Introduction

This volume illuminates some of the manifold ways in which Britain's communication infrastructure affected everyday life in nineteenth-century Britain. Accordingly, it highlights socio-economic, cultural, and material repercussions of selected aspects of mediated communication.

Topics Covered

It covers:

• The rise and role of the communication worker and the Post Office's status as Britain's largest employer as well as pioneering employer of women.
• The campaigns surrounding Sunday labour.
• The connections between new leisure opportunities and activities and new media of communication such as the postcard.
• Concerns about morally suspect uses of new media and technologies of communication, e.g. the use of the telegraph for gambling.
• The presence of changing communication practices in material culture, e.g. the increasing popularity of greeting cards and new types of stationery.