40 years of Courier
October 2006 marks the 40th anniversary of Courier, the newspaper for Royal Mail Group employees. Before this, the Post Office sent their employees the Post Office Magazine, which was started in 1933. In 1966 it was considered that this had become dated in comparison to the major cultural changes occuring in the 60s and so Courier was created. Peter Davies, the first editor, was interviewed for the October 2006 edition (see the text of his interview) about what it was like producing the first edition.
When the first edition came out, Postmaster General Edward Short said "Courier's task is to serve the staff: to interest, inform and entertain them and their families; to keep them in touch with Post Office developments; and to tell them what their colleagues are doing - both on and off duty."
At first, there were separate regional editions (at one stage as many as 19!). There was also news about colleagues working in Post Office Telecommunications, until British Telecom (BT) was formed in 1981. Today's Courier has certain differences to the earlier issues: in the 60s and 70s pictures of female 'pin-ups' among the staff were featured in the publications! However, the fundamental aims set out by Edward Short still ring true: Courier continues to inform and entertain postal workers each month.
Over the years, Courier has covered many different stories. Sometimes the stories it covered were very similar to those covered in the local and national press. The tragedy at Aberfan when a spoil tip collapsed killing 116 school children is one such example.
The Royal Mail Archive class POST 92 holds all the back copies of Courier. To mark the 40th anniversary we have produced a slideshow of a selection of front covers in Courier from five decades, starting with the very first cover from October 1966. Click on each image to enlarge it to read the stories on each front cover. Choose from:
- The first ever Courier
- November 1966
- January 1974
- July 1976
- February 1982
- December 1988
- March 1990
- May 1994
- June 2000
- April 2004
You can also see how the typography of the masthead (the title Courier at the top of the front page) has changed over the years.
