Christmas special: Postcard Stockings galore! - Picture Postcard ...

The ttop mmagazine ffor 

collectors oof oold aand mmodern ppostcards wworldwide! 

December 2009 no. 368 £2.60 

Bowling along: the 

postcards 

Christmas special: 

Postcard Stockings 

galore! 

Inside this month: 

� Postcard television 

� Crown Green Bowls 

� The Alaska Mission 

� Hartley’s Jam 

� Jacob Popp’s brush with 

the law 

and much more 

plus news, auctions, 

moderns, postbag and 

events diary 

The Television Age 

Picture PPostcard AAnnual 22010 oout nnow - ddon’t mmiss iit! 

- ppacked wwith ppostcard iinformation aand aarticles 

Moderns of the 

year 

Jacob fights the law

15 Debdale Lane 

Keyworth 

Nottingham NG12 5HT 

Tel: 00115-9937-44079 

Fax: 00115-9937-66197 

www.postcardcollecting.co.uk 

e-mmail: rreflections@ 

postcardcollecting.co.uk 

Editorial, aadvertising aand 

correspondence: Brian 

and Mary Lund 

Typesetting aand oorigination: 

Helen Bradshaw and 

Brian Lund 

Printing: Warners 

Midlands plc, Bourne, Lincolnshire 

(01778-391000) 

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U.K. £33 

Europe (airmail) £40 

Rest of world airmail £51 

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ADVERTISEMENT RATES 

Page £175 

Half-page £99 

Quarter-page £61 

Eighth-page £39 

Sixteenth-page £22 

V.A.T. at 15% should be added to 

the above rates 

Spot colour: 20% extra 

Inside covers: 20% extra 

Full colour rates: 50% extra 

Semi-ddisplay:- 

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each extra col.cm £1.75 

Classified llineage: 

1-3 insertions 16p per word 

4 + insertions 13p per word 

Semi-display £7.50 per 3cm 

box 

Picture ad (modern cards only) 

b/w £9.50 col. £15 

VAT is included in the classified 

rates. This is not applicable to 

advertisers outside Europe. 

ISSN 0144-8137 

Views expressed by 

contributors are not 

necessarily those of the 

editor and publisher. 

We check all advertisements, 

but cannot be 

responsible for changes of 

dates, failure of individuals 

to answer letters, etc. 

We shall of course be 

pleased to follow up any 

problems readers may 

experience. 

Readers writing to PPM for 

information 

enclose a S.A.E. 

should 

Please mmake oout ccheques 

to ‘‘Reflections oof aa 

Bygone AAge.’ 

Front ccover ppictures: 

Top rright: this airline 

poster advert from Contour 

Creative of New 

Zealand is one of Mike and 

Sue Huddy’s favourite 

modern postcards of the 

past year. See page 46 for 

their other selections. 

Top lleft: Christmas means 

stockings, and they are the 

subject of Wendy Mann’s 

seasonal offering on page 

30. 

Centre rright: postcards 

featuring television make 

an interesting theme for 

Liz McKernan on page 12. 

Bottom lleft: John Mayhew 

tries his hand at Crown 

Green Bowls on page 24. 

Bottom rright: Alan 

Leonard investigates the 

strange case of Jacob 

Popp’s picture postcards 

on page 16. 

Postcard experiment 

on TV 

Good to see Jon Snow of 

Channel 4 News posting a 

selection of postcards on 

29th October to viewers 

who’d tweeted about the 

Royal Mail dispute. It was 

an exercise designed to 

test how quickly the post 

was getting through. We’re 

still trying to find out how 

long the cards did take to 

reach their destinations! 

Birmingham date 

error 

One or two errors crept 

into AMP Fairs’ advert in 

Picture Postcard Annual 

due to a crossed wires 

situation! Their Birmingham 

(National Motorcycle 

Museum) Fair in July 

2010 is on the 11th (the 

incorrect date also 

appears in the Diary); 

entry to the Penkridge 

fair is free; and free tea 

and coffee will not be 

dispensed at the Rugby 

fair, where entry is actually 

£1. 

Regular ccolumns 

Newsdesk 3 

Fairs/Auction Diary 6 

Auction notes 28 

Postbag 20 

What the postman saw 

38 

Clubscene 40 

Card Chat 48 

Early posting dates 51 

Freecard Gossip 52 

Book Review 56 

Picture Postcard Puzzles 

57 

2 Picture Postcard Monthly December 2009 

PPM FFeatures DDecember 22009 

Dealers and collectors - Kirsten Elliott sees life from 

both sides of the table 10 

Postcard themes: Liz McKernan settles down in 

front of the telly 12 

I fought the law - Jacob Popp used postcards in his 

Sunday trading battle, Alan Leonard recalls 

16 

State of the Nation - John Wood ponders some 

weighty postcard matters 19 

Promoting Hartley’s jam - Nick Hartley looks at 

advertising postcards 22 

Crown Green - John Mayhew is bowled over by his 

postcard collection 24 

Enigma variations - Rick Hogben pursues a code 

from New Zealand 26 

Who wrote all those postcards? Julia Gillen focuses 

on messages on the backs 27 

Stockings galore - Wendy Mann hangs up in hope 

30 

Famous showjumpers - Ron Severs looks at horsey 

postcards 36 

Alaska’s Igloo Mission - in the far north with Liz 

McKendrick 42 

Top Ten Moderns - Mike and Sue Huddy’s choice of 

the year 46 

Postcard fairs continue to attract big 

crowds 

Despite the fears of some people within the hobby 

that internet sales would affect attendances at fairs, 

there are signs that figures are holding up well and 

in some cases increasing. Pudsey and Nottingham 

fairs both saw big crowds in early November (Nottingham 

had its best attendance for four years), Haywards 

Heath is going well, and Stockport’s midweek 

event is booming under the stewardship of AMP 

Fairs. No fair promoter can afford to be complacent, 

though, and continued imaginative ideas are needed 

to pull in more collectors. Some big issues are 

surfacing in the hobby at the moment, and this 

month’s Picture Postcard Monthly airs many of 

them, possibly controversial but needing thought 

and discussion. Because picture postcards provide 

such a fascinating panoply of art and history (a 

theme we’ll explore next month) it is probably better-placed 

than many other hobbies to ride out 

financial problems. 

The question popped! 

Jean Thomas of Rob Roy Albums has become engaged to 

Cliff Davis, who is also quickly becoming a familiar face at 

major postcard fairs. The couple plan to marry in May next 

year. Rob Roy have been selling albums and accessories to 

postcard collectors for almost three decades, since Jean’s 

father Bob Hogben appeared at London Charing Cross’s 

Saturday market under the arches in 1981.

� Newsdesk � 

London theme for next year’s Picture 

Postcard Show 

Organisers have decided that postcards of London 

will form the exhibition theme for the Show, which 

runs from 2nd-4th September. One highlight will be 

a display on Jewish Life put together by David Pearlman, 

former editor of Postcard CCollectors’ GGazette, 

which premiered at City Hall, London, a year ago. 

Other displays will focus on aspects of the capital, 

with a strong showing for the various superb ‘London 

Life’ postcards published during the 20th century. 

Postcards in a box 

Postcards are the stars of 

what is being billed as ‘the 

smallest art gallery in the 

world’. A group called Cultivating 

Settle has turned 

the old BT telephone box 

on the green of the North 

Yorkshire market town 

into a community participation 

project titled ‘The 

Gallery on the Green’. Any 

residents or visitors can 

contribute something representing 

their visit to Settle 

or their home town or 

village. The display, limited 

to 28 images, is 

changed frequently. Museum 

curator Roger Taylor is 

on the lookout for interesting 

exhibition proposals. 

You can view the initiative 

at 

www.galleryonthegreen.org.uk 

Pudsey in Wonderland 

Nottingham Postcard Fair 

raised £886 for the BBC 

‘Children in Need’ appeal 

last month, adding to the 

£250+ already netted from 

the sale of Brian Partridge’s 

souvenir postcard 

for this year. 

�� West London Postcard 

Club have sorted out their 

various problems and are 

flourishing again. They 

have a new chairman in 

Michael Goldsmith and 

secretary in Graham 

Wheeldon. The club has 

taken over the promotion 

of the Wembley Postcard 

Fair from Roger Lee, the 

first fair under the new 

regime making a healthy 

profit. 

Concentration: collectors in a deep study at Wirral Postcard 

Club/Northern Postcard Fairs event at Thornton 

Hough in November 

Rare appearance 

Ron Griffiths (right, at the 

moderns fair at Nottingham 

in 1990) has been one 

of the most prominent figures 

in the postcard collecting 

world over a period of 

some 40 years. He pioneered 

the collecting of 

modern postcards, most 

famously buying the entire 

residue of moderns (and 

many older cards, too) left 

after the legendary ‘Blue 

Peter’ sale of picture postcards 

at Phillips’ London 

salerooms in 1977. He edited 

the Hertfordshire club 

magazine before turning it 

into the British Postcard 

Collectors’ Magazine in 

1981, which he famously 

billed as non profit-making. 

That ceased publication a 

couple of years ago, but 

Ron carried on with an 

occasional newsletter, the 

final edition of which has 

just been published. Fiercely 

critical of other dealers, 

who he claimed failed to 

support his publishing ventures, 

Ron had a loyal following 

of readers among 

the collecting fraternity. He 

wrote many of the articles 

himself under pseudonyms. 

He is making a rare 

appearance as a dealer at 

the Tolworth Postcard Fair 

on December 28th with his 

fabulous stock of moderns. 

15 & 16 January 2010 

The top French postcard fair! 

10am - 7pm 

METRO (ligne 10) & parking: 

Maubert-Mutualite 

MAISON DE LA MUTUALITE 

24 rue Saint-Victor 

75005 Paris 

Successful tee-off 

Horncastle Postcard Fair 

debuted at its new home, 

the town’s golf club, in 

October, and promoter 

David Calvert was pleased 

that the attendance 

matched last year’s. The 

golf club put on a carvery 

and its proprietors were 

delighted with the refreshment 

take-up by customers. 

Perhaps this will 

start a new venue trend for 

fairs! 

� Charity postcard salesman 

Len Whittaker has had 

a record-breaking year with 

his fund-raising efforts for 

the Sudan Church association. 

His sales to the end of 

June 2009 showed a bestever 

profit of £13,505. 

Sylvia and Michael 

Porter’s postcard sales 

efforts on behalf of deaf 

children in Norfolk have 

now grossed almost 

£77,000 over 20 years. 

CARTEXPO 

54 

Details: 

Marc Lefebvre 

0033.1.42.71.36.69 

Alexandre Przopiorski 

postcardman@hotmail.com 

EXHIBITION 

The Seine in flood 1910 

Picture Postcard Monthly December 2009 3

When the M1 was empty... 

The M1 motorway was officially opened on 2 

November 1959, with the initial stretch running from 

junction 5 (Watford) to 18 (Crick). Watford Gap service 

station was up and running at a basic level 

immediately, with others opened later. Toddington, 

named after the nearby village, came in 1964. The 

50th anniversary was marked by the unveiling of a 

plaque at Watford Gap, arguably the most famous 

service station in Britain and supposedly the place 

where ‘the North’ begins and ends. Early postcards 

show the motorway almost deserted, quite unbelievable 

now! 

Granada’s Toddington Serices opened in 1964, its facilities 

and exterior shown on this pair of postcards published by 

CG Williams of Maidstone. Fashion and car-spotting are 

part of the fun of looking at these cards which, in impeccable 

‘Golden Age’ size, surely must soon deserve to be 

labelled ‘old’. 

Charnock Richard was the M6’s first-ever service station, 

opened in 1963. This postcard was published by Valentine 

of Dundee to show off its charms and those of the carriageway. 

A full-length article on ‘Motorway Postcards’ appeared in 

June 2004 PPM. 


Exeter Fair 

Saturday 5 December 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Postcards 

Cigarette Cards and Stamps 

Ephemera and Accessories 

Clyst Vale Community College, Broadclyst 

Organiser: Anne Scott 

01395 - 270322 

Next events here: 

13 February, 13 March 

A bumper attendance at Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden 

Sports Centre last month enjoyed some fine postcard displays 

in the inter-club competition, which saw Alfreton 

Philatelic Society take the trophy for the sixth time. 

Northamptonshire Postcard Club were second, with Gwen 

Haynes winning the prize for the best individual board (on 

‘Northampton’). Previous winners Doncater slid to third 

place this time, while Nottingham came in fourth. Voting 

was by collectors and dealers at the fair, and Val Holland 

from Brigg won a postcard album as the voter whose 

choice most closely matched the final result. Viv Lapworth 

made an identical choice, but lost the draw. 

Above: big crowds at the fair. 

Below: Postcard Traders Association chair Melanie Mordsley 

presented the Nottingham Fair Trophy to Alfreton’s 

Ron Stammers. Bottom: admiring the displays

Royal Mail keeps going... for now 

The postal dispute is over for the time being, but the 

underlying causes have apparently not been solved. 

What we have is a truce, an opportunity for sober 

reflection and discussion - a situation similar to the 

end of the previous dispute, in 2007. For most people 

the strikes that occurred in October did not have too 

serious an effect, but the perception of possible delays 

and disruptions badly dented users’ confidence in the 

system. In some areas of London, where unofficial 

walkouts have been causing chaos for months, deliveries 

have been unreliable and intermittent. 

We have argued many 

times before for the continuation 

of Royal Mail in public 

hands as a universal oneprice-for-all 

service with a 

long and noble history. The 

postal system touches postcard 

collectors in two ways: 

firstly, in a historical sense - 

the mail service was the 

means by which millions of 

postcards were distributed, 

and many collections focus 

on postmarks or cards 

showing post offices, postboxes, 

or postmen and 

women. Half the fascination 

of picture postcards is in the 

journeys they’ve undertak- 

Postboxes unlimited. Royal 

Mail holds all the cards on 

this postcard published earlier 

this year by the London 

Borough of Hounslow and 

designed by Lesley Jones 

from Orleans Park School. 

Sadly, the trend is in the 

opposite direction, with the 

service likely to be privatised 

after the next election, 

against the wishes of most 

members of both parliament 

and the public. 

There’s no post for Miss 

Andsum, not even a Valentine 

card, on this Edwardian 

postcard published in the 

‘Smart Novels’ series. Perhaps 

she popped in on one 

of the strike days? 

Right: Donald McGill’s 

young lady is desperate to 

catch the postman on this 

Inter-Art Co.-published 

card, posted at Blackpool in 

September 1922 

en. Secondly, the mail is 

crucial for the smooth running 

of the hobby as 

approvals, or purchases 

from auctions or internet 

sites wing their way across 

the world. 

Royal Mail is still a 

marvellous service, and 

fewer packages go astray 

than is often thought, but 

the recent closures of post 

offices, abolition of second 

delivery (or, in many cases, 

first delivery) and Sunday 

collections raise fears of 

how much the service 

would be downgraded in 

the event of privatisation. 

Attempted and abandoned 

by the current government, 

it will be one of the first 

things on the agenda of a 

Cameron government if 

elected. Derided by internet 

buffs as ‘snail mail’ and 

talked down by commentators 

with an agenda as a 

declining industry, Royal 

Mail, the best brand name 

in Britain, is crucial to collectors 

and communities in 

so many important ways. It, 

and its excellent post office 

and postal staff, deserve 

support. 

The place for postcards! 

Spotted recently: an envelope 

with an advert for the 

shop of J. O. Emes of High 

Street, Moreton-in-Marsh. It 

described him as a hairdresser, 

stationer and 

tobacconist, but right at the 

top of the advert was “The 

shop for picture postcards”. 

��A stunning exhibition of old postcards was held recently 

at Terrassa in Spain’s Catalonia province. The show, and 

an accompanying catalogue, was set up by collectors 

Montse Saludes, Rafael Comas and Ana Fernandez. 


NOVEMBER 2009 

FAIRS 

24 Stockport, Masonic Hall (AMP) 

25 Digbeth (Birmingham), Irish Centre 

(AMP) 

26 Ripley, Rose Lane Scout Hut* (TN) 

Plymouth, Guildhall (PF) 

27 Clyst St George, Parish Hall (PF) 

�28 BRISTOL, B.A.W.A. Leisure Centre 

(AS) 

GUILDFORD, St.Peter’s School, 

Merrow (SuPC) 

Chester-le-Street, North Lodge 

School (DC) 

Redruth, Jubilee Hall (DL) 

Porchester, Parish Hall (CH) 

Trinity, Jersey, RJA&HS HQ (CIA&C) 

Eastbourne , St. Mary’s Church Hall 

(CR) 

London, Charing Cross Market (RB) 

29 Twyford, Loddon Hall (NB) 

Prestwick, RAFA Club (CF) 

DECEMBER 2009 

FAIRS 

2 Croydon, St George’s Church Hall 

(PD) 

Neath, Town Hall (DCF) 

3 Cardiff, Wesley Church Hall (DCF) 

4 Newark, Showground (DMG) 

�5 EXETER, Clyst Vale Community 

Centre (AS) 

HAYWARDS HEATH, Clair Hall (BF) 

Montrose, Hillside Village Hall (CN) 

Farnham, Maltings (AD) 

Beckenham, Azelia Hall (P&R) 

Swindon, Western Community Hall 

(SSPF) 

Hove, St Leonards Church Hall (EL) 


6 BIRMINGHAM, Motor Cycle Museum 

(AMP) 

Tonbridge, Angel Centre (CR) 

Woodbridge, Community Centre (H) 

London, Holiday Inn (ES) 

�12 Canterbury, Westgate Hall (CB) 

Bournemouth, Pelhams Park (RH) 

Cardiff, City Hall (MJP) 

London, Electric Ballroom (PN) 

East Grinstead, De La Warr Parish 

Hall (JT) 


13 Mountnessing, Village Hall (H) 

Bath/Bristol, Patchway Community 

College (KN) 

17 Orpington, Crofton Halls* (SRP) 

Cirencester, Bingham Hall CPC) 

�19 Glastonbury, Town Hall (BR) 

Midhurst, Grange Hotel (GCA) 

Guildford, Onslow Village Hall (CR) 


20 LONDON BLOOMSBURY, Royal 

National Hotel (IPM) 

Herne, Parish Hall (RC) 

27 CHELTENHAM , Pump Rooms(AMP) 

Glasgow, Woodside Hall (RS) 

28 WICKHAM, Community Centre (PP) 

A3 KINGSTON BY-Pass, Tolworth 

Recreation Centre (GSF) 

Sittingbourne , Carmel Hall (CR) 

JANUARY 2010 

FAIRS 

1 East Grinstead, De La Warr Hall (JT) 

��2 Hastings, Christ Church (CR) 



� What’s on - Postcard Events Diary � 


Key to number of postcard dealers at 

fairs: 

BOLD CAPS - 25 or more dealers (40+ 

if in red) 

Bold type - 16-24 dealers 

Medium type - 7-15 dealers 

Medium italics - 3-6 dealers 

* evening fairs 

Saturdays indicated by � 

Three non-specialist dealers are calculated 

to be equivalent to one specialist 

postcard dealer for the purposes of the 

Diary. Collectors unfamiliar with a particular 

event might still be wise to check 

with the organisers about the exact number 

of PC dealers present before making 

a long journey. 

Great care is taken to make sure that the 

information of this Diary is accurate, but 

the publishers can accept no responsibility 

for errors or omissions. 

3 LEEDS, Pudsey Civic Hall (KSG) 

Ludlow, St. John Ambulance Hall 

(AMP) 

Worthing , Heene Community Centre 

(CR) 

6 Croydon, St.George’s Church Hall 

(PD) 


7 Cardiff, Wesley Church Hall (DCF) 

� 9 Colwyn Bay, Eirias High School 

(NWSF) 

St. Agnes, Parish Hall (DL) 

Wellington, Western Community 

Hall (SSPF) 

Beckenham , Azelia Hall (P&R) 

Sale, Grammar School (M&DPA) 


(SSPF) 


10 HAYDOCK PARK, Racecourse 

(NWCF) 

Wymondham, Ketts Park Community 

Centre (H) 

Orpington, Crofton Halls* (SRP) 

Winchester, Badgers Farm 

Community Centre (CR) 

13 Ardingly , Showground (IACF) 

15 TWICKENHAM, Stoop Rugby 

Ground (SPPF) 

�� 16 TWICKENHAM, Stoop Rugby 

Ground (SPPF) 

CHESTER, Northgate Arena (NPF) 

Broughty Ferry, St Aidans Church 

Hall (CN) 

Colchester, Marks Tey Parish Hall 

(TM) 

Eastbourne, St Mary’s Church Hall 

(CR) 


Midhurst, Grange Market (GCA) 


Trowbridge, St. James’ Church Hall 

(PF) 

17 Chichester, Westgate Centre (E) 

Horsham, Village Hall (CR) 


Yeovil, Westlands Social Club (PF) 

21 Cirencester, Bingham Hall (CPC) 

Plymouth, Guildhall (PF) 

� 23 Motherwell, St Mary’s Parish Hall 

(CF) 

Margate, Union Church (CB) 

Littlehampton, United Church (CR) 

Powick, Parish Hall (AMP) 

Wimborne, Allendale Centre (RPH) 




PENKRIDGE, Leisure Centre (AMP) 

Carlisle, Houghton Village Hall (CF) 

Rochester, Masonic Hall (CR) 

26 Stockport, Masonic Guildhall (AMP) 


�� 30 PRESTON, Barton Village Hall 

(RRPC) 

SHOREHAM-BY-SEA, Shoreham 

Centre (BF) 

Bicester, Littlebury Hotel (RL) 

Gravesend, St George’s Church Hall 

(NWKPC) 

Portchester, Parish Hall (CH) 

Redhill, Salfords Village Hall (CR) 


31 LEICESTER, Parklands Leisure Centre 

(DC) 

FEBRUARY 2010 

FAIRS 

3 Croydon, St.George’s Church Hall 

(PD) 


4 Cardiff , Wesley Church Hall (DCF) 

5 Newark, Showground (IACF) 

�6 BRISTOL, B.A.W.A. Leisure Centre 

(AS) 

HAYWARDS HEATH, Clair Hall (BF) 

Woodbridge, Community Centre (H) 

Guildford, Onslow Village Hall (CR) 

Cardiff , City Hall (MJP) 

Beckenham, Azelia Hall (P&R) 



(SSPF) 


7 NOTTINGHAM, Harvey Hadden 

Sports Centre (R) 

Leigh on Sea, West Leigh Junior 

School (H) 

Patchway , Community Colllege(KN) 

Southampton, Novotel (E) 

�� 13 STOCKPORT, Town Hall (KSG) 

EXETER, Clyst Vale Community 

Centre (AS) 

Redruth, Jubilee Hall (DL) 

Wembley, Methodist Church Hall 

(WLPC) 

Kinross, Church Centre (BRF) 

Southampton, St.James Church Hall 

(RH) 

Canterbury, Westgate Hall (CB) 

Hove, St.Leonards Church Hall (EL) 


14 LINCOLN, Bishop Grosseteste 

University (DC) 

Fareham, Ferneham Hall (E) 

Orpington, Crofton Halls* (SRP) 

�20 Chester-le-Street, North Lodge 

School (DC) 

Midhurst, Grange Market (GCA) 

St.Ives, Cambs. Parish Hall (HPS) 




Thornton Hough, Village Hall 

(NPF/WrPC) 

Bathgate, Kiam Park Hotel (CF) 


23 Stockport, Masonic Guildhall (AMP) 


26 SHEPTON MALLET, Bath & West 

Showground (BR) 

�27 SHEPTON MALLET, Bath & West 

Showground (BR) 

Kendal, Parish Hall (V) 


London, Charing Cross Market RB) 

28 Prestwick, R.A.F.A. Club (CF) 

London, Park Inn (ES) 

Fair oorganisers: ssend uus ffull 

details oof yyour eevents ffor 

inclusion iin tthis ddiary. CCopy 

deadline iis 1100th DDecember 

for tthe JJanuary 22010 iissue.

International Diary 

This is a selected list of fairs outside Britain featuring postcards 

in worthwhile numbers. The telephone number quoted 

in each instance is the internal one in that country. If you 

are travelling some distances to attend, it would be sensible 

to check details with the organiser. 

