Call for an instant quote 0345 90 80 161
Open Mon to Fri 09:00 - 17:30 | Sat 09:00 - 16:00 (GMT)
26 September 2017 08:15
Selfies and social media have led to a decline in postcard sales
Sending a postcard from your holiday at the seaside is a treasured memory for many Brits. Now, a 75% decline in postcard sales suggest the tradition could be grinding to a halt.
Britain's oldest postcard company, J. Salmon, has announced it will cease trading in December blaming the huge increase in the popularity of social media for its dramatic decline in sales.
The firm says rises in Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook mean photo mementos from a British seaside break are no longer in high demand.
Joint managing directors Charles Salmon, 61, and his brother Henry, 56, have sent a letter to its supply chain, announcing the firm's "proposal to withdraw from publishing".
The company - established in 1880 - reports that sales of traditional postcards have fallen to a quarter of those in its glory days, reducing from 20 million in the 1990s, to just five million today.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror , seaside newsagent Barry Starling, who has a busy shop on the Norfolk coast, said: "It will be a great shame to see them go - but our sales have fallen from more than 30,000 cards a year to under 10,000. People now just use their mobile phones these days to send picture and holiday greetings."
Short British breaks
The postcard firm is also blaming changing holiday patterns its demise, saying holidaymakers now head to the seaside for short trips, rather than longer breaks.
Mr Charles said: "Changing spending and holiday patterns and new technology have had a huge effect on the business. People are going for shorter breaks, not for a fortnight, so you're back home before your postcards have arrived."
"One of the biggest changes we've seen over the last 20 years is the marked decline in the popularity of two-week holidays and the rise of short breaks," the Office for National Statistics (ONS) told the Guardian newspaper in August 2017.
Whether you're planning a short seaside break or a two-week jaunt, protect your trip with our UK holiday cover.
25 April 2018
Hospitals are failing to notice that more than a third of dementia patients suffer from the condition, a new study has found.
[more...]
21 April 2018
Heart attack patients should be prescribed exercise to reduce their risk of death, researchers suggest.
19 April 2018
A self-injected smart drug may be the key to easing and preventing pain for migraine sufferers.
17 April 2018
Simple brain-training exercises carried out at home have been shown to reduce emotional stress in female breast cancer survivors, it's recently been revealed.
13 April 2018
Drinkers who consume more alcohol than UK guidelines suggest could be cutting years off their lives, according to new research.
12 April 2018
A recent study has revealed that people who sustain brain injuries are at an increased risk of developing dementia later in life.
11 April 2018
Scientists have announced their latest breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer's disease, after neutralising a high-risk gene in a human brain cell for the first time.
07 April 2018
The Philippines is set to shut its most famous holiday island of Boracay for six months, after the President described it as a "cesspool".
05 April 2018
Taxes on soft drinks, alcohol and tobacco - nicknamed "sin taxes" - could be a powerful step towards combating rising rates of chronic diseases worldwide, research has suggested.
New "one-stop shops" to speed up cancer diagnosis are being trialled across the country for the first time.
30 March 2018
Doctors should tell patients that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking but not without risk, according to new national guidance.
29 March 2018
Young people suffering from mental health problems are finding it hard to get the support they need, a survey has revealed.