You might see this article more clearly if you click the picture, or maybe not.  So we’ll tell you about it.  Written by Jane Shilling, this first appeared in London’s Daily Telegraph.  Called “How sad that postcards are on the way out”, it laments the closure of Britain’s oldest postcard publisher, J. Salmon.

We have several Salmon cards in the site, and can only reflect that the climate for postcards now is exactly as Shilling describes it:  why go to all the bother of mailing a card, when a selfie arrives in a nanosecond to everyone on your WhatsApp list?

That’s a rhetorical question.  We’ll tell you why:  postcards are special, unique, thoughtful, and permanent.  They don’t disappear when your phone falls in the toilet.  They are a tangible reminder that someone cared enough to take the time to bring your address, find a card, buy the stamp, write the message, and then find a safe place to mail it.  When you open your letterbox, what makes you happier:  an unexpected postcard, or the electric bill?

Not to worry, as the Brits say.  Postcards will still be on sale near those thousand years of tourist attractions, just not cards from J. Salmon.  But for those of us who collect postcards, give yours a special hug because they are getting more valuable by the day.

Until next time …