Nov 28 STUTTGART, Liederhalle 711.241.272 

Nov 29 COLOGNE, Mulheimer Stadthalle 160.9651.3700 

Dec 5 ALBERT, Espace Culturel 3.22.74.37.00 

Dec 6 MONT ALBERT (Victoria, Australia), Our Holy 

Redeemer Catholic School 9803.4396 

Dec 12 LILLE, Grand Palais 3.20.53.66.32 

Jan 2-3 ORLANDO, Central Florida Fairgrounds 

410.623.581 

Jan 8 POMPANO BEACH (Florida), Civic Centre 

309.666.0219 

Jan 15-16 PARIS, Maison de la Mutualite (Cartexpo 54) 

1.42.71.36.69 

Jan 17 OZOIR-LA-FERRIERE, Salle du Carousel 

1.64.40.04.07 

Jan 29-30 PARIS, Omnisports de Bercy (Numicarta) 

1.64.46.52.22 

“Just a card to let you see what it was like here at Xmas”, wrote 

‘E.C.’ to Miss G. Carpenter of Alton, Hampshire. The postcard, in the 

‘S & W’ series, shows decorations in Sutton (Surrey) High Street 

exactly one hundred years ago. 

PLEASE MENTION 

PICTURE POSTCARD 

MONTHLY WHEN 

REPLYING TO 

ADVERTISERS 

Fair oorganisers 

AD A. Dickinson 01252-726234 

AMP AMP Fairs 01283-820151 

AS Anne Scott 01395-270322 

AW Alan Wishart 01698-356337 

BF Beacon Fairs 01892-662132 

BPC Bristol PC 0117-9665071 

BPS Barry PS 01446-741026 

BR Barrie Rollinson 01278-445497 

BRF Bass Rock Fairs 01368-860365 

BRSC Bognor Regis SC 01243-837590 

C&EK Canterbury & EK 01843-862707 

CB Clive Baker 01843-862707 

CF Caledonia Fairs 01436-671429 

CH Colin Harris 02392-615380 

CIA Ch.Island Antique 07797777709 

CJ C.J. Fairs 01782-611621 

CN Chad Neighbor 01674-832823 

COR Cornucopia 01382-224946 

CPC Cotswold PC 01285-655532 

CR Chris Rapley 01795-478175 

DC David Calvert 01507-480280 

DCF Dragon Coll. Fairs01446-741026 

DG Denny Gibson 01677-422863 

DL D. Luxford 01736-786068 

DMG DMG Fairs 01636-702326 

DPC Dorset PC 01305-871629 

E Emmott Prom 01243-788596 

EL Eric Langdon 01273-514733 

ES Ephemera Soc. 01923-829079 

FF Fairdeal Fairs 01732-463575 

FS Felicity Smith 01296-651283 

F&WPC Frinton & Walton PC 

01255-674134 

GCA Grange Com.Ass 01730-816841 

GSF Great Southern 07939-302425 

H Ray How 01702-544632 

HP Helen Prescott 01204-418791 

HoE Heart of Eng. PC 01926-854524 

HPS Huntingdon PS 01480-468037 

IPM IPM Promotions 020-82029080 

JT John Terry 01342-326317 

KN Kevin Noble 0117-902-1134 

KRM Kidderminster 01562-825316 

KSG KSG Promotions 01723-363665 

MaPC Maidstone PC 01622-737110 

MEPC Mid-Essex PC 01245-362201 

MJP M.J.Promotions 01792-415293 

NB Neil Baldry 01628-622603 

NIPC N.Ireland PC 028-4062-2022 

NPC Norfolk PC 01263-825053 

NPF NorthernPC Fairs 01244535578 

NSCF Nat. Spec. Collectors Fairs 

01869-600236 

NWCF North West CF 07973-219394 

PD Peter Duncan 01444-482620 

PF Phoenix Fairs 01749-813324 

EXHIBITIONS 

until 9 Jan 2010 LONDON, Chris Beetles Gallery, Ryder 

Street. The Illustrators 1870-2009. 

until 7 March 2010 LONDON, The British Library. Points 

of view: Capturing the 19th century in photographs. 

until 31 March 2010 LONDON, Transport Museum. 

Suburbia - postcards and ephemera of the railways’ 

adventures to the London suburbs. 

AUCTIONS 

NOVEMBER 2009 

27 Hendersons, Minsterley 01743-792727 

29 Loddon, Twyford 01628-622603 

DECEMBER 2009 

2 T.Vennett-Smith, Nottingham 0115-983-0541 

5 Dalkeith, Bournemouth 01202-292905 

5 Railwayana, Sheffield 01234-325341 

9 Warwick & Warwick, Warwick 01926-499031 

9 Birmingham Auctions, Worcester 01885-488871 

15 Trafford Books, Manchester 0161-877-8818 

JANUARY 2010 


12 T.Vennett-Smith, Nottingham -postal 0115-9830541 

24 Lockdales, Ipswich 01473-218588 

27 Cavendish, Derby 01332-250970 


FEBRUARY 2010 

2 Trafford Books, Manchester 0161-8778818 

3 T.Vennett-Smith, Nottingham 0115-9830541 

5 Special Auction Services, Midgham 0118-9712949 


15 SPA, Cirencester- postal 01285-659057 

15 Maidstone Postcard Club 01622-737110 

17 Birmingham Auctions, Worcester 01885-488871 


The annual Illustrators (The British Art of Illustration) exhibition 

at Chris Beetles Gallery in Ryder Street, St. James’s, 

London, is showing until 9 January 2010. As usual, there 

is particular interest for postcard collectors, with many 

artists featured whose work also appeared on postcards. 

There are originals from Phil May, Harry Furniss, Mabel 

Lucie Attwell, Lawson Wood, and William Heath Robinson. 

PN Philip Nevitsky 0161-228-2947 

PP Popplestone PC 02380-446143 

PPC Plymouth PC 01752-775289 

PPS Preston PS 01772-713917 

P&R P&R Fairs 020-84623753 

R Reflections 0115-9374079 

RB Rodney Bolwell 01483-281771 

RC Ralph Carter 01227-362439 

RF RF Postcards 01268-794886 

RH Rikki Hyde 01202-303053 

RJ Richard Jones 01752-269003 

PH Redpath Phil. 01258-880878 

RRPC Red Rose PC 01995-670625 

RS Richard Stenlake 01290-551122 

ShPS Shropshire PS 01743-860910 

SPPF Specialist PC&PF 0208-8925712 

SRP SRP Fairs 01322-662729 

SSPF Swindon St/PF 01793-528664 

SuPS Sussex PS 01323-438964 

SWPC South Wales PC 01633-412598 

TM Trevor Mills 01702-478846 

TPS Telford PS 01952-223926 

TN Tim Notley 01932-341527 

V Varykino 015394-45757 

WPC Wealden PC 01293-786419 

WLPC West London PC 0208-892-5712 


� Moderns News � 

Poster, transport and military card collectors may look 

back on 2009 as a bumper year, writes Malcolm Luty. Over 

100 new cards, all continental size unless stated, from at 

least seven publishers included 18 from London Transport 

Museum, listed as SUB 1-18, a mix of posters, leaflet covers, 

adverts and photos to support its current ‘Suburbia’ 

exhibition. In addition, the museum is offering a packaged 

set of twelve postcards (two each of six poster artworks) 

under its Underground merchandising brand. 

Also newly-published are six LT 

posters by John Burningham 

from Dovecot Studios in connection 

with its exhibition on the 

artist; 15 posters from the Imperial 

War Museum for its Outbreak 

1939 exhibition; four oversize 

railway posters promoting Wales 

from the National Museum of 

Wales; five regimental recruiting 

posters from National Museums 

Scotland, and one poster by 

Edward Bawden from Bedford 

Museum for its current exhibition 

on the artist. Finally, two 

books from Pomegranate featuring 

the railway posters of Norman 

Wilkinson. In total, there are 

51 slightly oversize tear-outcards 

including five common to both 

books. 

IWM PP0930, showing that 

identity cards were an issue 

in 1939 

Left: LTM SUB8, a 1926 

poster by an unknown artist 

Right: prolific caricaturist 

Jean Claval designed 

this golfing theme postcard 

as a souvenir of the 

postcard fair to be held at 

Ozoir la Ferriere, southwest 

of Paris, next month 

Tasteful comics in North Wales 

Llandudno’s postcard range would have no need of a 1950s-style 

watch committee to check the suitability of jokes on postcards. With 

gentle, subtle comics from artists Terry Irvine, Rupert Besley 

and Tony Hall on offer, no maiden 

aunt could 

possibly be 

outraged! It is 

strange that in 

our ‘anything 

goes’ on TV 

society, picture 

postcards have 

self-censored 

quite remarkably. 

Main publishersrepresented 

on the 

retailers’ 

stands were 

Judges, Salmon 

and local firm 

Origins, the latter 

providing a fine 

colour photo 

range of views. 

Judges of Hastings 

have also published 

a series of 

sepia views reproducing 

their Llandudno 

views of a 

century ago. 


Sheepdog trials: the village of Trunch, Norfolk, has published 20 

postcards to mark its 2009 ‘Scarecrow Day’ where the winner was 

this tableau of shepherd with sheepdog and sheep. We mentioned 

their 2008 cards in October PPM, asking if anyone had spotted any 

other cards from villages that hold similar scarecrow events. None 

forthcoming so far, so Trunch remains the scarecrow postcard leader! 

The 2010 event is on 27th June. 

Promotional card for London’s 

Camden Market - “just two 

stops from Eurostar” 

�� A 

report in 

the Daily 

Telegraph 

that Tunbridge 

Wells, Kent’s spa town, had produced 

picture postcards to promote 

their image change from 

“Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” 

to “Delighted of...” turned out to 

be unfounded. On the trail of the 

cards, PPM learned that no 

“Delighted” cards have surfaced 

yet, and the “Disgusted” postcards 

on sale were in fact fiveyear-old 

designs published by a 

private retailer in the town. Of 

course, if there aren’t any, there 

certainly should be! 

A very presidential-looking 

Martin Parr. The top 

photographer’s work is being 

shown under the ‘Planet Parr’ 

tag - this card advertised the 

exhibition’s arrival in Paris earlier 

this year

CANTERBURY POSTCARD 

& COLLECTORS FAIR 

at 

WESTGATE HALL, 

WESTGATE HALL ROAD, 

CANTERBURY, KENT 

SATURDAY 12 December 

OPEN 10am to 4pm 

2010 dates: 

* 13 February * 17 April * 12 June 

* 28 August (club fair) * 9 October 

* 11 December 

Buy and Sell: Stamps ~ Postcards ~ Playing Cards~ 

Phone Cards ~ Militaria ~ Coins ~ Cigarette Cards ~ 

Books ~ Breweriana ~ Ephemera ~ Beanie Babies 

and Small Collectables 

15 + postcard dealers 

FREE ADMISSION 

ENQUIRIES, OR TO SELL ANY 

OF THE ABOVE ITEMS 

Tel/Fax 01843 862707 

E-mail: info@clivebaker.co.uk 

HAYWARDS HEATH 

INTERNATIONAL 

Postcard, Cigarette Card and Collectors Fair 

The top event of its kind in the Southern Counties! 

Saturday 5 December 

10.30 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

55 Tables specialising in: 

POSTCARDS *CIGARETTE CARDS *EPHEMERA *STAMPS 

*POSTAL HISTORY *ALBUMS *ACCESSORIES ETC. 

Clair Hall, Perrymount Road, 

HAYWARDS HEATH 

West Sussex 

Admission £1 Refreshments Free Parking 

Dealers booked include: 

* Topo Plus * Brian Girling * Mike Felmore * Terry Nye 

* Magda Cards * Peter Holroyd * Philip Chipperfield 

* Mick Devonald * Beacon Postcards * Lesley Davies 

* Peter Robinson * Peter Lindfield * Betty Fuller 

* John Kidson * Jane Dembrey * Michael Goldsmith 

* Graham Green * Tim Notley * Peter Duncan * Jim Jackson 

* John Ainslie * Rob Roy Albums * Jackie Worling 

* Chris Hoskins * John Priestley (Sussex) * Mike Clark 

and more to follow! 

For further information and bookings: 

Rosemary Shepherd/Beacon Fairs 01892-662132 

Future Dates: 6 February, 6 March 


The Dealer and Collector 

should be friends... 

says KKirsten EElliott 

I noted in the last PPM the objection from a collector 

to dealers dealing amongst themselves before fairs, 

and it seemed to me that this is one of two major 

gripes that those coming to fairs have about dealers, 

the other being the vexed issue of filing in front or 

behind. It seems rather a shame that such longstanding 

grievances should continue to rankle. To 

paraphrase Oscar Hammerstein - the dealer and collector 

should be friends. 

There's no doubt that the top whinge by collectors 

is the failure of dealers to decide whether cards 

are filed in front or behind. Perhaps, when I'm standing 

behind the stall, I don't look like your average 

dealer - whatever your average dealer looks like - but 

many collectors seem to choose my shoulder to 

weep on over this. I support them whole-heartedly. I 

personally believe the natural tendency of most people 

is to look for things behind the divider, not in 

front. After all, when you are out driving, you expect 

the signpost before you get to the turning, not afterwards, 

and so it seems logical that you should look 

for the dividing cards with the subject name on them 

in front of the cards rather than behind. 

I know the advantage of filing 

in front is that you don't 

get dividers hidden against 

the front of the box. However, 

my husband Andrew 

Swift tried filing in front for 

a time as an experiment, 

and the cards ended up in 

much more of a muddle. 

What's more, the dividers 

seemed to get misplaced 

more often, ending up in 

the middle of the subject, 

instead of in front or 

behind. But my object is not 

to make a definite case for 

one way or the other, merely 

to say that I, and many 

other collectors, think dealers 

should get together over 

this. Please make a decision 

one way or the other and 

everyone stick to it. If you 

can't agree, then toss a 

coin. Nothing would make 

your customers happier. 

However, I cannot feel 

much sympathy for those 

who complain about dealers 

dealing amongst themselves 

at discounted prices 

before fairs start. Even 

when I was purely a collec- 

tor, and not married to a 

dealer, I could see no objection 

to this. Can I ask collectors 

to spare a thought 

for the dealers? In order to 

supply you with cards, dealers 

are taking a risk with 

their money - not yours. 

They have thousands of 

pounds tied up cards for 

you to buy. They have to 

buy boxes to display the 


I never thought then that I would be spending £40 on a 

card, such as this one of the driver of the van for Wards' 

Cakes, seen outside their works in New Road, Portsmouth 

One of my first purchases, which I bought mainly because 

it wins the price for unrealistic colouring. This picture of 

the Rock Gardens at Southsea cost me all of 10p, reduced 

from 20p. It was printed by Mills & Co of Portsmouth, is 

described as a Real Hand Coloured Photograph and was 

posted in 1939 

I rarely buy greetings cards or multiviews any more, but 

when I started out, I bought all sorts of things at the cheaper 

end of the market. I still 

have considerable affection 

for this cheeky card, printed 

by the Rapid Photo Printing 

Co. of London. It cost me a 

stupendous 75p. I was getting 

bolder, evidently 

cards in, and sleeves to protect 

them. They have to pay 

stall rent and insurance. 

They get up much earlier 

than you do to set up the 

fairs, and they are there 

later than you. On the way 

home, you can drop into a 

pub or café for refreshment 

- the only way the dealer 

risks doing that is if he can 

find somewhere secure to 

put the car, or park where 

This cartoon appeared in the Sheffield Telegraph on October 10th and was spotted by an eagle-eyed Tim 

Hale. It was drawn by Everard Davy, who has kindly allowed us to use it. Copyright everarddavy.com

TWICKENHAM 

IS COMING 

JANUARY 15th & 16th 

at The Stoop Rugby Ground, 

Langhorn Drive, Twickenham TW2 7SX 

he can see it from the pub 

or café. 

There are other reasons 

why this complaint is 

not very logical. Shops buy 

in at wholesale prices and 

you don't think that's unfair 

- so why is it unfair for dealers 

to buy at discount? And 

where does fairness and 

unfairness end? Imagine 

that the fair is somewhere 

which does not have good 

public transport. Should 

dealing not start until the 

first bus or train has 

arrived? Because if it does, 

that's not fair to those who 

cannot drive. (In these liti- 

Specialist Postcard Fairs 0208 892 5712 

This card had a price tag of £80, but thanks to dealers who, 

in the past, have spared the time to explain to me what 

makes a good card, I knew it was worth having. It shows 

the cycle shop of J. A. Lemmon in Gamble Road, 

Portsmouth, and is full of fascinating detail 

gious times, I should perhaps 

not be making this 

point - just in case someone 

is inspired to take a complaint 

to the Human Rights 

Court. You never know 

what might happen!) 

And then, what happens 

if a dealer makes a private 

appointment with 

someone and sells at home, 

not at a fair at all. I obtained 

some of my best 

Portsmouth postcards from 

a Portsmouth dealer who, 

knowing I was a Pompey 

girl, was happy to have me 

(continued on page 14) 


Postcard Theme Page 

Television 

Liz MMcKernan 

My first memories of television were of watching the 

tennis at Wimbledon on a tiny blue screen in the 

headmistress’s study. Housed in a very large piece of 

furniture the flickering screen seemed to us schoolgirls 

a magical invention although I do not think we 

could even see the ball. The commentary helped to 

follow the matches and time spent there was a time 

out of lessons so it did not really matter that we 

could not see much of the action! 

People used to talk 

about viewers developing square eyeballs if 

they watched too much television! This French postcard 

shows an entire family including the cat and dog having 

developed ping-pong eyeballs. 

The illustrator’s pseudonym of BOZZ was used by 

artist Robert Velter, creator of the comic strip character 

‘Spiron.’ 

Since then of course televisions 

have grown ever larger 

and the majority are now in 

glorious colour. When my 

eldest son was small he used 

to enjoy watching what he 

called ‘Granny’s 

Many readers will recognise 

Muffin the Mule on the 

screen here. It was a very 

popular children’s programme 

featuring the puppet, 

animated by Annette 

Mills who was the sister of 

the celebrated actor John 

Mills. The ‘Taylor’ design 

published by Bamforth No 

K137 was produced for the 

French market. 

painted tele’ - my mother had 

a colour set while we still had 

a black and white one. 

The name of John Logie 

Baird is forever linked with 

the invention of television in 

1926. However the origins of 

what would become today’s 

Another Bamforth 

card this time posted in 

1964 - and ‘Coronation 

Street’ is still going strong! 

The writer is obviously staying 

in a caravan park in 

Morecombe and comments; 

‘Caravan OK but toilets 

a little way off.’ Not too 

far I hope! 


television system can be 

traced back to the discovery 

of the photoconductivity of 

selenium by Englishman 

Willoughby Smith in 1873. 

The telly, TV, gogglebox 

whatever we tend to 

call it, it is here to stay. It is 

so much part of our way of 

life that those few who 

choose not to have a set 

have been known to have 

been hounded for not having 

a licence - for their 

non-existant TV! 

(right) A Belgian card 

from 1960 showing the 

good things of life - 

books, booze, flowers 

and of course a television. 

Not a very inspiring design but it does show a typical television 

set from the late 1950s. It is a radio QSL from Prague 

in the Czech Republic. 

(below) With the growth 

of television came the 

arrival of the celebrity 

who became instantly 

recognisable once they 

had appeared on the box. 

This card from the Nostalgia 

series shows 

Gilbert Harding who 

was a regular guest 

panellist on the popular 

programme 

‘What’s my line.’ Harding 

- a well-known 

Brighton resident - 

died in 1960 appropriately 

outside Broadcasting 

House. 

(above) The arrival of Eurovision 

was a great event. I 

can remember watching 

grainy pictures coming live 

from Calais! Today we can 

watch perfect pictures live 

from around the world and 

the initial excitement of 

those early days has disappeared. 

This is a French Maximum 

card celebrating Eurovision 

with a ‘silk’ picture linked to 

the special stamp and postmark 

from 1980.

‘The Sky at Night’ presented 

by amateur astronomer Patrick Moore 

was the longest running television series with the same 

presenter. This postcard was one of a series produced by 

the BBC in 1997 to commemorate 75 years of the Beeb. 

A German 

postcard 

depicting a 

vintage 

television 

reflecting 

the interior 

of a room 

and a 

h e a r t 

drawn on 

a dusty 

screen. I 

think it is 

an advertising 

card for a product called 

SWIFFER. Perhaps a cleaning material? 

(above) 

Paul Ordner, a French illustrator, 

has designed several 

cards on a TV theme. Here 

the viewer is furious with 

his set because his horse 

has lost! 

(right) Another Couch Potato 

this time by artist Elizabeth 

Titcomb. No 161 in Pat 

Holton’s production it features 

a remote control and 

small aerial and I do love 

the contented cat curled up 

on the sofa. 

‘(right) Camberwick Green’ 

and ‘Trumpton’ were great 

favourites in our house. 

This particular series of 

cards was produced for the 

BBC by Dixons. The card 

shows the Mayor sitting for 

his portrait - the series introduced 

children to the many 

characters who contribute 

to the running of a town. 

Great favourites were the 

Firemen whose names were 

recited every time they 

came sliding down the pole. 

I always enjoyed 

watching the wrestling on television even 

if we all knew it was staged for entertainment. 

This card shows the fashionable spindly legs on 

both television and armchair from the 1960s. 

I have no idea how the expression ‘Couch Potato’ originated 

but this example printed in Korea and distributed by 

Great Mountain West of Utah is a fun design cut out 

in the shape of a potato. 

continued...... 

Contributors aand 

advertisers aare 

advised tthat tthe JJanuary 

22010 eedition oof 

PICTURE PPOSTCARD 

MONTHLY wwill bbe 

published oon DDecember 

220th. DDeadline ffor 

copy iis DDecember 

10th. 


POSTCARD THEME 

PAGE TELEVISION 

continued from page 13 

When television 

first entered households, complete 

attention to it was paramount. This is beautifully demonstrated 

here with the head of the household going off to 

work on his hands and knees so as not to disturb the family 

viewing! 

THE DEALER AND 

COLLECTOR SHOULD BE 

FRIENDS... 

(from page 11) 

round and look at his stock - 

which contained some rare 

and exciting cards. Many of 

these were at a price which 

would make the average 

punter at postcard fairs 

blink a bit, so there was the 

added attraction for him 

that here was someone who 

was prepared to spend a lot 

of money for good and rare 

cards without quibbling. 

But was it fair to other 

Portsmouth collectors? 

However, I agree with 

the comment made by Ken 

Hassell that if cards are 

advertised as being on sale, 

then they should not go on 

the table until the public 

arrive. But, as I write this, 

more possibilities of claims 

to unfairness strike me, if 

we take things to extremes. 

If I come to a fair with 

Andrew, thus allowing him 

to go buying cards, is that 

unfair to both collectors and 

to dealers who have to stay 

at their stall? 

I'm afraid the truth of 

the matter is that life frequently 

is unfair, and the 

more you try to make it fair, 

the more complicated it 

gets, as I hope I have 

demonstrated here. So, to 

return to my previous point, 

by and large, I don't think it 

is wrong for dealers to trade 

before fairs. I think there 

One way of 

teaching those 

new to collecting 

why prices vary 

is to show contrasting 

cards of 

the same scene. 

I’m showing 

three postcards 

of South Parade 

Pier - but with 

very differing 

prices. The first 

is by the well-known Portsmouth photographer, Stephen 

Cribb. It shows the pier newly rebuilt after a fire, and was 

posted in August 1908. It cost me £3 

The second one, by an unknown photographer just a few 

days earlier has, in addition to the pier, some of the 

bathing machines, and an intriguing piece of machinery in 

the foreground. 

This may have 

been to do with 

the building of 

the pier - if you 

look very carefully, 

you can 

see that work is 

still going on. 

All this is reflected 

in the price 

tag - £8 


One of my 

favourite modern postcard artists is 

Fernand Zacot who signs himself simply ZACOT. This 

superb design was done for the French telephone directory 

and published as a postcard by PTT Cartophilie in 1994. 

may even be advantages for 

collectors. Let us suppose 

that Dealer A, who has a 

regular customer for a particular 

subject, sees a card 

on a stall where Dealer B 

does not specialise in that 

subject. He may buy it with 

his client in mind, obviously 

at a discount. When the 

client comes along, Dealer 

A pulls out this card and 

says, I've got this for you. 

