"I only got this card this morning and it is not quite dry from the printing," wrote Joey.
Joey writes to Delphi about the train smash at Murrurundi in April 1908, on a card depicting the disaster and relating the news that the authorities were trying to stop photographers getting too close to the scene. Another card offers a tip for the races: "Have a few bob Pendant Newmarket". CR at Clarence Town wanted Mr Ross at the David Cohen store in Maitland to "try and send a pair of fowls by the coach on Friday night to get here by Saturday". Some carry instructions for sending goods. Some speak of babies being born, others mention deaths of friends and neighbours. And young Jess, holidaying at Toronto and tired of "going out with all these old women". Like Jim, the miner at Pelaw Main Colliery, writing to Jessie about his efforts to save money to set up a home and send for her. The aspect of the book that I found most interesting was the messages on the backs of the cards, which reflect aspects of everyday life for people long ago. Subjects range from typical scenes to private photographs in postcard format, with print quality ranging from poor to superb. Our 13th book, Postcards from the Past, is a curated collection of cards from Newcastle and its hinterland, mostly from the early 20th century up to about the 1950s. Newcastle and the Hunter Region offered a great market for postcard publishers, and photographers - both local and from elsewhere - produced huge numbers of cards of every imaginable kind depicting people, scenes and events from all corners of the valley and its surrounds. Hence, a century later, thousands of these short messages survive in family albums and the collections of postcard enthusiasts. Many people used the quick, cheap and fuss-free option of the picture postcard for their brief notes to each other, and these had the advantage of also being decorative and collectible. Instant messaging didn't exist, and telephones were uncommon, but the post was very fast and reliable.
That was June 1906, in the days when you could send a letter in the morning in Newcastle to another address in the local area and be fairly confident it would arrive the same day. Pellow, of Campbell Street, Wallsend, to let him know that she wanted to have "no more to say" to him. Mr Bowes had been flirting with the Wallsend girls so "You Know Who" of Lambton sent him a terse postcard, care of a Mr G.