Wish You Were Here!

An Exhibition celebrating the history of the postcard and its place in Torquay History.
We have put together an exhibition looking at the history of the seaside postcard, with the kind help and assistance of several local collectors. The exhibition traces the story of postcards from the very first one sent in the UK in 1840, through to their peak in popularity when more than 16 million were being sent from seaside resorts like Torquay in the 1930’s.

As well as featuring changing scenes and fashions from the past century, the exhibition also shows how some of our stunning natural heritage has barely changed at all. Of course the exhibition also touches on the saucy seaside postcards that were popular right up to the 1970s and their censorship under the obscene publications act.

There has been a huge slump in postcard sales over the past few years, mainly blamed on the rise in the popularity of social media. However, while it may feel that sending postcards is a dying art, new research reveals that millennials could in fact be reviving it. Like vinyl records, Polaroid cameras and Nokia 3310s before them, postcards now have retro appeal amongst the gap year generation.

The team at Torre Abbey would like your help staging a mini revival. We’ve set up a writing desk downstairs in our shop area, for you to send a postcard to someone special. You can even stamp it with a unique Torre Abbey ink stamp. It’s just £1 to send a card domestically (including postage) and so much more personal than a text message. You can even take a picture of you writing it, if you can’t resist the lure of social media as well!