Rex Whistler.
The General Post Office. Issued on 14 February 1936. A folded telegram form, blank, with a printed colour design by Rex Whistler. English. 215 x 165mm. kg. . Near fine; a central vertical fold as usual.
A rare unused example of the very first Valentine's greetings telegram, designed by Rex Whistler. Greetings telegrams were produced by the Post Office as a commercial venture to encourage people to send telegrams for special occasions. It would cost 9d to send a 9 word message on a specially designed form, 3d more than a standard form. This 1936 example is the first of the Post Office's Valentine's telegrams and proved immensely popular with 49,000 selling on the first day of issue. Whistler's design, the first telegram form to be printed in colour, depicts a wreath of palms flanked by winged cherubs, from whose hands drop vertical swags containing fruits, torches, and bows and arrows.
[Whistler & Fuller. The Work of Rex Whistler. No. 619]
