Cards with messages had been sporadically created and posted by individuals since the creation of postal services. The earliest known picture postcard was a hand-painted design on card, posted in Fulham in London to the writer Theodore Hook in 1840 bearing a penny black stamp.[1] He probably created and posted the card to himself as a practical joke on the postal service, since the image is a caricature of workers in the post office.[1][2] In 2002 the postcard sold for a record £31,750