PPM Jul 11 - Picture Postcard Monthly

Cynthia Wright promised
members of SOUTH
DOWNS a ‘Quirky Look at
the Seaside’, and she did
not disappoint. Her interest
began when she took over a
collection of family postcards
and photographs, and
since then she has expanded
into Victorian Christmas
cards and scraps, trade
cards and general
ephemera, all dealing with
the seaside. Although most
items were British, there
were examples from elsewhere
in Europe. The Victorian
interest in the seaside
grew with the development
of the railways. As people
became able to reach the
sea easily (previously
accessible from a distance
only to a relatively select
few), they sought postcards
of interest, particularly during
the postcard craze of the
early 1900s. All the expected
seaside topics were
included in her display,
such as fisherfolk, bathing
machines, piers inside and
out, Punch and Judy shows
and other entertainments,
skipping competitions, pinups
and donkeys, as well as
tourist attractions! A colourful
composite card from
1906, ‘The Fish Story’, also
featured. Particularly interesting
was a mid-1880s
guide-book engraving (with
text) of the front of ‘The
Seaweed Shop’ in Hastings,
which offered seaweed as
an alternative to flowers!
(At Hastings in 1882, the
Princess of Wales was presented
with a bouquet of
seaweed.) The sea could be
a difficult neighbour; Cynthia
showed a Hastings
‘rough seas’ set of cards
from Boxing Day 1912, and
disasters such as a ship hit
by fire in 1906. Artists have
been attracted to the seaside,
and she displayed
cards with the work of local
painter WH Borrow RA, with
seaside scenes specially
produced for postcard
reproduction. Ellam’s
‘word-play’ cards appeared,
as did Tanquerey’s impressions
of Continental heat,
and Kirchner’s pin-ups. Art
Nouveau cards by Jack
Abeille and Gisbert Combaz
were included too. Not
everything at the seaside is
serious, and the comic
opportunities of misfortune
at the seaside were on
show, such as 1850s forerunners
to the modern-day
postcard, as were Louis
Wain’s cats and a range of
designs by Tom Browne.
Indeed there were a couple
of examples of Tom Browne
original artwork for which
Cynthia is still looking for
the postcards. Also impressive
were the number of
complete sets of postcards.
A party of LOTHIAN Postcard Club members
enjoyed a day out in Phillimore country at the end of
May. Provided by Gareth Burgess and Fiona Gebbie
of Bass Rock Postcards with a 24-page booklet profusely-illustrated
with cards drawn and published by
North Berwick artist R.P. Phillimore, the party began
their coach tour at North Berwick railway station. It
took in the picturesque village of Dirleton, where the
group spent half-an-hour trying to locate various
buildings depicted on Phillimore’s postcards,
Haddington (another site tour), Tantallon Castle and
Bass Rock (right), featured on many cards. Having
completed the circle, the party strolled over to the
house where Phillimore
had lived (left), with its
views over the East bay of
North Berwick. A meal at
an excellent fish bar completed
the day.
For the club’s
indoor May session, philatelist
Mike Faulds confessed
himself nervous before his
first talk to a postcard club.
His first reaction to the
club’s invitation to present
a show on Tristan da
Cunha was that he didn’t
have any postcards - but a search revealed more than enough to use with the
presentation! Mike provided a history of the island, explained that the first postcards
were produced in the early 1930s, but only in very small numbers. These
can be divided into official (published by the Post Office), semi-official (sold on
the island, such as those by the Reverend Edwards, who photographed most of
the 107 ships that visited Tristan), and private ones, produced by locals for locals
and seldom sold. Most of all types are consequently very scarce. Cards are still
published today, showing mainly animal and plant life.
A colourful display at
WEST LONDON by John
Chisholm, drawn from his
very large collection,
included some interesting
insights into the techniques
- and sometimes
even the principles - of
postcard artists. Basing
his talk on cards published
by Salmon of Sevenoaks
from originals by A.R.
Quinton (though John
started with a map of Kent
designed by M.F. Peck), he
discusses Quinton’s ‘renta-crowd’
techniques - he
was fond of making tracings
from his pictures and
using them again and
again in others. John
looked at rural scenes that
have changed radically
and grand, unchanged
places such as Penshurst
Place. Other artists featured
included Essenhigh
Corke , R.F. Robertson and
F.W. Burton.
Lothian club visit famous artist’s house
Graham Hopcroft took centre
stage at NOTTINGHAM
in May with a talk entitled
‘Granny’s Postcard Album’.
He was armed with a collection
of slides showing the
history of the postcard from
the late 1880s to date.
Cards with interesting messages,
views, comics, silks
and glamorous ladies were
all included.
BRISTOL had a good
attendance for last month’s
visit by members of the
Cotswold and Mendip
clubs. Eddie Cuss from
Cotswold began the entertainment
with a talk on the
Concorde project at RAF
Fairford. The fine collection
of postcards and photographs
he showed included
notable visitors and passengers.
Further presentations
featured rare silk postcards,
the building of the
Panama Canal, and LL-published
cards on the Carnival
of Nice.
The June 2011 edition of the Railway Postcard Collectors
Circle magazine has a feature on the Foxfield railway,
along with postcard checklist, a piece on Great North of
Scotland postcards, along with reprints of old railway
magazine articles, including one on the Nidd Valley Light
Railway.
Bamforth treat
Denby Dale Collectors Society
paid a visit to the HUD-
DERSFIELD club in May,
when the hosts displayed a
variety of subjects, including
paintings by James
Bamforth and original artwork
by Bamforth artists.
There were ‘then and now’
views of the 1904 Colne Valley
floods and the newlyrestored
Greenhead Park in
Huddersfield, and scooter
postcards.
Malcolm Cooper told a
NORFOLK club audience
about what he called the
three invasions of Norfolk in
World War Two - the arrival
of evacuees and their teachers,
the ‘invasion’ of land
girls and finally the American
forces. He used contemporary
newspapers for illustration,
but was unable to
reveal any pictorial evidence
because of the secrecy
in which all the operations
were cloaked. Malcolm
did reveal, though,
that stars like Glenn Miller,
James Stewart and Cary
Grant were all stationed in
Norfolk at some stage.
Picture Postcard Monthly July 2011 43