French & German Post Offices

This is one of my favourite views of the Petit Socco:


Note the French post office next door to the shop Au Grand Paris, and the little group of schoolgirls outside:

Note also the German post office next door to the Cafe des Postes and the horse waiting patiently outside:

Incidentally, the stamp and postmark on this card are from the Spanish post office.

Early View

This is a very early view of the Petit Socco before the British post office was built. At this time it was located behind the buildings on the left, as shown in the sketch map posted below.

The Spanish post office can be seen on the right of the picture.

The British Post Office 2

This picture shows the Petit Socco looking back towards the Waterport. The German post office is on the right and the Spanish post office in the centre - more about those another time.

The characteristic shape of the British post office sign above the entrance allows us to pick out this building. This is one of the very few cards on which it appears.

The British Post Office

The photograph shows the British post office during the time it was located on the Petit Socco, from 1895 to 1908. It is adapted from Fig 2.3 on p. 31 of my book and also appears in Richard's book.

There are many old postcards of the Petit Socco, some of them showing the post offices, but on very few can you pick out the British post office. The unusual shape of the lettering on the British Post Office sign above the entrance sometimes enables one to pick it out.

Above the British post office was the Bristol Hotel.

Introduction 2

At one time, around 1905, there were four post offices in the Petit Socco: the British, French, German and Spanish post offices in Tangier. There was a Moroccan or Cherifien post office in Tangier but this was not in the Petit Socco.

Coming up from the Waterport, walking roughly southward into the city. the traveller passed the Great Mosque on his left and entered the Petit Socco. To his left and rear was the Spanish post office; to his right the British post office; in front of him the French post office, and to his left front the German post office. So, as shown in the diagram, there was a post office on each side of the little square.

For reference, the diagram is adapted from Fig 2.4 on p. 33 of my book.

The history of the British post office move from its old location to the location on the square (as shown) is covered in Richard Garcia's book p. 203 et seq.

Introduction

The Petit Socco (Soco Chico in Spanish) was the central market place in the Medina of old Tangier. It was a small area, in contrast to the much larger area of the Grand Socco (Soco Grande) outside the walls. The purpose of this blog is to explore some of the history of the Petit Socco, in particular the post offices that used to be there.

An initial account of the history of these post offices, in particular the British post office, may be found in my book published in 2007:

The British Post Office Service in Morocco 1907-57

The earlier period is covered in a forthcoming book by Richard Garcia:

The British Postal Service in Morocco 1749-1906