He may add a slight profit, 

Rob Roy Albums 

Callers welcome 

but please ring first 

Rob Roy Albums 

“CROSSHALL” 

CHELSFIELD VILLAGE 

nr ORPINGTON, 

KENT BR6 6EN 

Tel: 01689 828052 

he may even, in the spirit of 

good customer relations, 

make no profit on that particular 

card at all. His client 

now has the card with 

which he is happy, whereas 

he might never have gone 

to Dealer B. And once again, 

of course, this raises the 

objection - is this fair to 

other buyers and collectors? 

Where I do agree with 

collectors is that this is all 

We specialise in supplying 

Cigarette Card, 

Postcard and Ephemera 

collectors with an 

extensive range of 

Quality Accessories 

We sell our own 

Postcard/Cigarette Card 

Albums 

with polypropolene pages in a 

range of sizes, plus 

Postcard Storage Boxes 

Postcard Protectors 

Monthly Magazines etc 

We aare aat 

Haywards HHeath 

(5th DDecember), 

Birmingham ((6th 

December) aand 

London 

Bloomsbury ((20th 

December) 

Catalogue and Price List Available 

Email: robroyalbums@btinternet.com 

www.robroyalbums.co.uk

fine if dealers then put these 

cards on sale at other fairs. 

I think it is unfortunate that 

some cards are going 

straight on Ebay or other 

auction sites, and I am not 

sure that this course of 

action is, ultimately, good 

for dealers. But that's an 

entirely different subject. 

I would end by saying, 

in my experience, most 

dealers give discounts to 

regular customers, and you 

can always ask if a discount 

is available, especially if 

you've made a large purchase. 

And of course, 

there's nothing stopping a 

collector from setting up as 

a dealer, thus getting to 

The Great Escape this Christmas is to..... 

The GLASGOW Postcard Fair 

Sunday 27th December 2009 

10.30 am - 3.30 pm 

Woodside Halls, Glenfarg Street, Glasgow G20 7QR 

FREE ADMISSION * FREE ON-STREET PARKING * FREE FIZZY WATER * DISABLED 

ACCESS * EASY TO REACH BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT 

Dealers standing: 

fairs early and receiving 

trade discount. 

Right: at £6, it would be 

tempting to turn up your 

nose at this apparently not 

very interesting card as 

being too expensive. But 

you’d be wrong! Valentine 

& Sons of Dundee printed 

just four scenes of Baffin's 

Pond at Copnor, in 

Portsmouth, and so far I've 

only tracked down two of 

them. The price tag is just 

about right 

Third of the pier trio is 

this Cribb-published 

postcard - and what a 

superb card it is! Photographed 

some time 

during the First World 

War, it shows wounded 

servicemen being entertained 

on the pier by the 

Southsea Sea Angling 

Society. There's just so 

much to look at in this 

picture. Cost? £35, but I 

think even the newest 

recruit to collecting can 

see the difference 

between this card and 

the other two 

Gareth Burgess, Dunbar 

John Cumming, Glasgow 

Anthony Duda, Helensburgh 

Stuart Marshall, East Kirkbride 

Chad Neighbor, Montrose 

Richard Stenlake, Ochiltree 

Frank Tonelli/Cornucopia, 

Dundee 

George Waugh, Glasgow 

plus any surprise last-minute bookings... 

Finally, this is where a collector 

can help out a dealer - by identifying 

a card. This is BA Gale's 

Premier Penny Bazaar at 175 

Commercial Road, Portsmouth. 

On the wall are painted the 

words "& at Southampton". 

However, another card turns up 

with a double-fronted shop, and 

no clue to which city it's in. As I 

write this, there's one on Ebay, 

marked "Portsmouth Southampton", 

which is how dealers often 

mark this card. It's Southampton. 

Soon after these pictures 

were taken, Marks and Spencer 

opened up penny bazaars very 

close to Bertram Gale's shops in 

both places, and Gale then 

became a photographer. The 

card, incidentally, was printed for 

the company 

Enquiries: Richard Stenlake 

tel. 01290 551122 (daytime) 

e-mail rstenlake@stenlake.co.uk 


Popp Fought The Law 

Alan LLeonard ttells hhow PPostcards 

Celebrated JJacob’s LLong BBattle oover 

Sunday TTrading 

Postcards of the Edwardian era illustrate and exemplify 

a vast range of topics and occasions but unique 

among them must surely be the set of six satirically 

celebrating their originator receiving over 400 convictions 

for defying the law week by week through 

eight years, from 1902 to 1910. 

The transgressor became 

a respected citizen of High 

Wycombe, where he spent 

forty active years. Following 

his death there on 6th 

April 1939, aged 65, the 

Bucks Free Press published 

an obituary setting his life 

in focus. It began: 

“Mr Jacob Popp, former 

tourist guide and 

accomplished linguist, who 

came to High Wycombe 

many years ago to establish 

a tobacconist’s and 

newsagent’s business in 

what was then Frogmore 

Gardens, may be said to 

have contributed something 

to the history of High 

Wycombe. Certainly his 

contribution to the town’s 

history was unusual, but 

none the less any would-be 

historian could hardly 

afford to ignore the almost 

world-wide notoriety Mr. 

Popp secured for himself by 

the simple and original - if 

somewhat expensive - 

expedient of defying the 

law for more than eight 

years. Mr. Popp, indeed, 

may be ranked among the 

pioneers, for he was, in 

truth, a pioneer in defiance 

of the old Sunday Observance 

Act of 1677”. 

Who was Jacob Popp? 

His full name was Jacob 

Ivanovitch Popp. He was 

born in 1873 at Pernau, a 

port on the Gulf of Riga, 

now in Estonia but then part 

of a Baltic province of 

Tsarist Russia. 

It is not known when 

he came to England, 

whether as a young man on 

his own or earlier as a child 

with his family, emigrating 

from Russia for some combination 

of economic, religious 

or political reasons. 

‘Popp’ may have been a 

convenient shortening of 

his original Russian surname. 

Jacob Popp had evidently 

established himself 

in England as a personable 

young man in his twenties, 

for in March 1899 he got 

married at Sevenoaks to a 

Kentish girl, Annie Kellaway. 

Within a year or two 

Popp had somehow found 

his way to High Wycombe, 

where he set himself up in 

his own business, in a good 

trading location, flanked by 

a public house, ‘coffee tavern’, 

drapers and butchers 

etc. Living ‘over the shop’ at 

23 Frogmore Gardens, he 

was recorded there by the 

Census of April 1901. It listed 

him as working “on his 


own account, at home”, 

then aged 27, with his wife 

Annie (29) and one-year-old 

Ivy, the first of his four 

daughters. She had been 

born at Stourbridge, where 

Popp may have resided 

briefly before settling in 

High Wycombe. 

Staying with him on 

census night was his Kentish 

brother-in-law, Albert 

Kellaway, 35, described as 

‘independent’. If he had private 

means, perhaps in 

some measure he had 

assisted Jacob Popp’s business 

venture? 

The census-taker 

recorded Popp as born in 

Livonia, Russia, and being a 

‘Russian subject.’ Most of 

Livonia became part of 

Latvia in 1918, but its northern 

section, largely inhabited 

by Estonians, was incorporated 

into the neighbouring 

Baltic republic of Estonia. 

Presumably Jacob 

Popp became a British naturalised 

subject as soon as 

he was able to apply as a 

permanent resident. 

In an interview with the 

correspondent of New York 

Times in March 1908 Popp 

recalled: 

When Charles the Second reigned as King 

Some funny Laws he made, 

And one of them was that to stop 

All kinds of Sunday Trade. 

When he was dead the people saw 

This law was an abuse, 

In fact that it was like the King - Of very little use. 

On one fine day the 

Councillors 

Of Wycombe Town all met, 

And said “We must enforce 

the Law 

For we’ve done nothing yet. 

To lessen either Rate or Tax 

would surely be a crime, 

Let’s start with this old 

musty Law 

Of Charles the Second’s 

time.” 

He threatened Fine, Imprisonment, 

“The Stocks” he even said, 

“Would be the fate of him who brought 

This Law upon his head.” 

Would you believe: this awful man 

Whose name is Jacob Popp 

Just laughed at him and Sunday next 

Was serving in his shop. 

They dug it 

up and looked around 

To see on whom to drop 

And finally they found a 

man 

Whose name is Jacob Popp. 

They summoned their Head 

Constable 

And unto him did say: 

“Go, tell J.Popp of his vile 

crime 

And how we’ll make him 

pay.” 

“I came to High 

Wycombe and acquired a 

business at this little shop. 

After a time I began to open 

on Sundays and did a good 

trade. Then, one Sunday 

afternoon, the chief constable 

came in and said unless 

I closed up I would be summonsed. 

I declined to close, 

with the result that a summons 

was issued against 

me on the Monday (21 January 

1902). It was taken out 

under the statue of Charles 

the Second and charged 

that ‘I on a certain date, 

being the Lord’s Day, commonly 

called Sunday, did at 

Chepping Wycombe, in the 

borough aforesaid, unlawfully 

do and exercise certain 

labour, business and work 

in the ordinary calling of a 

tobacconist and confectioner, 

the same not being a

They dragged him up 

before the Bench 

Of Justices, in line, 

Who scowled at him and 

said 

“We must inflict a heavy 

fine.” 

He paid and every Sunday 

Finds him serving in his 

shop 

And every Monday morning 

There’s a Summons for 

J.Popp 

work of necessity or charity’. 

I paid 15s - including 

costs - and since then regularly 

every Monday I get my 

summons”. 

Sunday observance 

In Edwardian times the 

enforcement of laws relating 

to Sunday observance 

varied somewhat between 

town and country and 

between larger and smaller 

urban areas, according to 

the prevailing local religious 

and political sentiments and 

control. 

Since the Reformation, 

activities permitted or forbidden 

on Sundays had 

been regulated by the State 

rather than Church authorities. 

Members of various 

religious denominations 

and other groups held differing 

shades of opinion 

about the extent to which 

Sunday should be strictly 

observed as a holy day or 

regarded as a holiday i.e. a 

day of rest, on which some 

forms of recreation and 

other activities were 

allowed. 

By 1900 attendance at 

Sunday worship had long 

since ceased to be compulsory, 

but trades and other 

occupations were subject to 

various statutes dating back 

to the 17th century. 

In particular, the Act of 

1677 decreed that “no 

tradesman or other person 

whatsoever shall do or 

exercise any wordly 

labours, business or work of 

their ordinary calling upon 

the Lord’s Day... works of 

necessity and charity only 

excepted”; convicted 

offenders were subject to a 

fine of five shillings or two 

hours in the stocks or seven 

days in prison for non-payment 

of the fine. 

The 1677 Act also provided 

that on Sundays “no 

person shall publicly 

expose for sale any wares, 

merchandise, fruit, herbs, 

goods or chattles whatsoever”.. 

subject to forfeiture of 

goods involved. 

This was widely 

ignored, as Sunday markets 

became popular in London 

and elsewhere. Restrictions 

on Sunday travel also fell 

into abeyance. The Lord’s 

Day Observance Society 

(founded in 1831) and other 

groups promoted strict 

observance but the general 

trend was towards relaxation 

of restrictions. 

In late Victorian times 

museums, art galleries and 

libraries etc were freely 

open on Sunday afternoons. 

An Act of 1781 

which prohibited Sunday 

entertainments making an 

entry charge was evaded 

e.g. at the Albert Hall, where 

concerts were held on the 

basis of free admission but 

payment of a charge for 

seat reservation. 

From 1871 prosecutions 

under the 1677 Act 

required the written authority 

of a Chief Constable, 

stipendiary magistrate or 

two Justices of the Peace. 

There was evidently no 

lack of authorisations for 

prosecutions in High 

Wycombe, where the 

town’s legal ‘establishment’ 

engaged in a week-by-week 

trial of strength with Jacob 

Popp - perhaps with an element 

of antipathy towards a 

defiant ‘incomer’ of foreign 

origin. 

Prosecutions became 

an on-going weekly drama, 

drawing large numbers to 

his shop and attracting 

widespread publicity, mostly 

sympathetic to Popp and 

critical of magistrates and 

police seen as out of touch 

with the more tolerant sentiments 

of the period. 

In the event, it was only 

after eight years that these 

persistent prosecutions 

The Sequel you’ll be 

pleased to learn 

Although they fine him still 

Is that this nonsense only 

puts 

More money in his Till. 

were discontinued, 

enabling Popp to continue 

Sunday trading without further 

incident for the rest of 

his life. 

Eight Years Saga 

When he received his first 

summons in January 1902 

Mr. Popp stuck it up in his 

shop window, with the 

annotation “King Charles is 

after me” He kept his subsequent 

weekly summonses 

as souvenirs of his on-going 

encounters with the High 

Wycombe magistrates and 

Chief Constable, Mr. O.D. 

Sparling. 

Constables were sent 

to Popp’s shop every Sunday: 

next day they duly 

declared to the justices that 

they had kept observation 

and seen persons enter and 

purchase tobacco, cigarettes, 

newspapers, sweets 

etc. Popp was duly called 

before them; as he did not 

dispute the police evidence, 

his conviction was quickly 

effected. 

For the first two and a 

half years, Popp was generally 

fined five shillings 

plus ten shillings costs, 

15s in all. To quote again 

from his 1908 interview 

for the New York Times: 

“There are two alternatives 

to paying the fine, 

viz.: two hours in the 

stocks or seven days’ 

imprisonment in jail. I 

wanted to be placed in 

the stocks but they have 

been removed and I 

could not get the magistrates 

to replace them 

or cause others to be 

specially constructed 

for my benefit. If they would 

make the imprisonment two 

days instead of seven, I 

would go to jail. But I cannot 

spare a week from business 

and close the shop. It 

is not likely that I shall close 

the shop when I take in 

between £20 and £30 every 

Sunday.” 

As well as making 

news across the Atlantic, 

Popp gained much domestic 

publicity for his defiant 

stand, which cast him as a 

popular martyr. To show 

sympathy with him or simply 

out of curiosity, numerous 

visitors sought out his 

shop on Sundays. 

Later he was able to 

open a separate lock-up 

shop in White Hart Street. 

He was encouraged by his 

extending Sunday trade and 

the fact that from 1905 

onwards he was generally 

charged only 2s. 6d. on top 

of his 5s fine. Did this represent 

a concession to him as 

a regular subscriber? 

It became such a standard 

levy that early in 1908, 

as he said, “I sent the magistrate’s 

clerk a cheque for a 

quarter’s fine in advance, to 

save both him and myself 

trouble, but he returned it. 

Having once begun to prosecute, 

I suppose the police 

did not like to withdraw and 

the summonsing will go on 

for years probably.” 

Other retailers in High 

Wycombe and many more 

elsewhere seem to have 

been allowed to trade on 

Sundays. The Popp saga 

finally concluded after he 

had been convicted 403 

”Popp the Martyr 

of High Wycombe” was the 

headline to this report by a 

correspondent of the New 

York Times, published in its 

issue of 8 March 1908. It 

gave a detailed account of 

his defiance of the Sunday 

trading law, based on an 

interview with him. 

(continued) 


POSTCARDS CELEBRATE 

JACOB POPP’S LONG 

BATTLE OVER SUNDAY 

TRADING 


times over a period of eight 

years, during which he paid 

over £200 in fines and costs. 

The longer the confrontation 

continued, the 

more profitable it became 

for him; by 1910 he was saying 

that “if he did not take 

between £40 and £50 on a 

Sunday at his Frogmoor 

shop, he had experienced a 

bad time.” 

Popp’s postcards 

Mr. Popp was a man of varied 

talents. He supplemented 

his shop takings by 

applying his command of 

several languages as a 

courier for Thomas Cook’s 

foreign holiday tours before 

and after the 1914-18 war. 

From his trips abroad he 

often brought back novelties 

to add to his retail trading 

stocks. 

He had a keen eye for 

publicity, which he promoted 

by producing a set of six 

artistic postcards presenting 

a satirical account of his 

prosecutions, with a commentary 

in verse of which 

he seems himself to have 

been the writer. The spirited 

artwork captioned by these 

amusing lines may also 

have been Popp’s but these 

postcard compositions do 

not bear any name. 

The New York Times 

report of 1908 stated that 

Popp had “issued a series 

of picture postcards illustrating 

his experiences and 

has sold one edition of 

12,000 of these.” 

It is unclear whether 

this figure represented 

2,000 sets of six or 12,000 of 

each of the cards. They 

were produced both in 

sepia and coloured ver- 

sions; the former is more 

often found today, usually 

kept together as a set by 

original purchasers having 

retained them as souvenirs, 

enjoying Popp’s sense of 

humour. 

They are illustrated 

here, with the texts of their 

neatly hand-lettered commentary. 

For another postcard, 

Popp was photographed 

standing outside his Frogmoor 

shop. 

Later years 

Jacob Popp was described 

as a man of fine physique 

and constitution, fully 6ft. in 

height. He was a keen 

sportsman, captain of the 

Wycombe Cycling Club, 

also a motor cyclist and 

motorist. He was involved 

with local football and cricket 

clubs and organised 

races for the benefit of 

street newspaper sellers 

and other causes. He was 

also an active Freemason. 

In June 1924 he fractured 

his skull and injured 

his legs in an accident while 

riding his motor cycle. After 

spending nine weeks in 

hospital he seems to have 

resumed his active life, until 

1938, when his leg troubles 

became serious. 

Their ulcerous condition 

compelled successive 

amputations above the knee 

of both legs in 1938-39, but 

to no avail, as he died on 

6th April 1939. The inquest 

verdict was “death through 

misadventure”. 

Popp had asked for no 

mourning but the widespread 

respect he had 

earned over four decades in 

his adopted town was 

shown by the large crowds 

lining the route of his 

cortege from Frogmoor to 

the parish church and the 

numerous and widely representative 

attendance at his 

funeral. 

Jacob Popp posed for this postcard photograph outside 

his shop, probably in 1910. 


STAMP & POSTCARD FAIRS 

Modern postcards as well as old ones are well 

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This mmonth’s ffairs: 

Sunday 6th December 

WOODBRIDGE, Community Centre 


MOUNTNESSING, Village Hall 

Next mmonth’s ffairs: 

Sunday 10th January 

WYMONDHAM, Ketts Park Community Centre 

All fairs 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Details: Ray How 01702-544632 

ALL COLLECTORS 

ALL RISKS - NO EXCESS 

Insurance Cover for STAMPS: POSTCARDS: 

COINS: MEDALS: & all other Collectables 

DEALER COVER ARRANGED 

at premises and Fairs 

PUBLIC LIABILITY for SOCIETIES 

STAMP INSURANCE SERVICES 

C G I Services Limited (Dept 16PP) 

29 Bowhay Lane, EXETER EX4 1PE 

Tel: 01392 433 949 Fax: 01392 427 632 

Authorised & Regulated by the Financial 

Services Authority 

This included his four 

daughters, two of them with 

their husbands, the other 

two then being unmarried. 

Popp’s widow was duly 

granted probate of his will 

in July 1939, when his 

effects were precisely valued 

at £3,891. 14s. 8d. 

She was then named 

as Philadelphia Priscilla 

Popp - which indicates that 

Jacob Popp seems to have 

married again after the 

death of his first wife. 

While his personal 

biography and contributions 

to the public life of 

High Wycombe may now 

have slipped into the shadows, 

his long campaign for 

Sunday trading remains a 

significant chapter in English 

social history, pictorially 

documented by the set of 

postcards he produced to 

celebrate it. 

Acknowledgements 

Grateful acknowledgement of 

their help with information 

for this article is made to the 

Local Studies Specialist, 

Buckinghamshire Library Service, 

High Wycombe; and to 

Tom Holder. 



MONTHLY WHEN REPLY- 

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LOOKING FOR 

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ALBUMS & 

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Look NO further than 

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38 Bedford Street, 

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OPEN: Monday to 

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Send for our 

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E-mail: vtrinder@aol.com 

Ansaphone: 020 7836 2366 

Web site: www.vtrinder.co.uk 

Got a point of 

view or 

something 

to say? 

Write to PPM 

Postbag!

The State of the Nation, Postcard 

Fairs, and why should I bother? 

Many items are sold on the 

Internet by individuals operating 

alone and who have 

no other involvement in the 

world of postcards. That is 

good; it opens up new 

opportunities for everyone. 

The big concern for me 

is the fact that major dealers 

from the mainstream postcard 

fraternity are also 

climbing into the Internet. 

Nothing wrong in that, you 

might think; it's a free world 

(relatively speaking) anyway. 

Except that is, it isn't 

being properly managed at 

all. There isn't a balanced 

approach. There is no leadership. 

In many cases not 

even an awareness of what 

it all means, despite the 

inescapable fact that it 

greatly affects every one of 

us, sellers and buyers, dealers 

and collectors, all alike. 

I cannot believe the 

complacent, inward-looking, 

shortsighted, unprofessional 

attitude that leading 

figures in the postcard 

world are taking towards 

their industry and our 

hobby. It is an abdication of 

responsibility. 

People forget that the 

postcard world is an industry. 

A significant number of 

individuals rely on it to 

make their living; it needs 

raw material supplies to 

function; above all it relies 

on having regular customers. 

Without the customers 

it is nothing. 

Customers 

I spent all my working life as 

a supplier to, or working for, 

or as a customer of the 

retail industry. Rammed in 

my head every day were 

phrases like - "quality and 

value", "listen to the customers", 

"if we don't give 

customer service they don't 

come back". I've seen, at 

first hand, what happens 

when the people at the top 

lose sight of those principles. 

When it comes to post- 

John Wood 

I don't write public letters - it isn't my scene at all - 

but this time I've had enough. I'm hacked off, disillusioned, 

despairing and generally frustrated beyond 

belief, even angry. At what? At the direction our 

postcard world is heading. The impact of the Internet 

means that the whole postcard industry and 

hobby is at a crossroads. Should that concern us? 

Too right it should if it isn't handled intelligently and 

responsibly, because it has already had an enormous 

impact on both dealers and collectors. And that 

impact is not all good; some of it is not good at all; in 

fact it is very bad. 

No Leadership 

cards, all I am is a customer, 

nothing more than that. I 

like my hobby; I like the 

cards I collect; I like to look 

at cards I don't collect; I like 

the friendship of like-minded 

collectors; I like the 

repartee and friendship with 

many of the dealers. 

As one particular 

example, I like to go to postcard 

fairs. At fairs we don't 

just talk about postcards, 

but also football, politics, 

scandal and anything else 

of the moment. And, and it 

is a big ‘and’, fairs are also 

one of the main sources 

where we all learn more 

about postcards and our 

hobby, and we broaden our 

interests. Fairs and clubs 

and people are at the heart 

of postcards. Many collectors, 

like me, browse 

through all sorts of postcards 

at a fair, not just looking 

for the specific ones 

missing from our collections. 

For me, I finish up 

buying all sorts of cards that 

I didn't plan for. Maybe I 

liked the message on the 

back, maybe it was in better 

condition than the one I 

already had, or it was from 

a different batch, or it was 

of a town that I knew, or 

maybe I just liked it when I 

held it. I like to buy from the 

dealers I am familiar with, 

those who are friendly and 

helpful, and who know what 

they have in their stock. 

Fairs - why bother? 

But what is happening now? I 

go to important fairs like 

Woking, Twickenham and 

Haywards Heath and there 

are precious few of the cards 

from my favourite publisher 

to look at, let alone buy. I get 

home, look on the internet a 

couple of days later and there 

have appeared lots of cards 

from that same favourite publisher, 

being offered for sale 

by dealers who had been at 

the fairs but had nothing new 

in their stock - those same 

dealers that I have been buying 

cards from regularly for 

years. What is the point of my 

driving over 100 miles to go 

to Woking or Haywards 

Heath? - not much. Why 

spend £50 on the train to go 

to Bipex - I didn't, I couldn't 

be bothered, I expected it 

would be a waste of time. 

How sad is that? 

What price loyalty of 

dealers at fairs to their regular 

customers? Not a lot in 

some cases. Worst of all, we 

now have major dealers not 

even bringing their topographical 

stock to the fairs, 

but there they are at those 

fairs trawling other dealers’ 

stock prior to opening time 

(and during the rest of the 

day) to put away the cards to 

sell on the Internet. No wonder 

there isn't much for the 

likes of me to look at! Thanks 

a lot, everybody! It's ‘I'm all 

right Jack’, for the few, at the 

long-term cost of the majority. 

