that in another post). Coincidentally, it had a temporary exhibition about the history of postcards. I learned some fun facts: when postcards got popular in the late 19th century, Victorians developed a secret language to send private messages to each other and included hidden messages like "Have you forgotten me?" or "I love you" as a stamp attached at different angles and directions.

Sending postcards was quicker than writing a letter, but as well cheaper and thus, it became a popular form of communication in the 20th century.

Today analogue postcards are still being used, but not as a messenger - it’s a romantic and nostalgic ritual to send a hello note from afar. We live in a time when video content dominates online, where a still image in the form of a digital photograph or illustration already feels archaic.

That’s when the idea of ‘The Seasonal Postcards’ emerged - a monthly newsletter; you get a digital postcard in your inbox with brief highlights celebrating all things creative which come my way: travel, lifestyle, design, sustainability & more.

I imagine this space to be like that antique cupboard full of sepia postcards - that ignite curiosity and a sense of discovery and adventure.