The Fiery Cross

This first history story is not for sale as it forms part of my Arts Society lecture on ‘The Evolution of the Postcard’.  Hopefully though it will convey some of my passion for ephemera and reinforce the message that behind every piece of historic paper lies a story.

Postcards were introduced in the United Kingdom on 1st October 1870.  They were intended only for business use – after all why would anyone want the whole world to see what they had written.  The Post Office made them available from 26th September so that businesses had the opportunity to have them printed with their message before 1st October.

One such business was W. Criper, a grocer in Tavistock, Devon, advertising the ‘New Season’s Teas’.  The words ‘Fiery Cross!!’ are repeated three times across the top of the card but what do they mean?

The “Fiery Cross” was a tea clipper, one of the fastest sailing ships of its era, which raced back from China with 1million pounds weight of tea and was the first to arrive in the great tea races in 1861, 1862, 1863 and 1865.

Since such postcards could only be bought from the Post Office in pre-printed sheets of 42 and in half reams of 240 sheets, it follows that Criper is likely to have printed 10,080 such postcards with his sales pitch.  This is the only example known to have survived, although others may exist.  Such is the nature of ephemera.