Doesn't anybody realise 

that? Don't other dealers 

realise they are going to lose 

out in the end, because, if 

they don't have some decent 

cards to sell, then they won't 

have the customers coming 

to visit them. The ‘I'm all right 

Jack’ approach is like having 

a cuckoo in the nest, but for 

how many years do cuckoos 

themselves survive, after they 

have destroyed the nest? Not 

many. 

Increasingly, there is 

much more enjoyment in 

going to smaller, friendly, 

local fairs like Ripley and 

Portchester, where the dealers 

know each other, they 

know their stock, and they 

know their customers. At 

least I know I have an evenhanded, 

fair chance of seeing 

some cards. And I can have a 

cup of tea and a laugh as well. 

Long may they prosper! 

Postcard Industry 

But what are the senior members 

of the postcard trading 

community doing? Sniping 

at each other, criticising what 

the big fair organisers are trying 

to achieve, grumbling 

how things are getting difficult, 

and ignoring the big 

wide world called reality, and 

business reality in particular. 

There are many dealers who 

would read the above and 

say, "But I don't do that". 

Selling cards themselves on 

the Internet? I agree that 

many do not do that, but if 

they sell to those who do, 

then are they looking after 

their own business? I think 

not. Selling a few good cards 

to an ‘internet man’, who 

then gets dealers' discount as 

well is surely not the best 

answer. Getting a good price 

yourself, seeing the same 

customers next fair and next 

year, selling other cards to 

them as well. Is that not a 

better bet? Some dealers 

agree, they do not sell new 

stock on the Internet, and 

they try to sell all their cards 

themselves. I applaud them. 

We should all applaud them 

and we customers should 

support them whenever we 

can. 

The Internet 

Does all this mean that the 

Internet is the equivalent of 

The Great Satan? Of course 

not. Do I buy on the Internet? 

Of course I do. For people 

who cannot get to fairs, or 

auctions, or have no local 

shop, then the Internet is the 

best thing since sliced bread. 

For sellers who maybe are 

geographically remote, or for 

whom postcards are only a 

part of what they do, then it is 

also a great opportunity. For 

the regular dealers, if they 

have had a good card in their 

stock and it has not sold, 

either because the normal 

customers haven't turned up 

to see it, or we won't pay the 

asking price, then we cannot 

object if they then choose to 

offer on the Internet, or sell to 

another dealer. 

On the Internet there is 

no doubt that some cards 

can, and do, achieve more 

money than if they were sold 

over the counter. But many 

other cards do not sell at all. 

By the time commission 

charges, scanning and 

uploading, packing and posting, 

are all taken into realistic 

account, does anyone ever 

work out their effective net 

hourly pay when selling on 

the internet? I really wonder 

about that. 

No Level Playing Field 

None of us has any divine 

right to preferential treatment. 

But if, as regular customers 

and collectors, we are 

willing to shell out our hardearned 

money on a regular 

basis then we have every 

right to ask for a level playing 

field. That is now not the 

case, and it is getting worse. 

It isn't fair and it isn't right for 

the future welfare of the 

hobby. The danger of collectors 

becoming faceless user 

ID's on the Internet rather 

than regular customers is 

real. The danger of a few selfinterested 

dealers jeopardising 

the welfare of the majority 

of their colleagues is real. 

Do Something - Now! 

I'm saying to everyone out 

there, who cares about our 

industry and hobby, that 

unless something is done, the 

postcard world will not just 

be changing, it will be withering 

at the core. What can collectors 

do? Not a lot in reali- 

(continued) 


STATE OF THE NATION 


ty, other than making our 

feelings known and trying to 

get those at the business end 

of postcards to listen to us. 

Otherwise, slowly but surely, 

inevitably and inexorably, the 

customers will vote with their 

feet. 

The leaders of the industry 

need to get their heads out 

of those places where they 

are currently so securely 

buried, stop bickering 

amongst themselves about 

the minutiae of postcard life, 

start looking outwards, and 

reach some common agreements 

and goals. Goals like:- 

How do we re-launch those 

goals; let the customers know 

we care? 

How do we get the right publicity; 

to raise the profile of 

postcards; to replace the customers 

who have gone? 

How do we get commitment 

from the trade members? 

Don't support the cuckoos in 

the nest. 

Does there need to be a relook 

at such basic topics as 

stock rotation and replenishing, 

achieving a steady ongoing 

profit, successful fairs, 

auctions and the Internet? 

How do we agree a policy on 

selling stock to other dealers 

at fairs (even if it is to say the 

cards will be available at the 

end, if unsold, rather than 

before opening time)? 

How do we agree an acceptable 

compromise between 

handling cards for personal 

collections (including those of 

dealers) and cards for Internet 

sale? 

We need to talk to the customers, 

get their input, at 

postcard clubs, at fairs, 

through the Internet. 

And through PPM 

I know for a fact that there are 

many of us who are very clear 

how great a contribution is 

made by the editors of PPM 

to the world of postcards, 

(and, yes, I would be saying 

that wherever I was sending 

this letter). That PPM is 

impartial; that it gives a 

forum for interested people's 

views, good or bad; that it 

appears every single month - 

a considerable achievement. 

If the rest of our postcard 

world could be organised to 

the same standard the better 

it would be. 

Come oon tthen… 

So come on postcard industry 

people, “Where are you?". 

The alarm bells are ringing. It 

isn't rocket science, it isn't nitpicking 

rhetoric; it is planning, 

organisation and leadership 

that we all need. If you 

don't do something, and 

quickly, we will all live to 

regret it. 


� Postbag � 

You’re all right, Jack 

There is so much in Eric Eunson’s 

excellent article (October 

PPM) that I would like to 

respond to, but I will limit 

myself to just a few points. 

Eric bemoans the passing 

of established methods of 

trading and the emergence of 

new. I share his feelings but 

recognise that one cannot 

stand Canute-like against 

change. The internet in general 

and eBay in particular are 

here to stay. This will cause 

change elsewhere but, with 

intelligence, this need not 

destroy postcard collecting. 

First, there is a need to 

accept that dealers are not 

there to provide a local dropin 

centre. Yes, meeting old 

friends with a shared interest 

is a valued 

attribute but the 

dealers must 

make an adequate 

net income to justify the 

financial investment in their 

stock and the many hours 

worked. This cannot be 

achieved by six dealers in a 

draughty hall with a handful 

of collectors who will probably 

spend only a few pounds 

each either through lack of 

funds or, more likely, because 

their collections are so extensive 

that finding a regular supply 

of cards to sell to them is 

nigh on impossible. 

In 1992, after redundancy 

and early retirement, I 

became a part-time postcard 

dealer. In the early years my 

business was purely fairbased. 

Gradually, I built up the 

approvals side until it became 

60% of my business. The proportions 

stayed much the same 

until four years ago when my 

wife, not a techno-phobe like 

me, volunteered to start selling 

via eBay. This side of the 

business has grown rapidly 

whilst sales at fairs and 

through approvals have 

remained static. 

Currently, the sales on 

eBay and at fairs account for 

approx 30% each whilst 

approvals remains the largest 

at 40%. However, there have 

been significant changes in 

both of the “old-fashioned” 

routes to market. We are 

standing at far fewer fairs - yet 

sales are holding up. Why? 

Well we put it down to picking 

the fairs that are right for our 

stock range and by accepting 

that with limited supplies of 

quality new stock it is imperative 

to limit appearances. This 

makes for a better ratio of 

sales to overhead costs and 

consequently a more acceptable 

net profit. Next year, to 

reduce the physical effort as 

well as cost, we will be reducing 

the amount of stock we 

take to fairs by eliminating 

much of the low value material. 

Approvals have not been 

killed off, as Eric suggests, but 

there are fewer customers as 

some have ceased to buy 

because of financial pressures. 

To some extent this has been 

offset by selling a higher percentage 

of the cards 

despatched to approvals customers. 

Perhaps new 

approvals customers will 

come via eBay. 

eBay has already produced 

a number of benefits. It 

has brought 

many new 

Pick oof tthe PPostbag 

collectors to 

the hobby. 

We now sell all over the world 

and an increasing percentage 

of these sales are to repeat 

customers. Also it has encouraged 

new sellers, not just 

migrating fair dealers, into the 

market-place. This, in turn, 

promotes a strong auction 

market, helps attendance at 

fairs and increases the velocity 

of circulation of stock (a bit 

like quantative easing!) 

However, e-bay does not 

provide a realistic marketplace 

for the dealer, wellestablished 

or new, to replenish 

his stock. For this he will 

have to continue to rely on 

auctions, private purchases 

and buying from fellow dealers. 

Thus fairs will continue 

but the trend will be to fewer 

fairs where the larger one-day 

and, preferably, two day ones 

will find more support relative 

to the smaller ones. 

Little of the above will 

console Eric but at least it may 

help him to think better of 

Jack who, as usual, is reacting 

to a changing world with a 

clear-thinking revision of his 

business model. The economic 

survival of mainstream 

dealers like Jack is fundamental 

to the hobby. 

Mike Pearl 

Macclesfield 

Postcard chronology 

I absolutely agree 100% with the 

article in Picture Postcard Annual 

2010 on re-naming the groups 

that post-war postcards are listed 

in. The worst is the way dealers 

use the term ‘moderns’ for everything 

published from 1945 

onwards, implying these just 

aren't collected. We have a fine 

example with F.E.Quinton's art 

postcards. A number of dealers 

apparently have never heard of 

him when asked for his cards. 

Others just don't bother to bring 

them. Why? Because they say 

no-one wants them as they are 

modern. In the late 1930s he 

spent two years pre-war at art 

college, was called up to fight for 

his country, returned home after 

the war and studied two more 

years at art college. Not only 

did he suffer because his cards 

were labelled ‘modern’ but I 

reckon so did Salmon because 

they were not sure what number 

of F.E.Q. cards to print. Consequently, 

it is easy to find those 

that Salmon thought they could 

sell easily at seaside places. But 

that has meant a large number are 

very difficult to find. With the 

popularity of A.R.Quinton on 

eBay it is making F.E.Q. popular 

too and many of his cards are 

selling at higher prices than you 

would expect when you see 

£1.50 printed in the catalogue. I 

know the subject has been mentioned 

in PPM earlier, but I am 

sure it needs working out very 

carefully by a small body of collectors 

and dealers under your 

leadership. Would "contemporary" 

or "current" be suitable for 

the last 20 years? Would 1945- 

1960 postwar, 1960-2000 - think 

of a word which means ‘collecting 

started new popularity’, and 

2000-2020 be right? It is just 

my thoughts to start on, so someone 

else can work from there and 

think of something better?! How 

are your thoughts these days on 

the subject of ‘moderns’?! 

Jean Cullen 

Locks Heath 

[We have suggested 1960-90 

‘semi-modern’ (but that’s a 

rather meaningless term: can 

anyone come up with something 

better?) 1991-date ‘recent and 

contemporary’. Certainly anything 

prior to 1960 cannot be 

remotely classified ‘modern’. 

Thoughts from readers welcomed! 

Next month we will be 

having an in-depth look at all the 

‘postcard periods’, based on the 

recommendations of Tonie and 

Valmai Holt some 40 years ago]

Picture PPostcard 

Annual 22010 

is now available at 

£4.75 with an up to date 

directory of dealers, fair 

organisers, auctions etc 

plus lots of features and 

articles, and a list of 

important 2010 postcard 

fairs. On sale from your 

favourite dealer or 

direct from the 

publishers at 

15 Debdale Lane, 

Keyworth, Nottingham 

NG12 5HT (plus postage 

£1 UK, £3 Europe, £5.50 

rest of world) 

Big sender 

Having seen the postcard with a 

big list of memberships of international 

postcard and correspondence 

clubs (November PPM, 

p.8), it seems that Andre Perlet 

must have sent a huge amount of 

postcards. I have a similar postcard, 

though with a different list 

of clubs he belonged to (shown 

below, along with the picture 

side). 

George Eimermann 

Wateringen, The Netherlands 

It’s their business! 

As someone who had a good 

friend born in Hartlepool back in 

1913 who died about a year ago, 

it was with interest I read of the 

1914 Hartlepool disaster card 

that sold for £1,120 (PPM, 

November 2009). I certainly 

would have showed her the feature 

were she still with us. With 

regard to the price, it does seem 

excessive to anyone involved in 

the postcard world. Yet to the 

outsider with money to spare, it 

isn't really that expensive in this 

day and age, considering how 

much money people spend on 

their leisure activities. What's 

more, such individuals probably 

wouldn't want to waste time 

looking for a dealer, preferring to 

spend the money requested on 

eBay. And I suppose if they wish 

to do that, it is their own business! 

Tim Mickleburgh 

Grimsby 

From the (Eastern) 

Front 

Roger Lee’s Cossack card on 

page 45 of the November issue 

is certainly a striking design, 

but I think his interpretation of 

it is mistaken. Although, from 

the spelling, the card was presumably 

published in France, I 

don’t think that the background 

is the French tricolour, which is 

divided vertically, blue in the 

hoist, white in the centre and 

red in the fly. 

The Cossacks were Russian 

cavalry, and I suggest that 

the background is the old Imperial 

Russian flag, also a tricolour, 

but divided horizontally, 

white over blue over red. 

This flag disappeared at the 

Revolution of 1917, but - in a 

fine example of “what goes 

around, comes around” - since 

the break-up of the Soviet 

Union, the old tricolour is once 

again the ensign flown by 

Russian ships and also, I 

believe, in general use ashore. 

Rick Hogben 

Hampstead 

PPM keeps yyou 

in ttouch! 

The Game at Sheffield 

I was interested to see the 

"TITLES - The New Postcard 

Game" postcard illustrated in 

November PPM, in particular as 

I have a similar card with "Views 

of Sheffield and District" (left), 

posted in 1914 from Chesterfield. 

The only clue to the publisher 

are the words ‘The I.D.L. 

Series’ on the back. Like the 

Weston-super-Mare card, which 

has views numbered 25 to 36, my 

card also has twelve views, these 

being numbered 37 to 48, so presumably 

there were at least three 

more Sheffield cards in the game 

series, which carried the numbers 

up to 36. As to how the game was 

played I have no idea; most of 

the Sheffield views would have 

been easy to identify by 

Sheffielders of the day. 

Philip Robinson 

Sheffield 

[Tony Roberts turned up two 

more postcards in the Weston 

series, with views numbered 13- 

24 and 37-48. Can any readers 

come up with other places featured 

in the genre?] 

Pending Project 

In the November issue of PPM 

you reported that the launch of 

‘The Postcard Society’ had ‘hit 

the deck’. This is untrue. All 

that happened was that despite 

a very good attendance at the 

Woking fair, only 14 or 15 people 

turned up for the meeting 

and, though I could have 

attempted to form a committee, 

I deemed it as silly to attempt to 

do so in such circumstances. 

Since the meeting however, 

various people have come 

forward who fully support the 

idea of a museum as well as 

other sensible ideas to put a bit 

of life into the hobby - and if 

and when I reckon that we have 

a sufficient number of them, 

(maybe 30 or 35) then we shall 

hold another meeting! The 

society has not ‘hit the deck’, 

therefore, but is merely in the 

‘pending’ tray - though it is up 

to others to contact me if they 

wish the project to go 

forward. My address is 16 

Heron Road, St Margarets, 

Twickenham, TW1 1PQ and 

my e-mail address is 

mgpostcards@blueyonder.co.uk 

Personally I find it hard to 

believe that only a small handful 

of people are interested in 

the future of the hobby in this 

country - but maybe that is the 

case. We shall see... Of course, 

the ones who actually count are 

those who bother to contact me 

and who are prepared to come 

to a future meeting - probably 

in this neck of the woods. 

Michael Goldsmith 

Twickenham 


Jam today, jam 

tomorrow... 

Nick HHartley iinvestigates aa ffamily ffirm 

Hartley's Jam was founded in 1871 in the Lancashire 

mill town of Colne. The firm's founder, William Hartley, 

had started in business as a grocer, hawking his 

products in the neighbouring towns and villages. A 

fortuitous accident led him into the production of the 

preserves for which he would become so well 

known. When a local manufacturer failed to deliver 

supplies to him, Hartley decided to make the jam 

himself. 

An attractive advertising 

postcard for Hartley’s Marmalade 

The business grew rapidly 

and in 1874 he moved to 

Bootle in order to take 

advantage of the cheaper 

supplies of sugar coming 

into the docks, as well as 

improving the distribution 

of his finished products. At 

Bootle, demand was such 

that he twice enlarged the 

works, but he was still 

unable to fulfil all his 

orders, and so in 1886 he 

built what was then one of 

Another card in the ‘official 

Hartley’s series showing their works at Aintree, Liverpool 


Hartley’s Fruit Farm at 

Henlow, Bedfordshire - one of a series of postcards 

published by the firm 

Transporting oranges to 

Sevilla 

the largest preserves factories 

in the world at Aintree 

on the outskirts of Liverpool. 

The works covered ten 

acres and was sited at the 

junction of two main railway 

lines in order to facilitate 

the delivery of vast 

amounts of fruit and sugar. 

Hartley's was a huge business. 

The factory was capable 

of producing over six 

hundred tons of preserves a 

week and when the weather 

was warm and supplies 

abundant, special trains 

were laid on to collect the 

fruit from the fields. 

The construction of the 

Aintree works was followed 

in 1901 by the opening of a 

factory in Bermondsey. The 

two factories between them 

employed over three thousand 

workers and next to 

the factory at Aintree Hartley 

built a model village, 

which in its day ranked 

alongside Bournville and 

Port Sunlight. 

At the turn of the century, 

Hartley's was the leading 

name in the manufacture 

of preserves. The firm 

sold its products the length 

and breadth of Britain and 

throughout the Empire. The 

principal outlet was the corner 

grocery stores, but its 

products were also sold to 

stores such as Harrods, as 

well as the railway companies 

and shipping lines. The 

White Star Line, owners of 

the ill-fated Titanic, served 

Hartley's Jams on its fleet 

of ocean going liners, as did 

Cunard and Union-Castle, 

the main shipping line to 

South Africa. Hartley's West 

End Marmalade was said to 

stand on the breakfast table 

of King Edward VII. 

William Hartley died in 

October 1922, at the age of 

76. The following year, a 

photographer from the 

Northampton firm of Clarke 

and Sherwell was sent to 

the Aintree works to document 

the manufacturing 

process for a series of postcards 

that appeared soon 

after. The photographer took 

around fifty pictures of the 

works, as well as the nearby 

pottery at Melling, which 

made the stoneware pots in 

which the jam was sold 

(runners and riders in the 

Grand National annually 

cross the Melling Road) and 

the Hartley fruit farm at 

Henlow in Bedfordshire. 

The directors at Hartley's 

selected 24 of the photographs, 

which were initially 

reproduced as two 

million photogravure postcards. 

The photographs 

showed the interior and 

exterior of the factory. An 

aerial picture was effective-

Boxmaking 

department at Aintree 

ly the first in the sequence 

and allowed the firm to 

show not only the size of 

the works, but also the 

model village which stood 

beside it, complete with 

ornamental lake. The factory 

was built of red brick and 

was a largely self-contained 

unit. It had its own boxmaking 

department, where 

most of the apprentices 

started, turning out as many 

as three thousand boxes a 

day, garages to maintain 

the firm's fleet of lorries, 

and Dining Halls, one for 

women, who formed the 

majority of the workers, the 

other for men. 

Inside the factory, the 

photographer captured different 

aspects of the manufacturing 

process. The firm 

boasted that “fruit gathered 

at sunrise is Hartley's Jam 

Aerial view of Hartley’s London works 

Poster 

advert for Hartley’s preserves 

the same evening” and vast 

numbers of women were 

employed to hull and stone, 

top and tail, or to work in 

the Finishing Room, where 

nimble fingers labelled, 

wrapped and tied over a 

hundred thousand jars a 

day. (The Mayor of Liverpool 

on a visit to the works 

noted that a clergyman 

could not tie a knot as fast!) 

When it was first 

opened, the works had been 

a series of long, low buildings 

in which production 

moved from one phase to 

the next in a seamless 

process, but in 1891 the first 

of three great five storey 

warehouses in which the 

finished products were 

stored had been added. A 

second was built in 1899 

and the third in 1924, too 

late to appear in the aerial 

photograph of the works, 

but which 

Aerial 

view of the firm’s Aintree 

factory 

(below) The main entrance and offices at Aintree 

Hartley’s motor 

wagons being loaded with Seville 

oranges at the docks 

nevertheless featured in a 

postcard that was later 

added to the series. 

The popularity of the 

cards encouraged the firm 

to widen its horizons. In 

February 1924, the directors 

ordered an additional 

five million postcards, 

which included the original 

24 photographs, as 

well as five photographs 

taken in Seville (Hartley's 

used almost a quarter of 

the world's supply of 

Seville oranges) and two 

others, taken on the docks 

at Liverpool. It also produced 

three million colour 

postcards, which were 

reproductions of its marmalade 

and preserve 

showcards. 

The firm's records are 

incomplete, but it seems that 

in total at least 37 images 

were reproduced. The cards 

were distributed amongst the 

firm's travellers (salesmen) 

and to individual grocers to 

put on the counter. The cards 

were also given out at trade 

fairs and exhibitions, such as 

the 1924 British Empire Exhibition 

at Wembley at which 

the firm had two stands. 

In 1959, Hartley's was 

sold to the Schweppes 

Group, together with rivals 

Chivers’ and William Moorhouse 

of Leeds. A few years 

later, production of preserves 

ceased at Aintree and moved 

to the Chivers' factory at Histon, 

near Cambridge. It is not 

known when the firm discontinued 

the cards, but the 

images, which sell for 

between £5 and £25, remain 

an invaluable record of a 

business that is an important 

part of Britain's industrial heritage. 


Crown Green Bowls 

John MMayhew 

Crown green bowls is played mostly in the north of 

England where it originated. Generally a game 

between two players, it uses a green which has 

raised ‘crown’ at its centre. Although the game is 

played mainly in the north there are greens situated 

as far south as Kenilworth, Southampton and 

Bournemouth. 

As crown green uses a deliberately 

contoured area which 

is difficult to replicate with 

indoor artificial surfaces, 

there is only one indoor 

green, at Birkenhead. The 

game was first played in the 

1870s and Lancashire was the 

first county association, 

formed in 1888. The British 

Crown Green Bowling Association 

dates back to 1907 and 

in England and Wales there 

are 130,000 registered 

bowlers playing for 2,600 

clubs. No two greens are alike 

as they can be round, square, 

oblong or mis-shaped with 

the raised portion not always 

in the centre. Most greens are 

either square or rectangular 

and can be 35 metres long 

and 20 metres wide and the 

surface may be irregular. The 

ideal green is 37 metres 

square with a 30cm - 37.5cm 

crown enabling four singles 

or pairs matches to be played 

at the same time. Each player 

has a pair of bowls weighing 

up to 3lbs each and points are 

scored by getting bowls nearer 

to the jack than your opponent. 

Bowls are manufactured 

so they run on a curving 

course known as bias and 

unlike flat green bowls the 

jack is made in a similar way. 

The crown jack is 95-98mm in 

diameter and coloured black 

with white mounts and spots 

or white with black mounts 

and spots. The person who 

wins the toss bowls the jack a 

minimum distance of 19 

metres while his toe is resting 

on a circular rubber or plastic 

mat up to 154mm in diameter 

termed a “footer”. There is 

one big difference between 

flat green and crown green 

bowls as the names imply. 

With flat green the surface 

has to be as flat as possi- 

ble and specified rectangular 

areas known as rinks are 

allotted to each group of 

bowlers. A crown green 

bowler has no such restrictions 

and can bowl from one 

side to the other and even to 

either corner. The laws of the 

game state that if a running 

jack or bowl appears to be in 

danger of striking a still bowl 

or jack belonging to another 

set, such running bowl or jack 

should be stopped and 

returned to be replayed. It is 

easy to imagine one singles 

or pairs game being played 

but to envisage four games 

taking place at the same time 

all bowling over the one 

crown is as they say “another 

ball game”. 

The bowling green at 

Blackpool shows bowlers on 

three sides of the green bowling 

at the same time. It is not 

easy to detect the crown on a 

postcard and the circular mat 

or footer is the only clue to a 

crown green game. 

