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The Village Postman


By Birgitte Wistoft

A drawing by artist Carl Thomsen features an old village postman on his way to a young girl waiting at the fence – as a messenger of love.


Illustreret Tidende [Illustrated Chronicle] published the drawing on the front page on 14th June 1868 accompanied by the following text:

"Now the girl is happy. Her waiting was not in vain. Her heart is beating faster as she can see in the old postman’s eyes that he has a letter for the "maiden". There is general agreement that it is a pleasure and distraction to receive letters, especially in the country where life is so monotonous. That is also what she thinks, the girl, daughter of the vicar. She knows how to distinguish between letters; knows that amongst the many stupid, preposterous, useless letters from authorities, business letters, admonitory letters, greetings letters, and the like, which are always in the majority, lie the few good and sensible letters.

A sensible letter is one that begins with: "My beloved!" or "My sweetheart!" or "My darling!" or "My dearly beloved!" She does not like to open them in the presence of others as violets or rose petals are likely to fall out dependent on the season; not to mention locks of hair. Just imagine, once an entire rose fell out! Well, he is really crazy sometimes. And what is he writing then?

"My dearly beloved, I miss you so much that my heart is nearly breaking and my head is nearly bursting" or "My darling! I am coming. In a week I shall be with you", or "Do you know, Louise, I have got, I have achieved …" or "Alas, Louise! I have lost … and also lost heart at the same time, have given up hope, am in despair etc. etc.", and afterwards, "only you can comfort me, you are the sun in my thoughts, the home of my longing, the hearth of my passion, my fiery beloved, for whom I live, to whom I kneel, of whom I think, of whom I dream", and much more and, "you, whose spirit is bathing and diving in mine, whose eyes are like sparkling stars, and whose strong soul is sheer enthusiasm".

Does he mean it? Yes, she believes nothing else. Certainly, when you are expecting that kind of letters, you are more than prepared to wait at the gate for half an hour with your glance turned towards one and the same direction, and then the weather-beaten face of the old, good-natured postman seems beautiful, like a rising sun – that is, of course, if his face suggests a letter. Now he can be sure of a tasty reward, tired and hungry and thirsty as he is".

Facts about Delivery of Mail:
Although the Danish Post Office is celebrating its 375 years’ jubilee next year, the service that we connect with a postal service is of a much more recent date: The direct and daily delivery of mail to all households in the country was only established in 1908. Originally the royal postal service only connected capital and boroughs with its network of mail routes whilst the delivery of mail between sender/recipient and the post offices on the established routes was entrusted to the private initiative. In the towns various delivery arrangements were soon established and the postmen - although private - often wore bright red outfits and a postal emblem. Only when the absolute monarchy was abolished in 1849, did the red postman enter into the public postal service.

In the countryside parishes united to remunerate so-called parish delivery men who besides delivering mail would run small errands for the parishioners. The job as a parish delivery man often helped old farm workers, who had finished their service, make a living. In 1860, the postal service established the first rural mail routes, the personnel of which was characterized by merely a postal emblem on their hats or the strap of their bags. An actual postman’s hat for the village postmen was only introduced in 1890 and the dark blue uniform coat came even later, in 1893. It was not until 1979 that the village postmen got red jackets like their colleagues in the towns.

The parish delivery man or the rural postman was a popular and often romanticized motif to the artists who described the characteristics of the Danish countryside to among others the readers of Illustreret Tidende [Illustrated Chronicle].

Footnotes:
Carl Thomsen (1847-1912), son of postmaster Ludvig Frederik Thomsen in Randers, was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts by the painters Wilhelm Marstrand and Frederik Vermehren. He became one of the most popular illustrators of his time. "The Village Postman" was drawn during his years of study. The motif is from the neighbourhood of Randers.

In 1882, decorative painter Hans Peter Iversen (1819-1889) used Carl Thomsen’s drawing as the prototype of a painting now in Post & Tele Museum’s collections. Iversen was born in Assens, but ended his days in Randers where he became a popular landscape painter.

Love by Village Postman: (Joke from Den Ny Humorist [The New Humorist] of Sunday the 7th of June 1885).
Stine: Is there a letter from Jens, village postman?
The village postman: I’m afraid there isn’t, my dear Stine, as he could not send you a kiss in writing. So he paid me 4 ore to give it to you orally – in that way he saved 4 ore postage and you are going to get a good smack.


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