NOSTALGIA: Rise of selfie leads to demise of oldest publisher of postcards

Britain's oldest postcard publisher is closing after almost 140 years because of the rise of the selfie.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Oct 2017, 21:00 GMT
Updated 12th Dec 2017, 13:01 GMT
A J Salmon Postcard of HMS VictoryA J Salmon Postcard of HMS Victory
A J Salmon Postcard of HMS Victory

J Salmon, which has been a family-run business since it was founded, has announced that it proposes to publish its last traditional postcards – and calendars – in December.

It blames shrinking markets and the huge increase in the popularity of social media for a dramatic decline in traditional holiday postcard sales.

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Thanks to the arrival of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp sales have fallen from 20 million 25 years ago to about five million today – with increased competition from overseas printers and publishers.

A seocnd J Salmon postcard of HMS VictoryA seocnd J Salmon postcard of HMS Victory
A seocnd J Salmon postcard of HMS Victory

Reader Simon Hart is mourning the loss of the firm as he was an avid collector.

He says: ‘I have happy memories of buying postcards and putting them in scrapbooks as a child.

‘It is sad to realise that no J Salmon cards will be sold showing HMS Victory in her returned glory after the current restoration.’

And to mark the end of J Salmon he sent me two old cards from his collection showing Nelson’s flagship in all her pomp.

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