Players compete for 

their county championships 

but the big singles event is to 

decide the champion of 

champions held at the Waterloo 

Hotel in Blackpool at the 

end of the season. Fifteen 

county champions plus seven 

other competition winners 

compete for the title. There 

are two cards dealing with 

the Waterloo Bowling Handicap, 

one commencing on 

Sept 2nd 1929 and the other 

on Aug 31st 1936. I have not 

been in Blackpool when the 

“Waterloo” is taking place 

and my only viewing of it is 

by looking at the edited TV 

coverage spread over several 

days. The big difference 

between the flat green championships 

played at 

Bowling Group. The bowls 

are at the women’s feet but were they in the team? 


New ManchesterHippodrome 

Band in a 

bowling 

match at 

a pub 

green in 

Stockp 

o r t 

Road, 

A r d - 

wick. 

A pub green was a popular venue for a 

famous match like the ongoing “Waterloo” at Blackpool. 

Bowling Green, Hoylake. The bowler in the foreground is 

bowling straight ahead, while two bowls far left indicate 

another match being played across him from right to left. 

Publisher unknown. ‘Clarendon’ series. Postally used 1919. 

The Bowling Green, Alexandra Park, Oldham. Footer being 

used by bowler on left bowling to far corner of green. Card 

published by Valentine of Dundee in 1939. 

Worthing and the “Waterloo” 

is the large number of bookmakers 

sited around the 

ground 

offering odds on the players. 

Quite a shock to a southener 

brought up in the genteel 

world of flat green bowls. 

Group with Trophy 

The footers under the chair of the second person sitting on 

the left marks this out as a crown green triumph.

Waterloo 

Bowling Handicap. Blackpool Sept. 

2nd 1929. Sponsored by Magee Marshall & Co. Ltd. 

First prize unknown. 

Waterloo 

Bowling Handicap. Blackpool Aug 

31st 1936. Same sponsor as 1929 and a first prize of silver 

cup and £50. 

(above) Bowling Green, 

Stanley Park, Blackpool. 

The photo shows bowlers 

bowling across one another. 

Crown Green 

bowler. All ready 

for the photographer 

- bowl in one 

hand, jack in the 

other and foot 

firmly planted on 

the mat. 

(right) Two bowlers 

with marker holding 

card to record the 

score. 

(above) Bowls 

Match. Close up of 

a bowler about to 

release his bowl. 

postcard published 

by H. Naylor, 

Bridlington. 

(left) Two 

bowlers with 

marker. The 

marker’s task is 

to keep the 

score on a card 

and ensure the 

rules are followed.Photograph 

by - 

Stringer. 

Oakdale Bowling Club 1912. 

Group showing footer, bowls and jack. Message “This 

is the new club formed of which your humble has been 

made secretary off (sic)” Postally used 1912. 


Enigma Variations 

Rick HHogben 

In August 2009 PPM, under the heading “What tthe 

Postman ccouldn’t rread”, Harry Hicks wrote about the 

codes and devices that senders have used to hide the 

meaning of their message. More recently I found that 

I have in my collection my own example of a coded 

card, rather more baffling than just written backwards 

or upside down. 

One Sunday at the 

Bloomsbury I searched 

as usual for sailing 

vessels, but without 

great success - as with 

any collection, the 

more one has the 

more difficult it is to 

find anything new. 

As a parting gesture, 

before going home I 

looked, as I often do, 

at one dealer’s stock 

of New Zealand 

cards. It was quite a 

small bundle, but in 

it was a real photo 

card of Dannevirke 

High School. This 

was a great “find”, 

as my father had 

taught there early 

in his career and 

had later been 

Headmaster for seven 

years, and it was the 

school where I had started 

my own secondary 

education. 

I was so delighted with the 

front of this card that I 

didn’t really study the 

back until some time 

after I had read Harry 

Hicks’ article. When I 

did, I found it bore a 

message that looks as 

if it needs the attention 

of Bletchley Park - a 

mixture of long-hand 

written words, a selection 

of block capital letters, 

some of them separated 

by full-stops, a 

figure 5, and two blots 

which might or might 

not be part of the message. 

It even poses an 

additional difficulty not 

faced by those who tackled 

the Enigma code; our 

war-time code breakers 

decyphering messages 

between the German 

naval command and individual 

U-boats at least 

knew that the solution they 

sought would be in German. 

But this card was sent 

from an English - speaking 

country to a man with a 

Spanish name at an address 

in Spain, so the message 

could be in either English or 

Spanish - or, for that matter, 

in Esperanto! 

There is one other possibility, 

admittedly rather 

remote, suggested by the 

name of the sender. New 

Zealand was settled mostly 

from Britain, but when 

Southern Hawke’s Bay, 

where Dannevirke is situated, 

was first developed in 


the 1870s, it also received a 

number of assisted-passage 

immigrants from Scandinavia. 

I don’t know how 

long the use of their native 

languages persisted, but 

names certainly fit; I was at 

school in the 1930s with 

boys named Hansen, 

Johansson, Christopherson 

and so on. And the sender’s 

name on this card, 

Berntsen, might be Scandinavian 

too.... 

The original core school building. The 

stamp has been carefully removed from the card, and with it the 

post-mark date, but from the new extension visible on the left, the view 

probably dates from the early 1920s. 

I remain baffled; the 

code-breakers at Bletchley 

Park had the support of one 

of the world’s first computers, 

a massive machine filling 

a whole room. I do not 

have even a small lap-top, 

and my decyphering practice 

is limited to the occasional 

cryptic crossword 

puzzle. So any solutions 

will be gratefully received, 

on a postcard of course - 

and in plain language! 

The cryptic message, 

together with the sender’s name and 

address. The card was published by the well-known Wellington 

firm, Tanner Bros. Ltd., in their “Maoriland Photographic Series”. The printing and the 

rather faint NZ palm, a frequent feature of their cards, are in green. In the bottom right 

corner is the rubber stamp of a postal history dealer in Madrid. I wonder how it ended up 

in London. 

Don’t miss out on a single copy of PPM 

- take out a subscription or place a regular 

order with your supplier

Edwardian Postcard 

Project 

Julia Gillen investigates who wrote all 

those postcards 

The history of everyday writing has received much 

less academic attention than have other areas of 

writing history. One reason is that most surviving 

texts have been from educated or elite groups; 

another is that until later in the nineteenth century 

access to writing education was limited, resulting in 

many people having little skill in writing and little use 

for its production in their everyday lives (Mitch 

1992). As access to education increased, eventually 

leading to compulsory education for all, ability with 

written language spread. Accordingly, when a really 

cheap, efficient and attractive communicative object 

arrived, it was actually used by and useful to many 

people rather than a few. 

This 

object was the postcard, 

which from 1902 achieved 

mass popularity when the 

Post Office finally allowed 

one side to be used wholly 

for a picture and the other for 

the address and message. 

The consequence is that for 

anyone interested in everyday 

writing at the beginning 

of the twentieth century, the 

millions of Edwardian postcards 

to be found at today's 

postcard fairs provide a massive 

resource. For us 'everyday 

writing' is writing that is 

not regulated by the formal 

rules and procedures of 

dominant social institutions 

and which has its origins in 

people's everyday lives. 

Thus it is the writing that 

people do for themselves in 

everyday life. 

While the majority of 

people interested in old postcards 

are more concerned 

with the picture side of the 

card, as researchers into 

everyday writing we are 

using the written texts. In 

1875 one journalist wrote in 

Appleton's Journal, 'Postal 

cards have not been long 

enough in use to admit of an 

inquiry as to the nature of 

the courtesies and social 

laws that do or should pertain 

to them'. We are interested 

in how by the Edwardian 

period the texts reflected 

how writers had devel- 

oped and adapted to these 

new literacy objects. Thus it 

is not simply to look at the 

topics people write about but 

to consider the nature of the 

writing, examine how it was 

adapted to the very distinct 

material nature of the post- 

card, and especially to consider 

its use in initiating and 

sustaining social relationships. 

We have gradually been 

collecting really cheap 

Edwardian cards (we have 

no funding for the project 

despite it having received 

worldwide interest). Condition 

is not important to us 

and cards are selected solely 

on the basis that they have 

some sender-produced message 

on them. Every card 

then has both sides scanned. 

So far we have done this for 

almost 2000 cards. A mass of 

data is then entered into a 

large database and this 

forms a core for our 

research. It is slow and very 

time consuming but has 

been very rewarding. We 

have already published a 

number of book chapters on 

the topic and have been 

amazed how much public 

and academic interest the 

project has demonstrated. 

One of the ways we 

are communicating about 

the project is through 

Twitter, with the help of 

Cath Booth. If you use 

Twitter do follow eVIIpc. For 

further information do see 

our project website at: 

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/ce 

ntres/llrc/activities/641 

Finally, we'd be pleased 

to hear from people with an 

interest in the topic and 

especially from anyone who 

can help us find Edwardian 

cards very cheaply. 

Julia Gillen, Senior Lecturer, 

Literacy Research Centre, 

Lancaster University. Email: 

j.gillen@lancaster.ac.uk 

Nigel Hall, Emeritus Professor, 

Manchester Metropolitan 

University. Email: 

nigelhall@literacy.demon.co 

.uk 


�Auctions � 

A commemorative postcard 

for the flight of the Graf 

Zeppelin between the USA 

and Germany was the star 

item at Trevor Vennett- 

Smith’s postal auction in 

October. The postal history 

interest took the price to 

£208. Another aviation item, 

a postcard of Alcock & 

Brown’s 1919 Atlantic flight 

published by Beagles, made 

£74. Topographical and 

social history cards included 

a Catholic Congress 

parade at Brighton (£64), 

decorated van at Chipping 

Norton (£50), and Co-op 

interior at Lesmahagow 

£93. Best embroidered silk 

postcards were an HMS 

Inflexible design at £154 

and 17th Lancers at £137. A 

novelty Boer War card 

satirising Kitchener realised 

£90, and a scarce RP of Winston 

Churchill with village 

scene and stirring quotation 

£50. Advertising cards 

included Shell ‘More miles 

on Shell’ at £137, while a 

Mucha Months of the Year 

made £125 and two Kirchner 

Fleurs d’hiver cards £71 

each. A set of 12 Months of 

the Year by Guggenberger 

looked good value at £77. 

An Irish Gruss Aus-style 

card of Cork sold for £43. 

Naval collection sells 

for £891 

October’s Warwick and 

Warwick auction included a 

number of large collections 

offered intact, which all sold 

in excess of estimate. A collection 

of 700 British Naval 

cards, estimated at £240, 

steamed to £891 and 174 

miscellaneous shipping, 

made £690, almost quadruple 

estimate. Sports cards 

are perennially popular and 

a miscellaneous collection 

of 180, including a few 

Olympics, estimated at 

£200, made £517. A collection 

of Post Office, postalrelated 

and postal stationery 

cards, appealing to 

philatelists as well as postcard 

collectors, realised 

£690 after a £200 estimate. 

Best results, though, 

were in the topographical 

section. There were two 

large Scottish collections, 

making £1,437 (400 cards) 

and £1,322 (450 cards). 320 

London and suburbs, with a 

pre-sale estimate of £550, 

made £1,064 and 100 Manchester 

and suburbs, estimated 

£250, made £460. A 

Coventry city centre collection 

contained a good range 

of real photographic cards 

showing the city prior to the 

WWII bombing. The 300 

eBay notes 

Suffragette comics were 

much in demand on the 

internet sales site in the 

past month, with cards 

selling for between £52 

(an Ellam design) and 

£122 (five different cards 

achieved close to this figure). 

An artist-drawn 

Titanic made an astonishing 

£387 - but it did 

have an overprint for a 

showing in Tonypandy 

of the film of the disaster, 

and further information 

on the reverse. A different 

art card made a more 

orthodox £59. Louis 

Wain came in with a £235 

result for a Wildt & Kraypublished 

‘Song’ design 

- there were six bidders 

and 58 bids on this one, 

which started at £4.95. 

A huge number of 

large one-country or 

one-town large lots were 

sold last month, including 

1,000 Portugal, which 

made £1,054, 400 China 

(£748), 800 Spain(£921) 

and 700 Salonica (£610). 

Most, however, 

remained unsold. 

Other hhighlights: 

Swanscombe, parade at 

football ground £271 

Capt. Smith of Titanic RP £255 

Embroidered silk satirical, The 

Iron Grip £255 

Olympic/Titanic sizes cf. 

world’s biggest buildings 

£250 

Holmsley, railway station 

exterior £190 

Aviation, Hall Caine aerodrome 

at Ramsey 1930s £144 

Embroidered silk, Dragoon 

Guards £137 

Football, Man Utd team 1911 

ptd (tatty & torn!) £133 

Pellon (Halifax) rly station £132 

Bonzo, radio/golf theme £131 

Warrington, street scene RP 

£123 

Emb’d silk Queens Royal 

Lancers £123 

Ireland, RUC at Donegal RP 

£122 

WW2, Japanese card, UK 

surrender of Singapore £122 

cards, estimated at £550, 

realised £920. County 

selections included 350 

Yorkshire (£977) and 300 

Sussex (£471). 

A wide-ranging accumulation 

of 950 cards, with 

Africa, the Far East and the 

Caribbean well represented, 

sold for £1,275 against a 

conservative estimate of 

£320. A fine collection of 

Irish rural cards was on 

offer, including village and 

countryside cards as well 

as the more common city 

views. The 280 cards were 

estimated at £320 and 

realised £1,064. 


Arthouse postcards 

score 

Wiener Werkstatte postcards 

were again headliners 

at Markus Weissenbock’s 

latest auction in Salzburg, 

with prices as high as 6,500 

euros a card. Artists Oskar 

Kokoschka and Rudolf 

Kalvach were among the 

most sought-after. 

Unsigned WWs, on the 

other hand, made around 

500 euros. 

Embroidered silk, Rugeley 

Camp £115 

White Star Line, crew RP £103 

Titanic, Nearer My God To Thee 

hymn cards (6) £102 

Trapani, Italy, fiesta £102 

Louis Wain A Cat’s Matrimony 

£91 

Kuwait, customs 1960s £90 

Ebberston village scene RP £87 

Rudyard Kipling RP £81 

Hong Kong, Queens Road £81 

Blandford, gypsies £80 

Kuwait, street scene 1958 £79 

Knocklong, Co. Limerick, RC 

church £78 

Guernsey, LL postcard booklet 

(12) £77 

X-Ray postcard £77 

Lundy Island beach £75 

Alloa, ferry boat £74 

Roscommon Castle £73 

Southwick, oil depot £72 

Turkey, postman & telegram 

£68 

Crawley, marching troops RP 

£66 

Bruntingthorpe, pub £65 

Liskeard, sheep fair RP £65 

Golf, Cruden Bay course £62 

Liverpool FC 1914-15 £62 

Pauli Ebner (2) £56 

RP Phillimore signed card £52 

Shirley Temple on greetings 

card £52 

Original artwork 

Fitzpatrick £178 

Arnold Taylor £117 

Trow £107 

Above: an 

unusual embroidered silk 

postcard that sold for £255. 

Below: lots of suffragette 

comic cards have proved 

popular on eBay in the past 

month. 

1930s German 

collection at Warwick 

A comprehensive 19-album 

collection of German Third 

Reich cards of the 1930s and 

early 1940s will be offered as 

a single lot in Warwick and 

Warwick's December 9th auction. 

Included are official 

postal stationery cards, portraits 

of leaders and soldiers, 

Nuernberg Rallies, propaganda 

cards, Hitler Youth, 1938 

and 1939 Motor Show poster 

adverts and many more. 

In the subjects section, a 

Punch and Judy collection of 

61 cards will go under the 

hammer, along with a rare 

Louis Wain Ettlinger 5256 

series, including the desirable 

Golfers, all offered as single 

cards. The poster adverts section 

has a collection estimated 

at £850 and several attractive 

single card lots, including 

Fry's Cocoa With Captain 

Scott at the South Pole. 

Topographicals include 

500 Banbury for £1,200 and a 

wonderful collection of 400 

New Zealand, with many real 

photographic cards, estimated 

at £900. 

A good roomful of bidders 

at Birmingham Auctions’ 

sale in Worcester in October 

saw most postcard lots pass 

their room estimates, with a 

Titanic silk making £825 

despite a corner stain. 

Among the topographicals, 

five cards of a Barnsley 

paperworks fire hit £100 

and canal disasters made 

£30 each. Glamour and 

nude postcards sold well, 

though advertising cards 

struggled a little. Anything 

of quality was in demand, 

but ordinary printed British 

topos were shunned. 

Overseas cards from the 

Pacific Rim and Africa were 

also popular. 

�� A couple of court size 

Bristol cards caught the eye 

at Dalkeith’s sale in 

Bournemouth last month. 

One showed a sketch of 

Clifton Suspension Bridge, 

with the card cancelled by 

an 1895 Bristol squared circle 

postmark. The other featured 

Bristol College Green 

used in 1901 with a Queen 

Victoria stamp. 

�� Star item at Reading 

Card Club’s October auction 

was a rare Edwardian real 

photographic postcard of a 

scene at Pinkneys Green, 

near Maidenhead, 

which sold for £26. 

Sounds a bargain! 

PPM keeps 

you iin ttouch 

with tthe ppostcard 

wworld!

Sale date 9th December 2009

Stockings Galore 

Shapely, capacious, even darned - 

Wendy Mann collects them all, provided 

they’re on Christmas postcards 

One record which doesn’t appear in any ‘Book of 

Firsts’ concerns the first English child to receive a 

Christmas stocking in this country. The social historian 

John Pimlott remarked in his 1978 ‘The Englishman’s 

Christmas’ that we shall never know just when 

and where the first English stocking was filled. In 

‘The English Year’ (2006) Steve Roud agreed: “The 

Christmas sstocking iis oone oof sseveral eelements oof tthe 

modern CChristmas tthat sstill ppuzzles tthe hhistoorian, aas 

it iis nnot aat aall cclear eexactly wwhen oor hhow iit ccame iinto 

vogue iin BBritain”. Brewer’s ‘Dictionary of Phrase and 

Fable’ reckons it was around 1840, saying the custom 

came from Germany. But whenever it was and 

whatever the circumstances, it couldn’t have been 

any more satisfactory than my first remembered 

stocking - the largest of my father’s I could find, 

hand-knitted by my grannie, and wonderfully and 

reassuringly stretchy. 

(left) My first remembered 

stocking was borrowed 

from my father and looked 

something like this. Handknitted 

by my grannie, it 

was wonderfully and reassuringly 

stretchy. A Rotary 

RP postcard. 

(right) An Agnes Richardson 

design from Photochrom 

in their 

‘Celesque’ Series. Posted 

1920. I have in my wider 

collection a 1908 letter 

written to Santa by an 11 

year old American girl. She’d also have needed a 

large stocking for her 28 requests. Amongst them and with 

sometimes creative spelling, she wrote that she’d like a 

muff and fur, a sailor suit and - hedging her bets - a big doll 

or a small one with a coach to put it on. 

That lucky first youngster 

maybe - just maybe - had 

associations with the royal 

household. However, my 

tentative suggestion, as 

someone who enjoyed a 

number of Christmas 

stockings in Oldham, is 

that the first national 

stocking may have been 

hung up close to my old 

home. After all, German 

merchants had nostalgically 

taken Christmas trees 

to Manchester at least as 

far back as 1822 which is 

the earliest non-Court 

related reference I can find 

and they may also, in 

time, have introduced the 

European stocking cus- 

tom. It would seem logical 

that this lovely concept 

might then have been 

copied by a small Mancunian 

friend of a German 

child resident in the city. 

Early Court references 

focused on gifts being laid 

around trees and probably 

in regal and aristocratic 

circles the humble stocking 

would have been considered 

a poor tool compared 

with the glorious 

Christmas trees of the 

truly privileged young. 

Much is conjecture and 

any self-respecting compiler 

of records would rightly 

regard my notion as woolly 

and unsubstantiated but I 


like the idea and shall 

stick with it! And just as 

personal example and 

word of mouth were likely 

to have played a part 

so too must have books. 

Serious stocking filling 

began to gather momentum 

earlier in the States than in 

England due to the changing 

nature of the gift nearer 

there. On that side of the 

Atlantic Washington Irving’s 

Christmas figure in his 

satirical ‘History of New 

York’ appeared in 1809. Still 

called St. Nicholas, he was, 

however, most unsaintlike 

and rode ‘jollily’ over the 

rooftops in a wagon dropping 

presents down chimneys. 

He was followed in 

1821 by a Santa and his 

reindeer. This was in a 

In America in the 1870s 

there was some debate 

about the relative merits of 

trees and stockings. It wasn’t 

taken for granted in families 

with small children that 

they should necessarily 

have both. An embossed 

American postcard 

designed by Ellen Clapsaddle. 

Publisher unknown and 

postally used 1910. 

poem in the lengthily-titled 

annual ‘The Children’s 

Friend, A New Year’s Present 

to the Little Ones from 

Five to Twelve’ which also 

(left) This child about to discover 

the surprises in two 

full stockings is rather reminiscent 

of those Victorian 

cake decorations called 

Snow Babies. An embossed 

postcard with a PP imprint. 

At the time 

of Prince Albert’s influence 

and earlier very privileged 

English youngsters had 

such toy-bedecked Christmas 

trees stockings might 

have seemed superfluous. 

They’d have been grander 

than this small version 

about to be taken indoors 

but it’s an attractive image 

from Ethel Parkinson on a 

postcard from C.W. Faulkner. 

Postally used 1905. 

included an early colour 

lithograph of Santa. And the 

following year saw the 

appearance of ‘the right 

jolly old elf’ of ‘Twas the 

night before Christmas’ 

fame, again with reindeer. 

This trio showed Dutch 

influence as did New York 

itself having been named 

New Amsterdam by the 

early Dutch settlers. However, 

not only had they shed 

their ecclesiastical past in 

terms of appearance but 

they were also beginning to 

share a new characteristic 

and that was a jovial personality. 

It’s true there 

could still be a dark side as 

in ‘The Children’s Friend’ 

poem where if Santa found 

“the children naughty, in 

manners rude, in tempers 

haughty... [he] left a long, 

black birchen rod......” 

expecting it to be used. But 

in spite of this injunction he 

was a largely amiable fellow 

in his increasingly 

numerous portrayals and 

his friendliness and 

approachability increased 

with the years although, as 

Santa/Father Christmas 

postcards collectors will 

know, he was slow to completely 

relinquish his birch 

rod. The stockings themselves 

go back, of course, to

Father Christmas 

must have been pleased to 

encounter such an accessible 

fireplace. Tuck’s ‘Christmas’ 

Postcard Series 1757. 

Undivided back and postal- 

ly used 1903. 

the famous legend which 

gave rise to the custom in 

the first place when, wishing 

to save three impoverished 

sisters from prostitution, 

the fourth century 

Bishop Nicholas is said to 

have thrown bags of gold 

through a window which 

landed in stockings or 

shoes put before the fire to 

warm. But this new emerging 

character had far more 

universal appeal than the 

pious and constrained bishop 

could have hoped to 

aspire to. 

Dickens’ 

Whilst Tiny 

Tim had no Christmas 

stocking he and his family 

had great hopes - expectations 

even - of their pudding. 

The Victorians were 

beginning to recognise that 

manipulative use of the 

resurgent Christmas season 

would help heal social divisions 

as well as being good 

for business and Dickens 

gave them word pictures 

that suited them well. A 

Tuck ‘Oilette’ No. 9852 in 

their ‘Character Sketches 

from Charles Dickens’. 

St Nicholas, with whom it 

all began. Dutch settlers 

took his legends with them 

when they sailed to New 

York in the 17th century, it 

then being called New Amsterdam. 

He’s being so generous 

here his gifts wouldn’t 

fit into a mere stocking. 

An embossed postcard produced 

by Paul Finkenrath 

for Woolstone Bros. who 

distributed it in their Milton 

Series. 

apparent silence on the subject 

of Christmas stockings 

is significant, though he did 

write evocatively of Christmas 

trees, calling one ‘that 

pretty German toy’. He was 

born in 1812 and while this 

childhood wasn’t all unmitigated 

misery there were 

bleak times. At the age of 12 

An embossed Birn Bros. 

postcard showing very necessary 

stealth. 

he had to work for a time in 

a shoe blacking factory and 

his father spent time in 

prison for debt. But it was 

the era he was born into 

which was more likely to 

have denied him a stocking 

rather than family circumstances. 

In his childhood 

the English Father Christmas 

was still a grown up 

concept. With the emphasis 

on food, drink and merri- 

ment the old man probably 

wouldn’t have paid stockings 

any attention unless 

they encased a shapely pair 

of ankles! His merger with 

this new Santa was still for 

the future. 

