Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Much of the artwork in the series was commissioned by the Public Relations Department, which was first created in 1934, under the first Post Office Public Relations Officer, Stephen Tallents.
Right from the conception of the department, it assumed responsibility for commissioning designs for posters, which it considered to be a vital part of Post Office publicity, it did this initially in consultation with a 'Poster Advisory Group' but, from 1937, it operated in its own right. The department approached leading artists for the production of posters of two kinds, known respectively as 'Prestige' and 'Selling'. 'Prestige' posters fell into two categories: those specially prepared for distribution to schools and those for display in the public offices of Crown Post Offices and non-public offices in Post Office buildings, they were intended to be more formal in style, eye catching rather than persuasive. 'Selling' posters had a direct 'selling' appeal and were intended to persuade the beholder to use a particular service or buy a particular product.
The Post Office Greetings Telegram Service was introduced in July 1935 as a means of revitalising the telegraph service and the Public Relations Department was involved from the outset, involving itself both in publicising the new service and in commissioning artists to produce designs for the forms themselves. Greetings telegrams were to be associated with special occasions and as such, designs had to be particularly attractive, with an element of luxury, this was encapsulated in the golden envelope designed to accompany the form.
The Public Relations Department underwent several changes in structure throughout the decades following the 1930s, but the production of good publicity literature, both written and visual, continued to be a very important part of its remit. Post Corporation, commissioned artists tended to be less well known and the focus of the posters turned increasingly towards the promotion of special stamp issues and philatelic products.
In the 1990s, the Public Relations Department was renamed as Communication Services and was positioned as part of Royal Mail Group Centre. This signified a change in outlook, with an emphasis on 'hard sell' and the commissioning of advertising agencies to work on individual campaigns for special services and products.