Advertising and the Belgian post office : part 2

Abstract

OXADE, issued in 1933, was the first of the internal "Publibel" series of Belgian postcards to be printed by L' Agence Beige de Publicite Postale with the objective of raising funds for various charities. The design of the card includes an advertisement in the bottom left hand corner adjacent to the space for the delivery address and below the space for the sender's address. The advertisement, which could be sponsored by government or commercial enterprises, appears in single language, French or Flemish variants and in bilingual variants depending on the area in which the sponsor required the cards to be distributed. Early cards define the objective of the advertisement, namely to raise funds for the unemployed, in French. [excerpt]