PPM Jul 11 - Picture Postcard Monthly

addition, a very good range
of local catering venues
could be found within a five
minute walk of the Community
Hall.
The card, showing a
‘blue stockinged’ young
woman talking to a stout
(English)? man with a large
hamper of sandwiches, had
been sent by
Welsh young ladies
and the tea set
Pte. Will Harding, 4178 G
Boy 4, at East Blockhouse,
Angle, Pembrokeshire, to
Miss Blodwen Thomas at
Rhondda Fach, Glam., and
was clearly postmarked
Pembroke, 24th August
1914. So for me, a ‘Welsh
Lady’ card with nice First
World War local connections!
Then, while Pat selected
cards from a dealer’s 10p
box (every week we send
postcards to grandchildren
in Oxford, Kenilworth,
Barcelona and Texas), I
picked up a final couple of
cards, including this charming
one of two young Welsh
girls holding their own tea-
IT’S ALL WENDY’S FAULT!
continued from page 39
Carte de visite from
Edwin Lott’s Studio at Bridgend.
On this one he
dropped the ‘e’ from Lotte!
party. This (presumably)
real photograph has a ‘postcard
back’ but no indication
about the location or photographer,
but a pencilled
note on the back says
“Gaudy Welsh Tea Set” - no
comment!
Then it was off to
‘Hooch!’ Valentine’s Scottish Studies, posted at Leicester,
on 23rd December 1905 and sent to Broughton Astley, near
Rugby
Swansea and my wife’s
committee meeting. While
Pat was ‘committing’ herself,
I chortled over the
cards that I had acquired,
made a large fruit salad for
the evening’s ‘bring &
share’ supper, and got
ready for an energetic
evening of Scottish dancing.
Oh yes, and why was it
all Wendy’s fault? Wendy is
the treasurer for one of our
Welsh folkdance groups,
and a few days previously
she had handed me an
envelope of ‘petrol money’
for some displays that we
had done. Being a good lad,
I had promptly handed it
40 Picture Postcard Monthly July 2011
Cheeky goings-on up Bamforth way
Postcard publishers Bamforth of Holmfirth delighted
many people with their comprehensive output
of song and hymn cards back in the 1910-20 period,
and they’ve provided collectors today with a fine
retrospective of a selection of ditties that are still
familiar today. The stories behind them can also
often be fascinating.
over to my wife and she
had stowed it away in her
handbag. Going round the
fair, I soon spent the modest
amount that I had
brought with me, so asked
Pat if I could borrow some
more. She grinned and
handed me back my envelope!
As a result I had far
more cash than I expected,
so all these cards are
Wendy’s fault!
Take the threecard
set 4719 Who
were you with last
night, for instance
- incidentally, not
an easy set to find.
It was written in
1912 by Fred Godfrey
and music hall
performer Mark
Sheridan. Godfrey
was born
Llewellyn Williams
in Swansea in
1880, and became
a prolific songwriter,
with his
credits including
Take me back to
dear old blighty
and Bless ‘em all,
which, recorded
later by George
Formby, became
an unofficial
anthem for the
R.A.F. Fred Godfrey
died in Pinner in 1953.
Mark Sheridan was already
an established star on the
music hall circuit when he
met Godfrey. Born Frederick
Shaw in Co. Durham in
1864, he had already toured
Europe, South Africa and
Australia. A career highlight
was the first performance of
what became a perennial
favourite Oh I do like to be
beside the seaside. When
the duo penned Who were
you with last night, it was at
first turned down by all the
music publishers. However,