Page 28 - Oundle Life November 2022

CODED
CARDS
50 Pitman postcards
“Having a glorious time, fine every day. We have faces like boiled lobsters and the skin is peeling off.”
“I am looking forward so intensely to tomorrow night. I must give vent to my feelings then and I am sure you will feel like me.”
Two examples taken from a recently published book by local author Kathryn Baird called ‘Fifty Mysterious Postcards: Pitman Shorthand Messages from the Golden Age of the Postcard’. This book features postcards sent over a hundred years ago with their messages written using the squiggles, circles, dots, and dashes of Pitman Shorthand. Kathryn Baird has been collecting these postcards for nearly forty years and transcribing their tiny stories which she will bring to life in her talk.
Kathryn learnt to write Pitman shorthand fifty years ago and taught it in the 1980s in a college of further education. In 1984 she bought a postcard, posted in 1905, which included
the message, “I am writing this in shorthand because they always read what is on postcards at the post office here”. She was hooked and her niche hobby began.
In the early 20th century, between one and three million postcards were posted daily. Some writers who wished to send a secret message wrote it in Pitman shorthand if they knew the person receiving the postcard would be able
to read it. Some wanted to fit a long message into the small space of a postcard. Others were learning shorthand and wanted to practise
the skill. Tales of penfriends, sweethearts, the First World War, holidays, and much more are hidden in these mysterious postcards. Come and be transported back to a world before emails and texts when writing a postcard was one of the best ways to keep in touch.
Signed copies of Kathryn’s book can be purchased at the event.
All proceeds from this talk will be shared between Warmington and Cotterstock Churches.
Fifty Mysterious Postcards by local author Kathryn Baird at Cotterstock Village Hall PE8 5HD on Friday 18th November at 2pm Tickets are £6 and available from Stu-Pots or email davehistory21@outlook.com
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