As far as I’m aware 

Christmas stockings didn’t 

feature in any of Dickens’ 

numerous articles and he 

didn’t mention them in his 

Christmas books. ‘A Christmas 

Carol’ was published in 

1843 and became hugely 

influential on both sides of 

the Atlantic. Festive food is 

an important aspect and 

with the parallel themes of 

social altruism and Christmas 

feasting it followed 

Books such as ‘A Christmas 

Carol’ and ‘Carl 

Krinken’ struck a chord 

and encouraged charitable 

giving. Scrooge’s 

nephew said of Christmas 

it was the only time 

he knew of when men 

and women seemed ‘to 

think of people below 

them as if they really were 

fellow-passengers to the 

grave, and not another 

race of creatures bound on 

other journeys’. Here a 

thoughful boy leaves gifts 

for a small girl less fortunate 

than himself. Birn 

Bros. embossed postcard. 

Postmark unclear. 

(below) A ‘Christmas Time’ 

unsigned Susan Pearse design published by Henry Frowde 

and Hodder & Stoughton. 

that the desire of the 

reformed Scrooge to 

improve Christmas for the 

Cratchits focused on food 

and the purchase of a giant 

turkey. There were no 

quickly bought toys, no 

hastily assembled stockings 

left on the doorstop for Tiny 

Tim and his siblings. There 

are hardly any toys in the 

book and where they are 

mentioned the children concerned 

received them 

directly from their father. 

Crucially, this was before 

Getting stockings ready on a spacious four poster bed. 

Publisher unknown and postally used 1908. 

going to bed on Christmas 

Eve - they didn’t hang up 

any stockings. It was a rumbustious 

occasion and great 

(continued) 


STOCKINGS GALORE 


Some stockings 

definitely held more than 

others! Artist: T. Gilson. 

Publisher unknown. 

fun but rather different from 

how things are done today. 

Christmas as we think of it 

was still taking shape. 

Eleven years after the 

appearance of Dickens’ 

famous ghost story a book 

which was to prove another 

best seller was published in 

both New York and London. 

Even though it hasn’t stood 

the test of time, Susan 

Warner’s ‘Carl Krinken: His 

Christmas Stocking’ quickly 

ran into several editions 

after it first came out in 

1854. As an American she 

set this moralistic children’s 

tale around her country’s 

still evolving Santa Claus 

who was, she wrote, kept 

very busy filling half a million 

rich little stockings. 

Santa’s targets were children 

who could reasonably 

expect presents such as fur 

tippets and rocking horses 

‘and what have poor children 

to do with these?’ Very 

occasionally the poor 

received some discarded 

clothes or a mince pie 

which had slipped, almost 

accidentally, into his load 

A modest stocking by 

today’s standards perhaps 

but some children weren’t 

destined to receive one at 

all. Flora Thompson, author 

of ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’ 

was born in 1876 and 

brought up in a rural 

Oxfordshire hamlet. Of 

childhood Christmasses she 

wrote ‘Mothers who had 

young children would buy 

them an orange each and a 

handful of nuts but, except 

at the end house and the 

inn, there was no hanging 

up of stockings and those 

who had no kind elder sister 

or aunt in service to send 

them parcels got no Christmas 

presents’. An undivided 

back postcard and publisher 

unknown. 

but that was about it. 

Nevertheless, the 

eponymous small hero did 

hang up an old darned 

stocking which, perhaps 

with an eye on book sales 

over here, had started life in 

England. Not trusting to a 

selective Santa, Carl’s poor 

fisherfolk parents filled it 

with ingenious trifles and 

when Santa visited, merely 

out of curiosity it has to be 

said, he wondered at the 

care taken with so few 

Robins well provided for on a Tuck ‘Christmas’ 

Series postcard No. 162. Posted locally in Norfolk at 

7.45p.m. on Christmas Eve, 1910. Alice probably received 

it in time too. 


Oh dear! 

Auntie’s anti-wrinkle cream 

and false teeth beside the 

bed and her bedtime reading 

being ‘Youth and how to 

attain it’ and all she’s going 

to find in her stocking is a 

‘Kantleek’ hot water bottle! 

Illustration by Albert Carnell 

for Photochrom in their 

‘Celesque’ Series. 

resources. Deciding 

to give Carl something 

special, he gave him the 

ability to hear the stories his 

simple presents told including 

that of the stocking 

which had once belonged to 

a country squire. 

I wonder how many 

English children began to 

hang up stockings as a 

direct consequence of this 

book? But in spite of its 

undoubted suc- 

Looks like 

a washing line on this 

embossed Tuck ‘Christmas’ 

Series postcard No. C1033. 

(below) Still some surprises 

left on a lovely study of the 

delights of Christmas morning 

from A.L. Bowley. A 

Tuck ‘Oilette’ No. C3782. 


cess, in the 

days before television and 

the instant transmission of 

new ideas the stocking-filling 

Santa moved slowly 

into the general English 

public’s awareness. An indication 

of this is that as late 

as January 1879 a puzzled 

member of the Folklore 

Society still didn’t know 

who he was. Calling him 

Santiclaus, it was then that 

Edwin Lees contacted 

An 

advertising postcard for 

Faulder’s chocolates designed by M. Morris. Publisher 

unknown and postally used 1910.

Alcohol galore. 

Let’s hope Bert who received this postcard 

from brown eyed Betsy in 1910 had a more temperate 

Christmas than this fellow! C.G. was the artist and 

although the publisher’s initials are somewhat obscured 

they could be C. & H.G. of London in which case the artist 

might have been one of the publishers. 

With eleven 

stockings to fill it’s hardly surprising 

this worried man would like a word with whoever invented 

Santa Claus! The postmark’s unclear on this Bamforth 

postcard. No 25 in ‘The Xmas’ Series. 

the periodical ‘Notes and 

Queries’ as he’d heard that 

on Christmas Eve just gone 

this stranger had been filling 

stockings in Herefordshire 

and Worcestershire 

and an Exeter resident had 

told him he’d also been 

known to do the same in 

Devon. ‘From what region 

of the earth or air this 

benevolent Santiclaus takes 

flight I have not been able to 

ascertain.....’. 

He was 

aware that youngsters 

hopefully hung up stockings 

and, therefore, although he 

didn’t mention him specifically 

the assumption has to 

be that, as a folklorist, he 

knew of St. Nicholas who 

had been part of legends in 

continental Europe for so 

long. However, he was perplexed 

by Santiclaus. Whilst 

one or two of the subsequent 

‘Notes and Queries’ 

A bizarre embossed Valentine 

postcard where Tommy dreams of a nightmarish 

Christmas scenario. Having been put in a stocking for 

young turkeys here, on another of their postcards he’s 

been cooked and is about to be served up. Serves him 

right for indulging in too rich a supper before bed! 

This bare footed lass seems 

down to her last pair of 

stockings as she makes an 

urgent repair before that all 

important visit. ‘You never 

darn my socks’ my husband 

grumbled when I showed 

him this postcard acquisition. 

Very true and I’ve no 

intention of starting - unless 

I borrow one to hang for 

myself this year, in which 

case I might have to do 

some darning on my own 

account! Publisher 

unknown and postally used 

1909. 

A Bamforth 

RP postcard which will 

strike a chord with those 

who remember inspecting 

their own stockings too 

early. Postally used 1906. 

correspondents recognised 

that the name was a contraction 

of Santa Nikolaus 

and described some of the 

continental practices, they 

neither mentioned the United 

States nor seemed to 

understand that although 

he had his roots in St. 

Nicholas this Santiclaus or 

Santa had become a per- 

(continued) 

(left) A sleepless night for 

this young man on a WWI 

postcard as he wonders if 

Father Christmas has callup 

exemption. Artist: D. 

Tempest. Bamforth Topical 

‘Xmas’ Series No. 8008. 

(above) Determined their 

dolls shouldn’t miss out on 

the excitement these girls 

have strung a line between 

toy beds to which to attach 

miniature stockings. After a 

black and white drawing by 

Max Cowper. Tuck ‘Oilette’ 

‘But Once a Year’ No. 9444. 

(above) There’s real anxiety behind these preparations. 

Helen Gay’s ‘What’s the use of a gas fire at Christmas!’ 

says it all. An Inter-Art ‘Comique’ Series postcard. 


STOCKINGS GALORE 


Not taking 

any chances both stocking 

and shoes have been put 

out on this embossed postcard 

postally used in the 

States 1910. Publisher 

unknown. 

the payroll of some stores 

and at the peak of the Golden 

Age of postcards he 

must have been known to 

everyone. 

It was the whole package 

of this new and largely 

secular Christmas which 

was to prove a winner and 

There’s an ominous lack of a parental presence as this 

sheet is about to be cut up and made into giant stockings! 

An embossed postcard from Whitney of Worcester, Mass. 


sonality in his own right. 

But if knowledge of 

Santa was patchy here in 

1879 the pace of change 

accelerated after that. By 

1885 there was a Santa 

Claus Society in London, by 

the ‘90s it wasn’t uncommon 

for him to be on 

Bright eyed children showing no signs of tiredness after 

staying awake till the magic hour. The artist’s signature is 

faint but looks like A.L. Bowley. Tuck ‘Oilette’ No. C7160. 


the phrase ‘invented tradition’ 

sums up some aspects 

very neatly. By gliding 

expectations and giving 

them a chocolate box wrapping 

on both sides of the 

Atlantic its future was 

ensured. Stockings might 

only have been part of the 

developing magic but they 

were fundamental, and it 

was thoughts of them 

which prevented boredom 

one dark, rain-lashed Saturday 

afternoon recently and 

provided an excuse (as if 

one were needed!) to reexamine 

some of my own 

Christmas stocking postcards. 

It’s a long, long time 

since I hung up a stocking 

for myself. I wonder if I 

(left) Caught at last!’ The six pullout 

pictures on this postcard from 

Dennis of Scarborough show a 

wooden doll going shopping 

before having a tea-party and 

pulling crackers with a teddy. From 

their Dainty Series. 


(below) ‘I do wish Santa 

Claus would bring me a 

.................... this year from 

Harrod’s Toy Fair’. To avoid 

disappointment children 

with indulgent families 

could fill in postcards like 

this in advance. 

hang one this year St. 

Nicholas/Santa Claus/Father 

Christmas will be kind 

enough to treat me as an 

honorary child? My 

requests would be 

modest. I’d like a 

‘green’ Christmas 

please. Some recycled 

oblongs of old postcards 

which just happen 

to have festive 

illustrations on one 

Children must have enjoyed 

receiving greetings that 

could be personalised in 

this way. Valentine’s ‘Artotype’ 

Series. 

Left: hanging up her stockings 

on a Christmas night’. 

A novel take on the subject 

from Fred Spurgin on an Art 

and Humour Xmas Series 

postcard. Postally used 

1916. The old English Father 

Christmas - pre Santa - had 

no dealings with stockings 

but he’d probably have 

noticed this pair! 

side would suit me fine! 

* This is the latest of Wendy 

Mann’s Christmas postcard 

contributions that have 

been a feature of December 

PPMs for many years. If 

you missed any, ask about 

availability of back numbers! 


view or 

something 

to say? 

Write to PPM 

Postbag!

CARDS 2010 

140+ Dealers at 

Bath & West Showground, 

Shepton Mallet 

Friday 26th February 

10am - 6pm Admission £3 

(incl. free admission on Saturday) 

Saturday 27th February 

9.30am - 4pm Admission £1.50 

and 

Wood Green Animal Shelter - PE29 2NH 

Godmanchester (Signposted from A14) 

Nr. Huntingdon 

Friday 13th August 

10am - 6pm Admission £3 

(incl. free admission on Saturday) 

Saturday 14th August 

9.30am - 4pm Admission £1.50 

Postcards � Cigarette Cards � Autographs 

� 

� Ephemera + All Accessories � 

Details/Enquiries: Barrie & Katie Rollinson 

Telephone: 01278 445497 

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Web page: www.festivalofcards.co.uk 

FESTIVAL OF CARDS ’10FESTIVAL OF 


Valentine’s Show 

Jumpers 

Jumpers 

Ron Severs profiles the horsey set 

Many famous riders and their favourite horses have 

become household names as we watched them originally 

on black and white television competing 

against each other in British and International 

events. 

There were several outdoor 

and indoor venues that 

became well known to the 

armchair fans whose numbers 

grew providing fan 

clubs that would individually 

travel long distances to 

witness the strong competitions. 

The first International 

Horse Show took place in 

Dublin in 1864. The venue 

for the first National Horse 

Show was in Madison 

Square Garden New York in 

1883. These events stimulated 

detailed interest 

Another of the ‘Show Jumping Horses’ series 

amongst the male owners 

who began to attract sponsorship 

which gave an 

impetus to those who could 

earn considerable income if 

their horses won the challenges 

that became more 

and more numerous and 

valuable over the years. 

Under headlines such 

as ‘Leaping Horses’ it was 

thought that the country 

Valentine ‘Real Photo’ series postcard 

Agricultural Shows with displays 

of competitive jumping 

over perhaps locally 

made hurdles were intended 

to be included to interest 

owners of horses that were 

ridden in cross country 

events and “point to point” 

races for example. Steeplechasing 

and similar events 

stimulated the interest of 

farmers and country folk 

(right) Anneli Drummond-Hay on ‘Merely-A-Monarch’ 


(right) Diana Mason on 

‘Tramella’. Card published 

by Valentine of Dundee and 

posted at Bognor Regis in 

August 1956 

(below) Valentine 

‘Showjumping horses’ 

series featuring Miss P. 

Moreton on ‘Red Sea’ 

(below) Valentine postcard 

from the 1950s 

One of 

Britain’s most famous showjumpers, 

Pat Smythe (1928-96). Pat became a prolific writer, penning 

lots of biographies, riding tutorials and novels based 

on the sport of showjumping

David Broome on ‘Discutido’. He 

won the European Championships three times in the 

1960s, got an Olympic bronze in 1960 and 1968 (the latter 

on the famous ‘Mr. Softee’) and was voted BBC Sports Personality 

of the Year in 1960. He still operates stables near 

Chepstow 

who had never before competed 

with Rule Books to 

follow. 

Today Associations 

and Pony Clubs are the 

mainstay of equine sports. 

They have improved the 

standards of riding instruction 

and the competitive 

activities of, for example, 

dressage. It is essential that 

one checks the saddle to 

ensure that it fits both the 

horse and the rider. The 

horse’s centre of gravity 

shifts with its every movement 

and change of gait. It 

is likely that the horse is to 

carry on its back an unstable 

burden of about one 

fifth its own weight. 

In order to give complete 

freedom to the 

hindquarters and to the 

hocks the rider should not 

sit back in the saddle until at 

least two strides after landing. 

Racing on horseback 

probably began about the 

7th century BC. in Italy. 

All the postcards featured 

with this article were 

published by Valentine of 

Dundee. 

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� What 

the postman 

saw! � 

Messages oon tthe bback oof 

postcards 

Probably 

the most well-known 

events of the second Anglo- 

Boer War (1899-1902) were 

the sieges of Kimberley, 

Mafeking and Ladysmith. 

Though the towns were of no 

strategic importance, the 

sieges tied down a large 

number of Boer Soldiers who 

otherwise could have taken 

part in the invasion of Cape 

Colony and perhaps changed 

the course of the war. Ladysmith 

was besieged from 2 

November 1899 and relieved 

on 28 Feb 1900 by General 

Buller, a total of 116 days. On 

the whole the siege was a 

leisurely affair with no fighting 

on a Sunday. The local 

printer produced ‘Siege Postcards’ 

of which there are 

three main types: 

1. Has a soldier and sailor on 

the bottom right of the cards 

on the address side. 

2. Has a soldier, sailor and a 

Natal soldier. 

3. A souvenir issue that lacks 

the word NATAL under the 

coat of arms on the address 

side and was for philatelic 

use only. 

Each of types 1 and 2 have a 

number of minor varieties. 

The card illustrated is of type 

1 with the message dated 9 

Feb 1900, handed in at the 

post office on the 10th. It was 

held there until the first mail 

out after the town was 

relieved. Since no stamps 

were available, as was the 

case for the soldiers in the 

field, the card was sent without 

pre-payment. In transit it 

was marked ‘postage done’ 

(10c), payable on receipt. 

However, the War Office, 

after some hesitation, agreed 

to pay all postage on 

unstamped cards and letters 

and 

the card was cancelled on 

arrival at London on 25 

March, reaching its destination, 

Stamford, the following 

day. 

The message reads: “Dearest 

Nettie, Just a line to tell you 

we have been besieged 99 

days to-day. I was wounded 

in taking Gun Hill but am all 

right now. I don’t know when 

this will reach you so am just 

trusting to luck. I will write? 

after we are relieved. From 

your affectionate brother (signature 

illegible) Guides 

Groups.” 

With regard to the latter, 

there were a number of 

mounted Guides such as 

Rimington’s Guides but they 

were usually colonial volunteers, 

and without a full signature 

it is impossible to 

identify his company. 

The postman wouldn’t 

have had time to read this 

one! Jan managed to 

squeeze 343 words onto a 

real photographic postcard of 

the “Pied Bull” public 

house at Bull’s Cross, 

Enfield. It reads “My 

Dearest Ada, Got your 

letter all right, sorry as 

regards th enews I said 

I’d send you tonight, 

I’m sorry but it can’t be 

done, for we heard 

nothing one way or the 

other, still, no news is 

good news they say, so 

we’ll wait & see, perhaps 

I shall be able to 


THE MENDIP POSTCARD CLUB 

Postcard Fair 

Saturday 19th December 

at 

Glastonbury Town Hall, Somerset 

10am - 4pm 

Free admission * All day refreshments 

* Car parking 

For details phone: 

BARRIE ROLLINSON 

01278 445497 

Christmas with the Postcard 

Artists 1898-1940 

a new book by Peggy Hawksworth 

Over 300 artists and 400 pictures 

in colour. History, Folklore and 

Biography. £64. 

available from Borders, Amazon 

or from the publishers 

www.trafford.com/07-0143 

(UK order desk 0845-230-9601) 

tell you when I write tomorrow. 

You said in your letter 

that your Aunt Lil wished she 

could have had one of yuor 

coupons, well, she will be 

able to have one of Mo’s 

when she gets them if she’d 

care to, it would do just as 

well wouldn’t it. How’s that 

head, still aching, Mums just 

been telling me that an overdose 

of Iron served her just 

the same, the Parrishes did as 

well if you remember, so I’m 

hoping that after you’ve lessened 

it a bit you’ll rid yourself 

of that head ache, for goodness 

knows you can do without 

it. I’ve just finished that 

sketch in Elsie’s album, & 

written for a job that Mr 

Abbott recommended to me, 

& now I’m going to take a 

lock off a door & mend it, not 

a bad variety is it, tell your 

Ma that I saw that chap about 

the pictures this morning 

again, & he said that he 

beleives they’ne got the 

order in to do some more, & 

he expects to be able to get 

them shortly. I had a look at 

your feather last night, its 

quite O.K. the next time I 

come I’ll fetch it. Hasn’t it 

been an awful day, I thought 

two or three times I was an 

iceberg. I reckon you’ve not 

been hot, I 

thought of you 

several times & 

wondered what 

sort of a colour 

your little N. was 

(I don’t want to 

give you away 

you see, so I 

don’t put it in 

full). I reckon 

you had the second 

pink on 

though. Still I hope 

you see it before 

long. I shall hear 

tomorrow night 

about that though, I 

expect. Shall write 

tomorrow night. 

Fondest Love Jan. 

(contributions ffrom JJohn 

Markks aand SStephen SSellick)

Sidmouth, Newton Abbot, Bexhill, Crawley, Henley-on- 

Thames, Cirencester, Swindon, Cromer, Norwich, 

Cheltenham and Dudley.

� Clubscene � 

Philip’s Norfolk tour 

Philip West was born and brought up in North Norfolk, 

so was well-placed to deliver an ‘A-K’ of towns 

and villages in the area to NORFOLK Postcard Club’s 

October meeting. He chose picture postcards of quality 

and rarity to illustrate his journey around the 

highways and byways, and talked at length and 

knowledgeably. Even the smallest settlement produced 

something of interest, be it a shop, brewery, 

railway, circus parade or golf. Change was a recurring 

theme in the presentation. 

Reading singalong 

Postcards of World War 

One were screened at 

READING’s early October 

session, when Paul Langton 

underlined the importance 

of postcards for maintaining 

the morale of troops at the 

Front and their loved ones 

back home. Postcards as 

propaganda tools were, of 

course, used by both sides 

in the conflict. Paul focuses 

on poignant messages, and 

showed how he’d 

researched the fate of some 

of the senders and recipients. 

On a more cheerful 

note, he led a sing-song of 

the chorus of Dolly Gray, a 

favourite of the troops that 

was featured on Bamforth 

song cards. 

Lorraine Maguire 

revealed something of the 

work and lives of a range of 

picture postcard artists at 

the WEST LONDON club 

recently. Mabel Lucie 

Attwell, Cynicus, Bairnsfather, 

Tarrant and Dudley 

Buxton were among those 

under the spotlight. The 

sugar-sweet Asti, outrageous 

Pedro and unfortunate 

Ellen Clapsaddle 

(stranded in Germany in 

1914) added fascination, as 

did Lorraine’s concluding 

feature on the highly successful 

Queensland artist 

Anne Geddes, whose postcards 

are sold around the 

world. 

Deep in the heart of 

Dixie! 

SOUTH WALES Postcard 

Club held an audience participation 

evening in October 

when speaker Chris 

Wood, a Baptist minister, 

gave an enjoyable talk on 

the history of the American 

Civil War. He brought along 

several complete reproduction 

uniforms from both 

sides in the war, and several 

genuine artefacts were on 

display, along with powerpoint 

pictures. Chris also 

produced his guitar and the 

audience sang with gusto 

songs from the period - 

including Battle Hymn of 

the Republic and John 

Brown’s Body - with the 

words appearing on screen! 

Art class 

Masterpieces from Constable, 

Turner, Hals and Hogarth 

were featured by Sue 

Edwards at NORTHAMP- 

TONSHIRE Postcard Club in 

October. She highlighted 

how deliberate inaccuracies 

were often included in 

paintings to draw attention 

to the nuances and foibles 

of a particular artist. 

* Contact details for all 

postcard clubs can be found 

in Picture Postcard Annual 

2010. 

Retiring Plymouth Postcard Club chairman Graham Brooks 

(right) receives a new Plymouth Argyle book from the 

club’s publicity officer Harley Lawer 


December 2009 highlights 

Aberystwyth - Angela Davis with Victorian Christmas 

cards(7th) 

Aylsham - Christmas dinner(7th) 

Bradford - Christmas party(10th) 

Bristol - Christmas social, quiz and raffle(7th) 

Croydon - Christmas social(3rd) 

Dorset - Christmas fayre and entertainment(9th) 

Ellesmere Port & Chester - informal meeting(15th) 

Exeter - Christmas dinner 

Ferndown - three more of my favourite things(14th) and 

Christmas events(21st) 

Frinton & Walton - John Barter looks at the Festival of 

Britain plus Christmas party(8th) 

Huddersfield - Christmas party(9th) 

Lothian - Christmas social(11th) 

Maidstone - chairman’s evening(21st) 

Mendip - club fair(19th) 

Mid-Essex - Christmas social(17th) 

Norfolk - Rosemary and Peter Salt tell the story of Great 

Yarmouth(9th) 

North Wales - Gwyn & Christine Williams’ Christmas 

selection box(14th) 

Northamptonshire - competitions(8th) 

North-West Kent - joint social evening with Gravesend 

Stamp Club(11th) 

Nottingham - ‘Gordon Richards Trophy’ display 

competition(8th) 

Plymouth - Elaine Clifford, former Bluebell and Tiller 

Girl, recalls highlights of her career plus display of 

theatre programmes, posters and photos plus 

Christmas draw and buffet(9th) 

Potteries - Christmas quiz, seasonal refreshments and 

raffle(21st) 

Reading - AGM, picture quiz & Christmas party(10th) 

Red Rose - Christmas party(16th) 

Shropshire - Christmas ‘noggin & natter’(8th) 

Southampton - Christmas meal(14th) 

South Wales - Christmas dinner at the Village Hotel(10th) 

Strathclyde - steps towards Congress(14th) 

Surrey - Christmas social with raffle and fun 

competition(16th) 

Tayside - Christmas party(16th) 

Torbay - Christmas quiz night & bingo(10th) 

Wirral - Christmas buffet & wine plus quiz(3rd) 

PLYMOUTH Postcard Club 

have awarded Graham 

Brooks life membership in 

appreciation of his decade 

of service as chairman. The 

decision was approved at 

the club’s AGM, when Graham 

stepped down, citing a 

combination of age and 

health conditions. Vicechairman 

Ron Furzeland 

has taken over until the club 

finds a successor. It was 

also decided to suspend the 

club’s annual auction following 

two years of 

disappointing sales, and 

to publish the club newsletter 

bi-monthly in future. 

