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Postbag Russian railways I was interested to read David Rye’s article ‘Around Europe by Postcards’ (June PPM). The Russian postmark inscribed with the name of Tsarskoe Selo, St Petersburg Province, was in use from c. 1904 to 1918, and so the ‘Oilette’ card would have been posted on 5 July 1910, though as Russia was still using the Julian calendar at that time, the date would have been 18 July using our Gregorian calendar. It does seem that Tuck’s Oilette cards were sold in Russia in the early 1900s. I have seen several such cards posted from Russia, and in my collection there is a set of six Oilettes in the “Wide-Wide-World” series entitled “Siberia” (sample scans attached). Although these were clearly sold mainly in the West, I have seen at least one with a Russian postmark. Whilst I don’t like to spoil a good story, especially one that has been doing the rounds in various forms for well over a century, I noticed that David Rye wrote that the Russian word ‘vokzal’ (meaning a large railway station) owes its origin to a prefabricated form of Vauxhall station, London, being shipped to Russia for the Tsar to inspect. I’m afraid this is a myth. The Russian word ‘vokzal’ originally meant a pleasure garden, and while it does indeed stem from the word ‘Vauxhall’, this referred Not surprised When I read your comments about the LL card of Bournemouth Pier and your opinion that the legendary phrase Wish you were here “actually doesn’t appear in many messages”, I wasn’t really surprised. People like to make a postcard personal, writing words of special relevance to the recipient. What’s more, the phrase doesn’t take up that much room, and my experience of postcard collecting (going back almost 40 years) is that individuals wish to fill the entire space available for a message. Tim Mickleburgh Grimsby to the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (a resort for wealthy Londoners in the 18th century), not the 1840 Vauxhall railway station. Russia’s first railway ran from St Petersburg via Tsarskoe Selo to the resort of Pavlovsk, which was popular with well-to-do Russians. A concert hall and entertainment pavilion was built at the terminus, and the word “vokzal”, originally referring to this pavilion, eventually was used for the whole station complex. Later the usage of the word spread to other large railway stations in Russia. For further details, see the “Wikipedia” article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Vauxhall. If proof were needed of the prerailway age use of the word ‘vokzal’ in Russia, it can be found in a poem by Alexander Pushkin that was written in 1813, and its first usage in Russian literature can be traced to 1777. Philip Robinson Scunthorpe (author of books on Imperial Russian postmarks) Below: the Tuck trademarks and two of their Russian Oilette postcards. Sorry, Luise Angela Davis includes in her article Scandal in Saxony (June PPM) a postcard featuring a public lament for former Crown Prince Luise. She asks for a translation - here it is. The Public Lament Luise, formerly Crown Princess of Saxony Ah, would you know how loved you are By the whole Saxony people You would not have left us We'd hoped that you would return And cursed your bad spirit Our hope is shattered The wish of the country, green and white! O, you are our own, The devil, deceitful and cunning! A devoted public, who love you They have paid dearly. Now you are nearly estranged Nevermore come back Reconciled now, we regret Your sad fate. When still passed you by The bitter chalice of the Lord Because you have been absent You were away from the sick child Taught us much repentence And a thousand hearts pray: Lord Help conquer, guide to the goal! Mark Bailey Winchester Upside down! Has anyone else noticed the mistake on the design of the Raphael Tuck-published postcard featured on the front cover of the current Picture Postcard Annual? When the umbrella was waved in the air, the wording would be upside down! Eric Jacobs Sawston, Cambridge [Ed. - but then it could be seen by people looking out of upstairs windows?] Englishman in Hamburg named! I was fascinated to read Michael Hauskeller’s article “Fond Love from Daddy - an Englishman in Hamburg” in the May PPM. After a little research using family history websites I have identified the sender of the postcards. He was George J. Borley, who is shown