Edwardian "Twittering"

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Twitter, the microblogging website, may be thought of as a 21st century phenomenon, but researchers have discovered the Edwardians were ''tweeting'' first.

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In the days before ‘twittering’ or text messaging, the public were using the humble postcard to impart their thoughts and opinions.

Introduced in 1902, the picture postcard, containing an image on one side and room for writing on the other, became an instant hit according to a study by Lancaster and Manchester Metropolitan universities.

In the early days, you were only allowed to put the address on the 'stamp' side.

This one is dated 1903.

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Any little message had to be squeezed on with the picture as at the bottom of the next.

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Just a simple 'Love from...'.

Using Postmaster General reports, researchers calculated almost six billion postcards - an average of 200 per person - were posted in Britain between 1901 and 1910.

With up to 10 postal deliveries in major cities a day at this time, the medium allowed users to write and respond quickly and cheaply, the study found.

Later on, the cards had a split side which gave a bit more space. Obviously the postal workers were issued with better spectacles and found they didn't need the address to be quite as large!

Like Twitter, which restricts users to 140 characters per ''tweet'', postcard writers only have a limited amount of space to pen a message.

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I bet you are wondering what is on the other side of this 1914 card?

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"Spooning" by the light of the Silvery Moon.

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The study concludes: ''We suggest that the low price and efficiency of the Edwardian postcard has meant that as an informal written communications technology it was not equalled subsequently until the 21st century.''

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