Negotiating Dartmoor 

EXETER welcomed Tony 

Burges, a blue badge Dartmoor 

guide, to their late 

October meeting, where he 

featured the National Park 

on their doorstep. He gave 

tips on visiting lesserknown 

parts of the moor 

without falling into bogs! 

Tony recounted various 

local legends topical to 

Hallowe’en to add to the 

atmosphere. David Walker 

from Wellington was guest 

dealer. 

Scene at Mid-Essex Postcard Club’s annual fair in October. 

The club’s meeting that month had 

Michael Cox talk 

on ‘Women at 

war’, accompanied 

by some 

truly remarkablememorabilia 

relating to 

the areas 

where they 

provided 

much-needed 

support. 

Michael also 

brought along 

his stock.

Channel Isles displays 

Some 23 members of the 

CHANNEL ISLANDS SPE- 

CIALISTS SOCIETY attended 

the postcard meeting 

held at the Royal Philatelic 

Society's headquarters in 

London in early October, 

when 18 varied displays 

were given. LL cards were 

shown by both John Hirst 

and Ron Osborne. Mark Bailey 

displayed Herm cards 

and photographs by the 

Grut family, photographic 

publishers of Guernsey. 

Dave Edwards showed 

postcards by the Guernsey 

photographer T. A. Bramley 

published between 1907 

and 1927: these included 

island scenes and events. 

Steve Wells showed cards 

of Jersey, Chausey, 

Granville and Mont Saint 

Michel published by J. Puel 

of Granville. Anne Gough 

gave two displays of modern 

postcards, the first 

being of cards in the 'Naturally 

Guernsey' series, and 

some new publications of 

the Jersey Shell House. Her 

second display was of postcards 

by the publisher John 

Hinde. A number of members 

chose to display a 

theme. Richard Flemming 

showed Jersey's Corbiere 

Lighthouse; David Gurney 

the Jersey Sub-Post Offices; 

Gerald Marriner Jersey 

hotel cards and ephemera; 

Keith Raymond and Roger 

Harris, Jersey's railways; 

and both Roger Harris and 

Peter Saunders showed aviation, 

including cards of the 

Saint Malo to Jersey air 

race of 1912. Some of the 

railway and aviation postcards 

were particularly 

unusual, a number having 

recently appeared on the 

market and drawn from an 

album a dealer had been 

holding for 18 years. 

Great War memories 

BRISTOL’s audience was 

treated to audio-visual presentations 

by Graham Best, 

member of the Western 

Front Association, last 

month. His headline feature 

was on Edith Cavell, half of 

the illustrations for which 

were drawn from postcards. 

Nurse Cavell’s execution 

was a propaganda bonus 

for the Allies, and Graham 

showed a large selection of 

relevant postcards and 

newspaper pictures. Other 

presentations featured 

WW1 comic cards, the 

wounded, and nurses, the 

Avon Gorge, Marilyn Monroe, 

WW2 newspaper headlines 

and the Bristol blitz. All 

were accompanied by suitable 

music, songs and 

sound effects, making for a 

very entertaining evening. 

Passengers and coaches at Gorey Pier railway station, Jersey, 

on a postcard from the French publisher L. Bourry of 

Villedieu, Manche 

Considering that HUDDERS- 

FIELD’s October speaker 

David Brown introduced 

himself as primarily a 

stamp collector, his collection 

of local postcards 

amazed the audience. To 

top that, he also produced a 

range of Isle of Man cards 

and a selection from North 

Borneo! 

NORTH WALES 

enjoyed one of Lawrence 

Corrieri’s amazing talks in 

October, this time on the 

remote Sutherland area of 

Scotland. Lawrence has collected 

a huge number of 

postcards of buses of a 

region where the average 

service is two a day - one 

out and one back! The fact 

that the major part of one 

route is through a military 

firing range and is frequently 

out of bounds due to military 

activity added to the 

scarcity value of these 

buses en route to Cape 

Wrath! 

Gareth Burgess and 

Fiona Gebbie made the 

journey from Dunbar to 

Dundee to entertain the 

TAYSIDE club in October. 

Fiona displayed postcards 

of the East Lothian Coastal 

Trail from Cockburnspath to 

Prestonpans, with eyecatching 

scenes of Skateraw, 

Belhaven and Aberlady. 

For aviation enthusiasts, 

there was a card showing 

the first plane to land at 

North Berwick. On a more 

wide-ranging theme, Gareth 

exhibited a selection of 

cards from 60 different 

Scottish postcard publishers, 

ranging geographically 

from J.D. Rattar of Lerwick 

in the north to A.R. Edwards 

of Selkirk in the south. 

Gareth himself has a keen 

interest in the history and 

output of famous postcard 

publisher George Washington 

Wilson (GWW). Other 

highlights included photograaphic 

gems by 

Urquhart of Dingwall, Gammie 

of Aberdeenshire and 

Dunn of Brechin. 

Bygone Shrewsbury 

SHROPSHIRE club members 

were taken back in 

time to the pre-postcard era 

at their October meeting, 

viewing a large selection of 

early photographs of 

Shrewsbury, the county 

town. Martin Ryder did the 

honours, revealing some 

wonderful examples of 

shopfronts from the 1880s 

and 1890s. These were followed 

by further high-class 

material from the horse and 

cart days, with a wide range 

of subjects displayed, from 

early fire appliances, hansom 

cabs, steam wagons 

and railways to local flooding 

problems and public 

houses, all of which proved 

very much to the liking of 

those present. 

September at the 

COTSWOLD club featured 

a guided walk with club 

members Alan and Joan 

Tucker. Earlier this year, 

Joan made an in-depth 

study of Lower Street in 

Stroud, close to their 

home. She traced the history 

and development of 

their road and also of the 

properties on either side 

of the road. On a glorious 

late summer afternoon, 

she gently conducted the 

group along the road, 

explained its past and present, 

and showed many 

old postcards and photos. 

The afternoon was rounded 

off admirably with tea 

at the Tucker household! 

The previous month, Ken 

Goddard had talked on 

one of his favourite topics 

- railway postcards. He 

used a large number from 

his extensive collection to 

illustrate points he was 

making, and the audience 

was able to examine the 

cards at leisure. 

There’s mmore cclub 

news oon ppage 556 

Gareth Thomas corrected 

our note last month when 

we said there wasn’t a postcard 

in sight at South Wales 

Postcard Club’s September 

session on Nelson. Apparently, 

the club presented 

speaker Roger Morgan with 

a set of postcards entitled 

Caricatures of Nelson’s 

Navy, designed by an artist 

who signed himself simply 

‘Oggy’. One, shown above, 

was most appropriate to the 

subject of the talk. 

Hatless in Ilkley 

Tony Christy provided a 

cracking display at BRAD- 

FORD’s latest meeting, 

showing part of his extensive 

collection of Ilkley postcards. 

It was, however, far 

from the usual range of 

topographicals, with Tony 

coming up with several 

Bartholomew map cards of 

the town, a large array of 

comic cards and a lovely 

collection relating to Ilkley 

Moor’s famous hatless 

song. Most interesting was 

a selection of pull-out postcards 

which fully demonstrated 

the tourist aspect of 

the town. 

Spellbound at Wirral 

Bromborough dealer John 

Ryan had WIRRAL club 

members spellbound last 

month with a fascinating 

account of his research into 

the ‘Dingle’ series of postcards 

published by Wiliam 

George Bevan of Heswall. 

John has amassed a big collection 

of the cards of the 

photographer, whose postcard 

work was distinguished 

by its clarity and 

quality. Bevan had an eye 

for the picturesque scenes 

of the Wirral coastlines and 

the photogenic shots of Liverpool 

docks. He also 

included human interest in 

many postcards, with an 

emphasis on the prominence 

of children, dogs or 

horses in the foreground of 

photographs. 


Alaska’s Igloo Mission 

Liz McKendrick 

Postcards of the arctic regions are unusual finds in 

this country - the only ones seen with any regularity 

are the set produced by Tuck ‘Wide Wide World - the 

Arctic’ showing different artist drawn scenes by the 

artist Operti. So I was quite surprised to turn up ten 

French Missionary cards all showing both views and 

Eskimos around a township called Mary’s Igloo. The 

cards were all published by Levenq et Cottin of Lyon. 

The rather strangely named village of Mary’s 

Igloo can be found in Alaska on the bank of the Kuzitrin 

River, on the Seward Peninsula just below the 

Arctic Circle. It came into existence during 1900 

when the nearby village of Kauwerk, 15 miles down 

river, was abandoned. Most of its inhabitants (Inupiaq 

Eskimos - the Inuit people of Alaska’s Bering 

Straits region) moved to one of the nearby cities - 

either Teller or Nome but some decided to settle on 

the coast and create a new town which they called 

Aukvaunlook (or ‘black whale’). 

Le Degel pres de la 

Mission de Mary’s Igloo au milieu de Juin 

This postcard shows a view looking towards Mary’s Igloo 

in June. The sea is thawing and great pieces of ice are 

floating in the sea in the foreground. Huts and boats from 

the settlement can be seen in the distance. 

Gold has been mined in 

Alaska since 1870 and was 

discovered in the area 

around Nome in 1898 by 

Swedish prospectors. Word 

of the strike spread rapidly 

and by the following spring 

a major gold rush had 

begun. It wasn’t long before 

20,000 prospectors, gamblers, 

shop and saloonkeepers 

and prostitutes 

were all living in a tented 

city around Nome. The gold 

deposits were 

found over many 

miles and by 1899 

more than a million 

dollars’ worth 

of gold had been 

found. Supplies 

for the gold fields 

and the growing 

city of Nome 

arrived at Aukvanlook 

and were 

offloaded from 

ocean boats onto 

barges which were 

Famille chretienne 

de la Mission de 

Mary’s Igloo. 

According to the 

title of this postcard 

shows a 

Christian family of 

Inupiat Eskimos. 

They are wearing 

reindeer skins to 

keep warm. 


Deux Chretiens de l’Ocean 

Arctique. These two Christian 

Eskimos are posing in 

front of a tepee and come 

from near the Arctic Ocean. 

They look rather grim. 

then towed up the river to 

their final destination. Many 

of the new arrivals stopped 

off at Aukvanlook looking for 

hospitality and the village 

soon became known to 

everyone as ‘Mary’s Igloo’ 

after Mary, an Eskimo 

woman, who welcomed 

many of the newcomers into 

her home for coffee. The village 

quickly grew in size 

and by 1901 a Post Office 

Mere et Fille Alaska 

This card shows a mother 

and daughter from Alaska 

posing for the camera. 

and supply store were 

opened. By 1910, Mary’s 

Igloo had become a large 

mixed community of Inupiat 

Eskimos, white traders, miners, 

innkeepers and missionaries 

as well as support crews 

for the barges. 

The pioneering French 

Jesuit missionary Father Bellarmine 

Lafortune came to 

this remote area of Alaska to 

help the native Inupiat Eskimos 

establish a self-sufficient 

social, economic and religious 

community. He was 

stationed in Nome and chose 

a second Missionary, Father 

Bernard, to be the priest at 

Mary’s Igloo. Father 

Bernard arrived in September 

1908 and during his 

seven year stay as well as 

his normal duties, he managed 

to learn the Eskimo 

language as well as take a 

large number of photographs, 

some of which 

may well have been turned 

into these postcards. He had 

Le Chef d’une ile du Detrroit 

de Behring et sa Femme. 

The Chief and his wife posing 

in this card are from an 

island in the Bering Strait. 

The Strait links the Bering 

Sea (northern part of the 

Pacific Ocean) to the Arctic 

Ocean. 

great respect for the 

Eskimos but sadly had to 

leave when he was called up 

for military service in 1915. At 

the end of WWI he asked to 

return to Alaska but permission 

was refused. For the next 

forty years, Bernard spent his 

time writing articles about the 

Eskimos for French missionary 

magazines as well as 

sending devotional literature 

to the Eskimos of the Mary’s 

Igloo area. 

Lafortune himself took 

over the mission at Mary’s 

Igloo on 21st September 1915 

but found the life hard. Without 

Father Bellarmine’s help 

he had to do everything himself, 

including the ministry, 

housekeeping, woodcutting, 

water carrying, and dog keeping. 

“If the good Lord had not 

given me a constitution of 

steel,” he wrote, “I could not 

hold out for two weeks.” 

Mary’s Igloo was the 

venue for an annual reindeer 

fair held in January where 

Eskimos brought their reindeer 

from miles around to 

compete for prizes in assoing, 

butchering, driving, feeding 

and herding. There were 

races of many kinds as well 

as prizes for the best harness, 

sleds, and fur clothing. Prizes 

were contributed by the merchants 

from Nome and the 

fair, which lasted for several 

days, was the great event of 

the Eskimo year. Often the

Arrivee de Viande fraiche (Les Esquimaux apportent au 

Missionnaire de Mary’s Igloo un phoque gele). This postcard 

shows a group of four Inupiat Eskimos bringing a 

dead frozen seal on a sledge being pulled by the three 

dogs to the right of the image to the Missionaries at Mary’s 

Igloo. The seal is one of the few sources of fresh meat 

available in the Arctic region. 

temperature fell well below 

zero yet people still slept on 

the snow in tents keeping 

warm inside their reindeer 

L’Organiste de 

la Mission de Mary’s Igloo 

This happy looking native 

girl is playing the organ for 

the Catholic services held at 

the Mission Church in 

Mary’s Igloo. 

skin sleeping bags. 

The flu epidemic of 

1918-9 swept through Mary’s 

Igloo leaving many people 

dead. Then two years later 

the survivors were hit by a 

tuberculosis epidemic. Both 

of these events were to see 

the beginning of the end of 

the settlement. Many of the 

children left without parents 

were helped by the missionaries, 

led by Lafortune, who, 

in 1918, opened a Catholic 

orphanage, “Our lady of 

Lourdes Mission” at nearby 

Pilgrim Springs as well as a 

Lutheran orphanage at the 

nearby township of New 

Igloo. 

Mary’s Igloo continued 

to decline and by 1948 both 

the local schools closed due 

to lack of pupils and the Post 

Office and Store finally shut 

in 1952. By then the remaining 

residents had moved on 

to Nome or Teller. Today 

Mary’s Igloo has no permanent 

population - it is only 

used as a seasonal fish camp 

during the summer months. 

Attelage de la Mission de Mary’s Igloo 

Dog sleds were the only means of transport available to 

the early Missionaries and were invaluable in their work. 

This card shows the outdoor structure used as a dog harness 

keeping the dogs tethered when they are resting. During 

his time at Mary’s-Igloo Father Lafortune made many 

dog team trips to see his converts scattered over the vast 

Seward Peninsula all the way from Cape Prince of Wales to 

Council, saying mass, giving instructions, and filling baptismal, 

marriage and burial registers. 

(left) Pres du Cercle Arctique 

Un Missionaire en 

voyage. This unnamed Missionary 

is holding the back 

of a sledge during a trip 

around the frozen arctic. 

(below) Eglise et Maison 

d’habitation de la Mission 

la plus proche du Pole 

Nord. Mary’s Igloo (Alaska) 

This card shows the rather 

bleak looking church and 

house of the Mary’s Igloo 

Missionaries with a dog 

sled and man in the snow 

outside. The title says it is 

the nearest mission to the 

North Pole. 

Don’t miss out on a single copy of PPM - 

take out a subscription or place a regular 

order with your supplier 

TWYFORD COLLECTORS FAIR 

(including LODDON AUCTIONS) 

at Loddon Hall, Twyford, Berks 

(Just off A4 on the A3032 nr. Maidenhead - RG10 9JA) 

SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER 

Postcards, Cigarette Cards, Books, 

Magazines, Printed Ephemera etc 

Card dealers booked so far include: 

Bernard Wickham* 

Peter Meyer* 

John Clarke* 

John Forrester 

John Kidson 

Roy Sheppard 

Gordon Collier 

Sally Glennie 

Kingfisher Cards 

Mike Huddy 

Lesley Davies 

Simon Collyer 

Paperchase 

Mike Barter 

Julian Burgess 

Brian Girling 

Julian Dunn 

Richard Holworth 

Tony & Rosa 

Lawrence 

John Priestley 

Margaret Pierce 

Ruth Pratt 

Neil Baldry 

Peter Robards 

* dealers with cigarette & 

trade cards 

� Choice Refreshments � Free Parking 

� Public Admission 10am to 4pm £1 

� Early Admission 9am £2.50 

Promoter: Neil Baldry, 32 Westborough Road, 

Maidenhead, Berks SL6 4AR Tel. 01628 622603 

LODDON AUCTION details: Gary Arkell 0118 961 1915 

500 LOTS OF POSTCARDS/CIGARETTE CARDS etc. 



Edwardian 

Cheapside 

A marvellous view of a crowded 

London street on a postcard by 

unidentified publisher. St. Maryle-Bow 

Church, of Bow Bells 

fame, is on the right

Cheapside’s 

postcard heritage 

Sir Robert Peel, founder 

of the Metropolitan 

Police, keeps watch on 

Cheapside on this Edwardian 

postcard view. Peel 

(1788-1850) was twice 

Prime Minister of the 

United Kingdom, and as 

Home Secretary oversaw 

the creation of the police 

force as we know it 

today. The statue, sculpted 

by William Behnes, 

was unveiled in 1852. It 

was moved to Postman’s 

Park (near St. Paul’s 

Cathedral, on the site of 

the original General Post 

Office) in the 1930s, and 

now stands at the Metropolitan 

Police Training 

Establishment at Hendon. 

Many other statues 

of Peel can be found 

around England, including 

ones in Parliament 

Square, London, and 

Peel Park, Bradford. A 

number of pubs were 

named after him, and 

many other memorials 

exist. 

Cheapside itself was 

originally the site of various 

produce markets. 

Charles Dickens rated it 

“the greatest thoroughfare 

in the City of London”, 

though today it is 

just one of several routes 

from the East End and 

City to the West End. It 

was badly damaged by 

German bombing in 

1940. The detail in this 

photograph is amazing, 

with a procession of 

horse-drawn buses and 

carriages. It illustrates 

perfectly why old 

postcards, with their 

often unique (though 

not in this case!) 

images, are so useful 

and fascinating for 

social, transport and 

fashion historians. 

The vantage point 

used to create the 

image of this scene 

was a popular one for 

postcard photographers. 

PPM keeps yyou iin 

touch wwith tthe 

postcard wworld! 

What are you 

doing in 

� Picture ads � 

Just published a postcard? Want to advertise sets or series of 

cards for sale? An ad here costs just £9.50 for a picture and 

approx 45 words (colour £15) 

CHILDREN IN NEED. Our 

2009 postcard is a spectacular 

‘Pudsey in Wonderland’ design 

from York artist Brian Partridge, 

and features a variety of 

collecting themes. Every penny 

of the 50p per card goes to the 

BBC ‘Children in Need’ charity. 

P/p 40p per order. 12 previous 

designs available - list on 

request. Reflections of a Bygone 

Age, 15 Debdale Lane, Keyworth, 

Nottingham NG12 5HT. 

STEAM AROUND 

BRITAIN. Latest postcard 

(no. 36 in the series) 

features the Llangollen 

Railway on this design by 

Timothy O’Brien. Other 

cards in series available, 

but 2, 4, 7, 11, 16 out of 

print. 40p per card + 40p per order or £10.50 postfreefor the 31 

cards available from Brian Lund Postcards, 15 Debdale Lane, 

Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5HT. Also just released: nos. 16-19 

in the ‘Railway Specials’ series, including two of the GWR in 

Gloucestershire, one of the Swanage Railway, and one of a Norfolk 

station. 

February? We’re 

all going to 

Shepton Mallet 


Mike and Sue Huddy’s 

Moderns of the Year 

2009 was the 50th 

year of the Iconic 

mini car still produced 

near to us at 

Cowley Oxford 

although sadly no 

longer a Britishowned 

mark. 

Continuing the political 

theme, the next 

card commemorates 

the election of President 

Obama. This 

postcard was published 

by Zazzle in the 

USA. 

Returning to our transport 

theme, our next card is from 

New Zealand, published by 

Contour Creative. This one is 

part of a set of five postcards of 

Tasman Empire airways - an 

S30 empire flying boat. 

As in previous years 

the top of our top ten 

has a strong transport 

element. This year we 

start with a card from 

Real Lachance the 

Canadian publisher 

of shipping cards. 

This one, Cunard’s 

Queen Mary II just 

one of a number of 

Cunard ships published 

by him. 

Readers that know 

our Libdem enthusiasms 

will be surprised 

at the inclusion 

of our next 

card, published by 

Pat Holton to commemorate 

the election 

of her granddaughter, 

Chloe 

Smith, as Conservative 

MP for 

Norwich North. 

2009 saw the organisers of the Picture 

Postcard Show issue a set of 

six entry/promotional postcards on 

the theme of the British seaside 

holiday. 


The organisers of 

the monthly 

Bloomsbury fair 

published several 

very collectable 

cards during the 

year - this one 

marking the 50th 

anniversary of 

mans first walk on 

the moon. 

Our last card 

takes us back to 

shipping, this 

time a card published 

within the 

Auk by Colin 

Roach - this one to 

mark the naming 

and the maiden 

voyage of the 

celebrity Equinox. 

Still with aircraft, a 

postcard published by 

Carl McQuaide in his 

wingtip series - this one 

of the iconic Concorde 

at Bristol Filton. 

Next of our cards 

published by 

Reflections of a 

Bygone Age in 

their ‘Railway 

Specials’ series, 

this one, no. 19 

showing an engine 

of the Gloucestershire 

and Warwickshire 

railway at 

Toddington station. 

This feature was due to appear in the 2010 Annual, but was 

delayed in the post from early September until mid-October. 

Comforting postcards 

Among the pleasures of research is the occasional 

chance find of an intriguing story or article about a personal 

interest or passion. I was delighted to find in my 

local record office this mention of picture postcards in an 

article in the ‘ladies’ column’ of a September 1914 newspaper. 

"In these days when picture postcards accumulate 

so rapidly that there is soon no place to put them a good 

plan is to take two and paste them together so that no 

writing shows, and then, when a good-sized box full has 

been collected send to a hospital. Hospitals welcome 

them because they can be sterilised; whereas many gifts 

have to be destroyed through a fear of infection. Also the 

preparation of them forms a splendid rainy day amusement 

for the children of a household, while the convalescent 

patients greatly appreciate them". 

What this shows is the endeavours of everyone to 

assist in the war effort so quickly in the initial weeks, and 

that the writer believes this is a support for wounded 

men. Apart from wondering how many got stuck together 

and sterilised, what would the value for in completion 

and collection terms be to us today? And how many 

postcards were used in this way? - John GGallagher

CAN YOU HELP? 

New political cartoons by Martin Rowson 

Eight new postcards in the ‘Cynicure’ series feature cartoons by top artist Martin Rowson 

368/A Richard Evertt recently 

bought the illustrated 

postcard. It shows the 2nd 

battalion of the Cameron 

Highlanders at an unknown 

location. The regimental history 

states that the battalion 

was in China from 1908/9. En 

route they spent some 

weeks in Hong Kong before 

moving to Tientsin where 

they were used to provide 

guards for the British Legation 

in Peking. So the card 

could be in either Hong 

Kong or Peking (Tientsin) 

which is where the scan of the back 

might help, for to the right are some oriental 

characters which presumably will 

name the publisher and his location. 

That hopefully might unlock the identification 

of main picture, as some readers 

might be ex-servicemen who have 

Two of the 

cartoons are 

based on Donald 

McGill designs, and a number 

of politicians are featured in the set, 

including Gordon Brown (on three 

of the cards), Tony Blair, Ann Widdecombe, 

Alastair Darling (three), 

John Prescott, Peter Mandelson, 

Jacqui Smith, David Cameron and 

George Bush. All the cartoons originally 

appeared in The Guardian. 