in the 1901 census return as a 44 year-old ‘tailor, employer’ resident at 127 Broomwood Road, Wandsworth (this being one of the addresses to which the postcards were sent). He lived with his wife Mary E. Borley, 42, and two children George C.H. Borley, 9, and Mary G. Borley, 7. The family also had a domestic servant. George John Borley had been born at Hampstead in 1856, the son of George W. Borley, who is described in the 1861 census as a “commercial clerk, clothing”. He married the Dublin-born Mary Elizabeth Wilson in Wandsworth in 1889. Their children George Colby Hewken Borley and Mary Gertrude Borley were born in 1891 and 1893 respectively. George may well have had clothing business interests in Hamburg, and they may have continued to keep him away from home, as he does not appear in the 1911 census return (the latest available). His wife Mary is shown there, living at 32 Baskerville Road (the other address to which the postcards were sent) with her two children and a servant. George died in 1938, aged 82, his wife having predeceased him in 1925. Philip E Robinson FRPSL, Scunthorpe Got a point of view or something to say? Write to PPM Postbag! 42 Picture Postcard Monthly July 2010
Just the ticket! The June edition of PPM could have been designed for me. Not only are there the regular features and ‘one-off’ articles to arouse the curiosity but, as a ship-wreck card collector, I am spoilt with two articles on my favourite subject. In John Marks’ article on the wreck of HMS Montagu, in considering the number of postcards he observes “there may, however, be more” than the 14 he lists. There certainly are! I have 32 different cards in my own collection and I was once offered a collection of ‘over 200 cards of the Montagu by a dealer but declined the Pick of the Postbag offer as I felt I had enough representative cards of the wreck. I did obtain a book called “The Loss of HMS Montagu, Lundy 1906” by G.M. Davis and published by him in 1981. I was attracted to the book by a review which said it was illustrated with postcards of the wreck. Whilst the book is only 59 pages it does have 50 illustrations, 32 of which are postcards of the wreck and two are postcards of HMS Duncan, a sister ship which grounded herself whilst trying to assist Montagu. I was delighted with Bob Appleton’s article on the loss of the Targis. The pictures looked familiar so I immediately went to my T.B.I. (to be identified) shipwreck box and, sure enough, there were the four cards, two as illustrated, one of the three lifeboats as described and another which would seem to be the one Bob saw on eBay. To remove one from my T.B.I. box is encouraging; to remove four at once is exceptional! Now to the one where my research can give some more interesting information. Another of my interests is the depiction of murders on postcards and I instantly recognised the card at the top of page 15 as one I already have. Mine also has the same scant information provided by the sender concerning the discovery of a body. It was discovered by a group of schoolboys out for a walk with their teacher on 20th February 1908 and was that of Miss Emma Sherriff, a lady of 36 years of age who had been missing from her lodgings in Boscombe since the 18th. The accused man referred to was one Frank McGuire, with whom Emma had formed a romantic attachment unknown to his mother, who was a close friend of Emma. Frank was in the Army but then both his mother and Emma lost all contact with him for about eighteen months. He had apparently deserted and was acting as a sales agent for art works under an assumed name. He got into financial difficulties and contacted Emma unexpect- edly in January 1908 asking if he could come to stay. Emma made arrangements for him to stay at her lodgings and informed his mother. Whilst staying there there is evidence that he took cash and jewellery from Emma which she found after he had left. She tackled him about it and he promised to return it but there followed a few days where he travelled to and from London not telling anyone the correct details of his whereabouts. When Emma’s body was found she had apaprently been beaten to death and died from internal bleeding. Frank was arrested in London and tried at Winchester Assizes. The jury could not agree on a verdict and the then Attorney General later decided not to proceed with a retrial on the basis of undeclared new evidence. The