Music sheets

Our collections already held a few pieces of Victorian music with titles such as The GPO (A Post Card Tragedy) by G W Hunt. In some cases, however, only the illustrated cover had survived and not the entire musical score or lyrics within.

During the 19^th century, popular music was performed at concerts, choral recitals, in the theatre and in the music hall. Before record players and radio made it possible to listen to music in the home, the only way to capture the melodies and songs was to perform them yourself on the piano. As a result, the publication of sheet music grew rapidly during the Victorian period. Each item may have only cost two or three shillings (10p or 15p), but the average worker’s weekly wage was about £3.00 (60 shillings), so it was a considerable investment. Nevertheless, a popular song could sell as many as 80,000 sheets.

As the subject of a humorous song or a romantic ballad, the postman and his duties featured in many a music hall performer’s repertoire. Our collection has two examples that advertise that they were sung by established Victorian artists Fred Coyne and James Fawn.  

Other sheets of music reflect a topical postal event or activity such as the introduction of the Parcels Post or the first inland aerial post. A song sheet produced in 1939 ('I’m sending a letter to Santa Claus'), shows how important letters were in time of war. Research work undertaken by the Royal College of Music has found many musical titles that have a postal connection (see the Postal Music section of our Collections section).

Many artists were employed in illustrating music and some specialised in music sheet covers. One acclaimed artist, Alfred Conanen, became noted for his scenes of contemporary street life and his eye for detail can be seen in the illustration for ‘The Parcels Post’. You can find out more about illustrated music sheets through the relevant webpages of the British Library or the Theatre Museum.

The V&A Purchase Grant Fund has allowed us to purchase these illustrated song sheets so that we can appreciate both the lyrics and the music as well as the covers.

We have purchased song sheets for the following pieces of music:

• 'The Parcels Post' circa 1883
• 'The Post Horn Gallop', mid 19th century
• 'The Rat Tat or Postman's Polka', 1853
• 'The Postman's Knock', late 19th century
• 'The Postman or I Do Like To Be In The Know You Know', circa 1889
• 'The Postman's Birthday one- or two-step', 1914
• 'The Postman or The Night Mail Gallop', late 19th century
• 'The Aerial Post - Descriptive  Fantasia', circa 1911
• 'I'm Sending A Letter to Santa Claus', 1939

Return to V&A Purchase Grant Fund page

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