Photographs
There are approximately 100,000 photographs in The Royal Mail Archive. The earliest is from the late 19th century and the latest ones date from the 1990s.
The majority of our photographs come from the photograph library created by the Post Office. It began to grow with the start of the Public Relations Department in the 1930s. It provided material for posters, training material and particularly for the Post Office Magazine. It is this group of photographs that are currently available to search on our Online Catalogue.
The production of the Post Office Magazine stopped during the Second World War. The photograph library, however, still contains many photographs documenting the impact of the war on Post Office services.
Examples from our Collection
Here are some examples of photographs from our collection:
Photograph of a postman in Wapping, 1935
This photograph shows a postman delivering letters to inhabitants of slums in Wapping.
Photograph of a holiday camp, October 1937
This photograph shows a postman delivering mail to Gorleston-on-Sea holiday camp.
Photograph of a Royal Mail van by lake Buttermere, 1937
This accompanied an article in the Post Office Magazine about the GPO and the Lake District.
Photograph of Belgian postal workers looking at a war memorial, 1947
One of several photos of a group of French and Belgian postal workers.
You may also be interested in...
B/W Greetings Cards
From original publicity photographs showing the postal service at work
These greetings cards features images of the GPO in the 1930s, including telegram boys and a postman on delivery.
Post Office in Pictures
A showcase of iconic images from The Royal Mail Archive
An exhibition which was inspired by promotional images produced by the General Post Office in the 1930s.