whole story of the case is covered in a chapter in Nicola Sly’s book “Dorset Murders” and it remains an unsolved case. Alan Savory Bournemouth Semaphore captioned PPCs, post 1914 I was very interested in Allan Hughes’ letter showing that the semaphore writer continued to write picture postcard captions after 1914. My June 1996 PPM article showed that Bender/PP&P Co printed the semaphore captioned cards up to 1914. I noted there that both Bender and PP & P Co. disappeared after 1914. Since writing the 1996 article, the 1901 and 1911 Censuses have been published and show that Joseph and Nicholas Bender were German nationals, living in England. This would account for the Bender company “The Photo Printing & Publishing Co” disappearing suddenly after 1914. The whole of the Bender business interests would have been confiscated by the Custodian of Enemy Property and would have been offered/sold to a British national. This could have happened immediately in August 1914. (It seems that at that time keeping the business going was the main concern). Allan Hughes’ letter shows that somebody did buy the Bender/ PP & P Co. business and other Bender interests and continued to employ the Semaphore caption writer. I do not know whether we will ever find out who bought the Bender interests in 1914, as the rich source of material from The British Journal of Photography seems to dry up on this front. It is now clear that there were two parts to the Bender story, pre and post 1914 George Webber St. Peter Port Going football crazy I recently obtained six comic football postcards by an unknown (to me) artist whose initials are 'D.B.M.'. I am assuming this is a set, although there are no numbers on the reverse or, indeed, any pictorial publisher's emblem or other information, apart from the wording M. WANE & Co. EDINBRO' in the bottom lefthand corner of the back of the postcard. None are postally used but, I imagine, these were produced sometime in the early 1900s. I have searched through the UK PUBLISHERS INDEX and ARTISTS' INDEX of your invaluable 2010 PICTURE POSTCARD ANNUAL, but can't find any reference to the publisher or artist of my six coloured comic football postcards - see scan of one of these attached. Maybe a PPM reader can throw some light on who the artist 'D.B.M.' is and/or the printer/publisher M.WANE, EDINBRO' ? Bryan Horsnell Reading Pick of the Postbag is sponsored by Boxhill Postcards We are interested in buying UK street-scene and road-transport RPs. Collections or singles Lists to graham@boxhillpostcards.co.uk RPs only please PPM on Tour Melvyn Brooks from Karkur, Israel, took to the skies with PPM recently over the Jezreel Valley, near Mount Tabor. While in flight, Melvyn was obviously reading the piece in last month’s PPM featuring the balloon postcards at auction! PPM keeps you in touch with the postcard world! Picture Postcard Monthly July 2010 43
Page 1 and 2: The top magazine for collectors of
Page 3 and 4: 15 Debdale Lane Keyworth Nottingham
Page 5 and 6: Postcard Exhibition helps Charities
Page 7 and 8: International Diary This is a selec
Page 9 and 10: AND IT’S JUST SO EASY TO REACH TH
Page 11 and 12: Dublin is a historic city with some
Page 13 and 14: DAYS OUT AT GODMANCHESTER Over 100
Page 15 and 16: The first coach and horses service
Page 17 and 18: The original Winter Gardens picture
Page 19 and 20: nienced you at all. Well Edith hopi
Page 21 and 22: Braving the weather Sixteen brave s
Page 23 and 24: THE COUNTRY’S LEADING POSTCARD AU
Page 25 and 26: The Ballroom provided accommodation
Page 27 and 28: R F Postcard Fairs: This is probabl
Page 29 and 30: The magic of Hollywood Philip Yaxle
Page 31 and 32: The Hollywood Canteen was opened by
Page 33 and 34: This is, I believe a portrait of th
Page 35 and 36: National Motorcycle Museum Birmingh
Page 37 and 38: In 1913 the Orient Line ordered a l
Page 39 and 40: The first of our four postwar ships
Page 41: Winchester, Basingstoke, Shrewsbury
Page 45 and 46: ... and wall paintings by Donald Mc
Page 47 and 48: ton outside The Royal Geographical
Page 49 and 50: Picture Postcard Monthly July 2010
Page 51 and 52: 55. LITERARY. Shakespeare series pu
Page 53 and 54: LANCASHIRE DANCE BANDS pre- 1925. M
Page 55 and 56: LITERATURE SHOPS INTRODUCING... PAG
Page 57 and 58: Picture Postcard Puzzles Another
Page 59: The Nottingham Postcard Show Postca

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