Summer Stationery

Have you noticed that people often buy novelty stationery items as holiday memorabilia?

In a blur of sunshine and cocktails, pens shaped like the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty seem to have a certain appeal.

But when it comes to holiday-themed stationery, the humble postcard is undisputed King.

So this summer will you be sending a smug postcard showing an expensive foreign resort, or will it be a traditional saucy one from a seaside resort?

Not everyone bothers with postcards these days, when it’s so easy to post images on Facebook, but the tradition still lives on.

Postcards are perhaps the most traditional of all holiday stationery items and date back to 1840, when a writer called Theodore Hook from Fulham sent the very first one- to himself!

He drew a caricature on it, poking fun at the postal service- and used the incredibly rare Penny Black stamp to send it.

This first historic picture postcard, enhanced by the world-famous stamp, meant that the item sold for a record sum at auction in 2002, fetching a staggering £31,750.

It’s enough to make Theodore Hook wish he was here!