ABSTRACT
The decades between 1850 and, roughly, the 1890s, were a time of change for Victorian England. People believed themselves to be living in the most modem of ages, at the high point of human development. Similar beliefs abounded at the tail end of the twentieth century; indeed a number of parallels may be drawn between the two time periods. During the Victorian era, literacy and mass communications became more widespread than ever before. David Vincent, based on a study of English literacy and popular culture throughout the period 1750 to 1914, has demonstrated that, from roughly 50 per cent of the population being unable to sign their own names, by the early years of the twentieth century England had become a (more or less) universally literate country. A comprehensive postal system, alongside cultural phenomena such as the sending of Valentines, Christmas cards, and half-penny postcards, was developed, being both a reflection of and a stimulus to, growing literacy in the country. 1 Literacy levels, rising during the Victorian era, were no doubt greatly boosted by the arrival of compulsory education in the 1870s. Advances in the printing industry included low cost, machine pressing and printing of paper, leading to an availability of cheap literature to the newly-literate masses. Also, by the 1860s, a wide rail network had spread across the country, providing a means of rapid distribution over a much wider geographical area than previously possible. Mass circulation of cheap newspapers, periodicals and other publications became a reality for the first time.
