Just imagine. You need to get a message to someone double-quick but there are no telephones… never mind mobile ones.

So you nip down to the Post Office, buy a card and a half-penny stamp, write your message and pop it in the box.

It will be there the next day.

Eastern Daily Press: Now he looks like a gentleman it would have been interesting to meet. The picture was taken in Gissing.Now he looks like a gentleman it would have been interesting to meet. The picture was taken in Gissing. (Image: Derek James Collection)

We are talking about the time before most people had telephones in their homes never mind mobile ones.

Some of these lovely old Norfolk postcards were sent more than a century ago and today they are an important slice of local history.

Take the one featuring The Post Office at Hindolvestone (spelt with an e) with the gigs outside. A snapshot of rural life.

Eastern Daily Press: A busy day at Hindolvestone Post Office. The card was posted in 1909 from Annie to her friend in Norwich.A busy day at Hindolvestone Post Office. The card was posted in 1909 from Annie to her friend in Norwich. (Image: Derek James Collection)

The Norwich postmark is dated December 1909 and the message on the back from Annie to her friend saying she would be in Norwich tomorrow if fine but not very early.

While the one of Somerleyton Green was posted in 1907 to Kitty in Station Road, Lowestoft, from someone who writes: “I am now coming home to my Kitty. Beginning to feel quite homesick.”

Eastern Daily Press: The card of Somerleyton Green posted to Kitty in Lowestoft during 1907.The card of Somerleyton Green posted to Kitty in Lowestoft during 1907. (Image: Derek James Collection)

The first picture postcards in this country were published in 1894. A standard size was introduced in 1902 and the Post Office allowed one side of the card to be illustrated and the reverse to be written on.

Collecting and sending cards became a way of life – postcard publishers in these parts included Jarrolds, Fred Fisher, Tom Nokes. Many towns had their own publishers and people loved to send postcards featuring where they lived.

Eastern Daily Press: A card featuring Ranworth Broad sent to Doris of Barn Road, Norwich, in the early part of the last century.A card featuring Ranworth Broad sent to Doris of Barn Road, Norwich, in the early part of the last century. (Image: Derek James Collection)

Eastern Daily Press: Delightful Dilham. A card posted in July of 1909.Delightful Dilham. A card posted in July of 1909. (Image: Derek James Collection)

Eastern Daily Press: Rush-hour in Hingham. It was posted many, many years ago and written – in French!Rush-hour in Hingham. It was posted many, many years ago and written – in French! (Image: Derek James Collection)

The late Philip Standley of Wymondham produced several volumes of A Portrait in Old Picture Postcards years ago. He was a lovely man and it was a privilege to have known him.

His books sold like hot cakes. His collection of Norwich and Norfolk cards was second to none and he said one of the best ways to illustrate all the changes was to take a snapshot of life at the turn of the century, as preserved on picture postcards.

Watch this space over the next few weeks as we open our postcard collection and head, of course, for the Norfolk seaside for a look at some of the cards which will make you smile.

For more old photos and articles about Norfolk history and heritage, subscribe to our fortnightly Through the Decades email newsletter. Sign up by clicking here.