Until 10 December, the postcards are 

50p each or £3 for the set of eight (+ 

60p postage) from 

Brian Lund Postcards 

15 Debdale Lane 

Keyworth 

Nottingham NG12 5HT 

(after 10 December a set will be £4 + post) 

or order via email - reflections@postcardcollecting.co.uk 

Cynicure cards 1-12 available at 40p each. 

Cynicure series 

13. Northern Rock 

14. Blair’s conversion 

15. Harry the Hero 

16. Punch & Judy politics 

17. Extremes meet 

18. Same old crew(e) 

19. Labour’s tax U-turn 

20. Boners culture 

Martin Rowson’s work appears frequently in the Guardian, 

The Independent and The Daily Mirror. He was appointed 

‘Cartoonist Laureate’ of London when Ken Livingstone was 

Mayor. He has written three books and illustrated several 

more. 

served in Hong Kong, 

where I suspect the picture 

was taken. 

368/B Bill King of Saltash is 

trying to checklist the ‘D’ 

series of photographic 

postcards of the 

Porlock/Minehead 

area published by 

Alfred Vowles. If 

anyone can provide 

captions to 

any of nos. 12, 13, 

19, 24, 35, 36, 40, 

43, 44, 51, 66-8, 

71-3, 75-7, or any 

after 78 in the ‘D’ 

series, he’d be 

delighted to hear 

from you on 

01752-303966. 


Card Chat 

Mark Routh searches out 

the tasty and unusual in 

modern postcards. 

My wife Jo and I have just returned from the World of the 

Mouse, better known to many as Walt Disney World, Florida. 

This was our fourth visit and our first without the children 

(who have, of course, all grown up now). Since our 

first visit in 1993 I have collected every Disney theme park 

related postcard I could find. This is made a lot more fun 

by Disney's policy of constantly changing and updating 

issues. Back in 2003 I bought some attractive art cards 

which I saw this year with fancy embossed borders (not 

present on the cards in 2003 - so of course I had to buy 

these new ones). There are also annual year-dated postcards 

and this year I found three different 2009 dates (one 

for the Magic Kingdom Park, one for Epcot and one general 

design for the whole Florida Disney World). I know a 

lot of people collect Disney as a theme, but these new cards 

are not cheap to buy. The really good ones were priced 

between $2 and $3 each (£1.50 to £2) and it would be difficult 

for a dealer to make any money selling these with a 

margin of profit if he or she had to make this initial outlay. 

Therefore I doubt many of the postcards issued over the 

last few years will turn up on stalls (unless found postally 

used which might be a bit cheaper). I still bought copies for 

my collection but if I offered my doubles to someone at 

£2.50 a postcard would I have any takers? I suspect not, 

but I put it to you that this is their real value. 

Would you consider placing 

your loved one’s funeral plans 

in the hands of a company you 

saw advertised on a postcard? I 

suppose you might consider it 

appropriate under certain situations. 

I only ask because an 

advert postcard for 'Golden 

Charter Funeral Plans' fell out 

of my National Trust Members’ 

magazine. It is a sympathetic 

postcard showing an 

autumn wooded pathway and 

apparently they offer 'Unrivalled 

choice and peace of 

mind from only £1,655' - a 

most unusual postcard. 

Readers’ postcards 

I enjoy receiving postcards from 

readers, some from a long way 

away. Willy Allan sent me one 

depicting a Green Ant from Darwin 

in the 

One of the BBC Poetry Season 

postcards 

Northern Territory in Australia 

(but then he was on holiday at the 

time - postcards beat any other 

form of correspondence). He 

very kindly informs me that 

these ants (he calls them 'critters') 

make nests in trees by folding 

leaves together. Joe and 

Christine King sent me a smashing 

series of poetry postcards 

issued by the BBC as part of a 

poetry season. Each card has a 

simple piece of artwork on the 

front which is representative of 

the poem featured on that card. 

There are also four or five lines 

from the featured poem on the 

front. Thankfully the poem is 

printed in full on the reverse side. 

I was sent ten cards (and unless 

anyone knows otherwise I 

assume that's the set) which have 

a wide range of writers including 

Wendy Cope, Robert Burns (the 

well known poem 'To a Mouse' - 

'Wee, sleekit, cow'rin tim'rous 


Moderns at Woking 

beastie'), Christina Rossetti, 

Benjamin Zephaniah, Alfred 

Lord Tennyson (one of my 

favourites - The Charge of the 

Light Brigade - although only an 

extract of this long poem is printed 

on the back of this particular 

card), Seamus Heaney, Wilfred 

Owen (this WWI writer can be a 

bit of an acquired taste but this 

one - 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' 

- has a cracking opening line 

which goes 'What passing-bells 

for these who die as cattle?') The 

set also includes poems by Dylan 

Thomas, William Butler Yeats 

and John Betjeman. I am sure 

you will agree that this is an 

esteemed collection of writers 

and a most collectable set of 

postcards. I depict the Tennyson 

card to give you a flavour of how 

these look. 

Stampex and 

The Falklands 

The autumn STAMPEX show 

held in London had yet another 

free exclusive postcard for visitors, 

published in their ongoing 

series (this was no. 17). Personally 

this was a must for me as the 

postcard depicts artwork entered 

by Peter Morter for the 1982 

Maritime Heritage issue. 

Although not used for the stamp 

I spent yet another enjoyable day at the South of England Postcard 

Fair held at Woking Leisure Centre. My reason for visiting was the 

Saturday Moderns section of the fair which is a great event. Again 

I came away with a couple of hundred postcards. If you are a moderns 

collector and can make either of the two annual events you will 

not be sorry. Alan Bower was there and his stall is always worth 

looking through. Alan had not long returned from Ireland, where he 

said the postcards had become quite expensive with even the basic 

view cards costing 50p each. Alan suffers from the same problem 

that many of the modern dealers do, that collectors seem reluctant 

to spend more than 50p for a modern postcard. This means that he 

has to somehow buy postcards under this price and then try and sell 

them for 50p and still make a profit. There are dedicated and knowledgeable 

modern collectors who realise that there are modern cards 

which are worth much more and who are willing to pay the true 

value (I happily parted with £6 for a smashing hovercraft card 

which was well worth that amount). 

1958 poster 

reproduced on a card published 

by The British Postal Museum & 

Archive 

issue, this design shows a painting 

of HMS Invincible, which in 

1982 had been involved in the 

Falklands War (I know we are 

supposed to refer to it as a 'conflict' 

but soldiers died and one 

country was fighting another and 

in my mind that is a war!). As I 

keenly collect Falklands War 

postcards I was pleased to 

receive my copy and have placed 

it in my stack of items waiting to 

be mounted as a Falklands War 

display (which I will get around 

to mounting one day especially 

for the members of the Canterbury 

Postcard Club who have 

suffered six - yes six - displays 

by me but who still seem to want 

me back! - but I have currently 

run out of mounted material to 

show them). 

Ryan’s postcards 

Moderns dealer Alan Bower was 

actually selling at Woking (see 

panel, left) a smashing set of 

postcards recently obtained from 

Ireland for what he had paid for 

them because he could not see 

how he could sell them for more, 

but they were so nice he wanted 

to have sets to sell. This was a 

special set of six postcards that 

were (are?) only available in 

Terry Wilson has sent me a cracking postcard advertising an exhibit 

at the 'Gate Gallery' in Grimsby titled 'Long Distance Information….give 

me MEMPHIS TENNESSEE'. This was a display of digital 

illustrations by David Pitcher. The photograph on the front shows 

a black and white image of a female telephonist (from the good old 

days when you used to be asked to be connected with somewhere - 

who remembers those days?) See what you think

Dingle, 

County Kerry. It was near here in 

Dunquin that the movie 'Ryan's 

Daughter' was filmed in 1968-9 

(it’s now the 40th anniversary of 

the filming). The six sepia-toned 

photographs have a nostalgic 

look and depict some of the 

scenic views from the film and 

some of the stars (John Mills, 

Trevor Howard and Sarah Miles 

- no picture of the main star, 

Robert Mitchum, though). The 

area of the Dingle Peninsula 

gave the film some of its charm 

and these postcards show this. 

Bought in Dingle and believed 

exclusive to the area, these are 

the type of postcards that modern 

dealers bring our way and which 

we would not see any other way 

(so my thanks go to Alan for 

these). Just take a look at the 

houses shown in the background 

behind Trevor Howard, who is 

depicted dragging two naughty 

youths along by their ears, and 

you can just feel the quality that 

went into this film (it did win two 

Academy Awards after all). 

Delcampe potential 

At the Postcard Show the internet 

sales site Delcampe had a 

stand where they showed visitors 

how to access the site and what 

sort of thing was on sale. Similar 

to the eBay idea, but without the 

costs, this site has a wide range 

of collectables on offer. I had a 

look and found more televisionrelated 

postcards here than on 

eBay, so the site is worth a look. 

Also around the hall, and on their 

stand, was a free advertising 

postcard for this web-site auction 

company. This was the company 

logo with a stamp, coin and postcard 

placed behind it, all on a 

green background. When I 

turned my copy over I saw that 

this was a dated card for 2009 

and no. 3 in a series (although 

they call it an edition rather than 

a series), one of a 5,000 limited 

edition production. The design 

rang a bell, so when I got home I 

had a look through a couple of 

boxes and found a very similar 

one (same logo and items behind 

it) but this time with two large 

faded images of postcards in the 

background. This one had a very 

light brown background and was 

the year card for 2008 and was 

Mac Publications postcard in 

their ‘Bygone Ireland’ series 

shown as Edition 1 in a limited 

number of 2,500 copies. What I 

want to know now is whether the 

edition 3 on the 2009 card means 

there have been two other editions 

this year or whether there is 

just one other card issued 

between the two different postcards 

I now have. Can any reader 

help? Whatever the outcome, 

these free postcards are welcome, 

and I can recommend this 

site as being well worth a look - 

www.delcampe.net. 

Magazine freebies 

It has been some time since I last 

mentioned any free postcards 

with magazine issues and there 

has been a bit of a decline in 

these. Regardless of that, a real 

cracker came out in August with 

a television connection. Lazy 

Town is an unusual children's 

programme from Iceland which 

has cast and crew from Iceland, 

America and Great Britain and 

which has now been shown in 

over 100 countries. The two 

main characters are Sportacus 

and Stephanie, and if you have 

children then there is every 

chance that you have seen at 

least one of the many shows. 

Issue no. 36 of 'Lazy Town' magazine 

(30th July - 26th August, 

£2.15) came with two attached 

free postcards. At first I did not 

grasp what these were and 

thought they were black and 

white colour in cards as each 

showed one of the two main 

characters in black and white on 

a colour scene background. What 

confused me initially was a number 

of little bags of coloured sand 

that came with the postcards! I 

now know that each segment of 

the character is actually a peeloff 

label and the area underneath 

is sticky. Over this you sprinkle 

the coloured sand and then shake 

off the excess. You then move 

your way through the various 

peel-off areas until you have 

used the sand to colour the whole 

character depicted on the postcard. 

This is a very unusual and 

quite magical concept which 

makes these true novelty postcards. 

Despite my eagerness to 

give this a go (kids have so much 

fun stuff these days) I have kept 

my package complete and 

unopened (in 'mint condition' or - 

as my granddaughter says - boring). 

I would love to have given 

these a go and if I ever come 

across any that have been 'played 

with' I shall buy them as examples 

and look at them longingly 

and wonder what fun I have 

missed out on! 

Postcard girls 

I was pleased to see Keith 

Edmondson's Freecard Gossip 

article back again last month, and 

it was interesting what he said 

about Boomerang issuing cards 

in sets of five. The all-girl pop 

group 'The Saturdays' have promoted 

their album 'Wordshaker' 

with promotional boomerang 

postcards. In my local cinema 

rack I found individual postcards 

for two of the girls in the group, 

Rochelle and Vanessa. I assume, 

naturally, that there are also cards 

for Una, Mollie and Frankie, 

who are the other three members 

of the group. I have some dou- 

Boomerang postcard promoting 

a new album 

bles of Rochelle and Vanessa and 

am looking to swap with anyone 

who can help me complete my 

set. If you have these two missing 

and have doubles of any I am 

missing then please get in contact 

as apparently 'Everyone 

Loves a Saturday' (as printed on 

the front of the cards!). 

I also have an interest in, 

and collect, some stamps, so read 

the monthly magazines including 

'Stamp and Coin Mart'. Recently 

in copies sold by WH Smith they 

gave away a free postcard from 

The British Postal Museum & 

Archive poster series. This poster 

advertised buying stamps in 

stamp books and is an attractive 

1958 design by Peter Huveneers. 

In the following issue there was a 

form you could send off for 

another free card from the series. 

These are interesting designs and 

if you can buy a set it is worth 

seeking out if this is your sort of 

stuff. 

Pat’s last cards 

I just have to mention the smashing 

two Xmas postcards recently 

issued in the PH Topics series by 

Pat Holton. These are no. 491, 

which depicts a cracking Rupert 

Besley cartoon of Santa with his 

sleigh on the moon (one of the 

reindeers - clearly Rudolf as he 

has a red nose - is seen to be saying 

"So much for the satnav!") 

and no. 492, a lovely painting by 

John 

Pat Holton promotes 

the idea of using postcards as 

Christmas cards again with her 

PH Topics no. 492, designed by 

John Pulham 

Pulham of two children posting 

letters (Christmas cards?) into a 

wall-mounted post box (the 

added snow and robin create that 

'Xmas' feel). A new Besley card 

is always greeted with pleasure, 

although a rare event unfortunately, 

and this one shows what 

we have been missing. Next year 

Pat is apparently due to release 

her last card when she hits the 

magical number 500. When this 

happens we will be losing one of 

our very special postcard people 

and it will be a sad day, but I 

wish her luck with whatever she 

moves onto. 

* You can contact Mark at 165 

Raphael Drive, Shoeburyness, 

Southend on Sea, Essex SS3 

9UR. 

Picture PPostcard 

Annual 22010 

is now available at 

£4.75 with an up to 

date directory of 

dealers, fair organisers, 

auctions etc plus 

lots of features and 

articles, and a list of 

important 2010 postcard 

fairs. On sale 

from your favourite 

dealer or direct from 

the publishers at 

15 Debdale Lane, 

Keyworth, Nottingham 

NG12 5HT (plus 

postage £1 UK, £2.50 

Europe, £4.50 rest of 

world) 


Picture Postcard Sales List no. 9/09 

Brian Lund Postcards, 15 Debdale Lane, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5HT 

MODERNS 

(all coloured and in VG condition unless stated) 

1. THE BEATLES. Mix of two sets pub’d 

London Postcard Co. (12 cards)..................£5 

2. COCA-COLA advert set (6)...........................£2 

3. DR. WHO mix pub’d Slow Dazzle Worldwide 

(10).................................................................£5 

4. DUFEX Teddy Bear set (10).....................£4.50 

5. EUROPE. Don’t let Europe rule Britannia! 

anti-EU sentiment pub’d This England 

magazine. Bulldog, flags etc. (4).............£1.20 

6. HARRY POTTER artist-drawn images pub’d 

GB Posters (8)...............................................£3 

7. PHQ no. 1. the scarce County Cricket 

design..........................................................£25 

8. PICTURE POSTCARD SHOW 2008 souvenir 

cards/entry tickets with comic theme (6) 

CM.................................................................£3 

9. PICTURE POSTCARD SHOW 2009 souvenir 

cards/entry tickets with seaside theme (6) 

CM.................................................................£3 

MODERN ARTISTS 

10. TIM O’BRIEN. Cargo plane at Southend 

Airport.........................................................50p 

MODERN RAILWAY STATIONS 

11. Bewdley pub’d Severn Valley Rly...........75p 

12. Arley pub’d SVR.......................................75p 

13. Crowcombe with train pub’d Judges.....40p 

14. Crowcombe pub’d West Somerset Rly...40p 

15. Dent pub’d Pedley....................................50p 

16. Leyburn with train pub’d Wensleydale 

Railway.......................................................40p 

17. Bridgnorth with train pub’d SVR.............75p 

18. Ramsbottom with engine........................50p 

OLD POSTCARDS 

ARTISTS 

19. Sylvia BARHAM pub’d CW Faulkner CG 

(4).................................................................£15 

20. Stanley BERKELEY We kissed beneath pu 

1904 VG.........................................................£2 

21. Charles FLOWER. Canterbury ser. III Tuck 

Oilette 8934 CVG (2).....................................£4 

22. FLOWER. Tuck Oilette - Cologne CVG...£2 

23. T. GILSON Carry On CVG..........................£2 

24. Lilian GOVEY Sister Susie’s sewing shirts 

pu 1916 CF.....................................................£3 

25. Florence HARDY pub’d Misch ‘Little 

Friends’ pu 1914 CVG...................................£4 

26. Suzanne MEUNIER. Parisian Girls no. 5018 

CVG................................................................£6 

27. Xavier SAGER watercolours 1st April 

theme - Avril Tendre (3) CG.......................£15 

28. Lance THACKERAY. Tuck write-away 1765 

An early Bird pu 1907 CG............................£5 

29. THACKERAY. Tuck write-away 985 How is it 

you u/b pu 1905 CVG...................................£6 

30. THACKERAY. Tuck write-away 542 I am 

delighted u/b pu 1903 CVG..........................£6 

SUBJECTS 

31. ADVERTISING. Poster advert for Brighton 

CG................................................................£35 

32. AVIATION. CL Temple, well-known aviator, 

with racing bike RP F................................£20 

33. DR BARNADO funeral procession, 

animated RP pu 1905 VG...........................£25 

34. CIRCUS. Les Rigolos de Barnum & Bailey 

pu 1903 VG..................................................£30 

35. COLLECTION JOB. 1906 Calendar by 

Duvocelle VG..............................................£50 

36. EARLY. Sandwich Men court size pub’d 

Beechings pu 1901.....................................£45 

37. FATHER CHRISTMAS motoring design 

pub’d Birn Bros. CVG...................................£7 

38. FATHER CHRISTMAS A Merry Yuletide. 

Santa & Angel CVG......................................£4 

39. FILM STARS. Sepia RPs pub’d Woolstone 

Bros. in ‘Milton’ series, or by one of the film 

studios. Lionel Barrymore, Brian Aherne, 

Richard Arlen, Frank Lawton, Otto Kruger, Jan 

Kiepura, Edmund Lowe, Claude Hulbert, John 

Loder, Gyles Isham, William Lundigan, Melvyn 

Douglas, Robert Young, James Dunn, Carl 

Brisson, George Brent, Fred Macmurray, Larry 

(Buster) Crabbe, Richard Cortez, Jackie Cooper, 

Fredric March, Herbert Marshall, Warner 


2 36 

39 

56 

27 

60 

59 

28 

47 

54 

34 

33 

Cheque with order, please. 

Refund sent on any items 

already sold. Satisfaction 

or refund. You can ring to 

order on 0115 937 4079 

C = coloured 

M = mint condition 

VG = very good 

G= good F = fair 

49 

31 

19 

5 

50 

58 

37 

Order ffrom 

Brian LLund PPostcards - 

address aabove. Order by 

Lot number. Postage in UK 

50p extra per mailing. 

pub’d = published by 

pu = postally used 

c/u = close-up

Baxter, Tom Walls, 

Henry Wilcoxon, 

George Raft, Franchot 

Tone VG 

EACH.................. £1.25 

40. FOOTBALL. Autographed 

RP of J. Parker, 

Nottm Forest £25 

41. GOLF. RP of Henry 

Cotton in Switzerland 

1940 G..£50 

42. HATS. Birn Bros. 

design pu 1911 CVG...£2 

43. LONDON LIFE. Tuck 

612 After The Play u/b pu 

1903 CVG...£5 

44. MOTORING. AA road patrol assisting 

during floods pub’d AA RP VG..£30 

38 

45. RAILWAY, Woolwich Arsenal pub’d WH 

Smith pu 1908.............................................£20 

46. TEMPERANCE. Advert for Grand Bazaar at 

Newcastle-on-Tyne Oct 1902 written by Guy 

Hayter, leading light of Temperance 

Movement CG.............................................£25 

47. TOBACCO. Webster Cigars pictorial scene 

CF.................................................................£35 

48. WOVEN SILK Hands across The sea RMS 

Victorian. Slight foxing. G..........................£40 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

49. BRIGHTON. Visit of Earl Beatty Oct 1922. 

Animated RP. G..........................................£40 

50. DULVERTON, crowded street scene RP 

pub’d JH German pu 1908 G....................£40 

51. LIVERPOOL playscene RP of ‘Strike’ 

alluding to local strike pub’d Carbonara 

G..................................................................£30 

52. MANCHESTER, Radcliffe Parish Church 

procession & street scene RP pub’d locally 

VG................................................................£20 

53. MANCHESTER, opening of Seymour 

Gardens, Hollingwood RP pu 1909 G.......£25 

54. MANCHESTER. Close-up trams and lorry in 

RP street scene VG.....................................£18 

55. ORMSKIRK crowded street scene RP 

VG................................................................£25 

56. PARIS VECU - Le Marchand de Coco pu 

Early posting 

dates 

Latest additions to our 

ongoing listing are as follows: 

Places 

*Leatherhead 20 May 

1902 

Overseas 

*Canada 18 May 1887 

*Rhodesia 15 July 1899 

* indicates an earlier date 

than previously recorded. 

If you can contribute 

to this feature, please 

send photocopy of both 

sides of any submitted 

postcard. The important 

side is the picture - the 

location of the postmark is 

irrelevant. 

The latest updated 

listing appears in 2010 Picture 

Postcard Annual. 

1907 VG......................................................£30 

57. PARIS. Motor car excursion outside Thos. 

Cook offices with crowd VG.......................£35 

58. SOUTHALL railway station int. RP pu 1913 

VG................................................................£30 

59. TOOTING Broadway animated street scene 

pub’d Johns pu 1925 with tram, horsedrawn 

vehicles VG.....................................£35 

60. WANTAGE Tramway RP pub’d Chapman 

VG................................................................£35 

61. WELLS. 1909 Royal visit RP pub’d Dawkes 

& Partridge VG............................................£45 

Unusual ppostcards 

from EEdwardian 

publisher 

This old picture postcard 

is obviously in bad 

taste, and we don’t wish 

to be flippant about a 

very serious subject - 

but we spotted this 

postcard published by 

the Pictorial Stationery 

Co. of London in their 

‘Peacock’ series c.1905. 

This is no. 18 - does 

anyone know who represented 

the first 17 or 

any later numbers? 

The earliest Rhodesian 

postcard (until someone 

turns up an older one!) , 

posted at Bulawayo in 

July 1899. The card was 

published by the Press 

Association, 21 St. 

George’s Square, London. 

New Pictorial Postal Cards 

Edward Hill sent news of 

Queensland’s first postcards, 

published by the 

state’s Post Office. The 

information comes from 

The Brisbane Courier of 24 

June 1898: 

“We have been shown 

some advance proofs of the 

pictorial postcards which 

the Postmaster General 

(Hon. W.H. Willson) has 

decided to issue, with a 

view to inviting the attention 

of persons residing outside 

the Colony to the 

scenery and products of 

Queensland. The first 

series, comprising eighteeen 

views of Queensland 

scenery and products, 

which are very handsome, 

will be issued to the public 

today....” 

FERNDOWN Postcard Club’s first October meeting featured 

an evening of Bugs, Butterflies, Bees and Birds, followed 

by a session of six sheets in two minutes of postcards. 

What a selection! There were cards showing missionary 

work in Papua & New Guinea, the 1939 Mailomat 

machine used by the U.S. Post Office, cards from Brunei 

featuring pipework taking water to the town, pop-up letter 

cards and even more butterflies. The 35th Division of Irish 

volunteers in World War One competed with highly 

sought-after camp postmarks, WW1 armoured vehicles of 

the Royal Naval air Service, natives of Singapore, early 

views of Boscombe, and Sonning Lock. 

Contributors aand aadvertisers aare aadvised tthat 

the JJanuary 22010 eedition oof PPICTURE PPOST- 

CARD MMONTHLYY wwill bbe ppublished oon DDecember 

220th. DDeadline ffor ccopy iis DDecember 110th. 


Cultural and 

Entertainment Freecards 

It would be wrong of me, writes Keith Edmondson, to imply 

that cultural freecards are something new. The French 

freecard scene is dominated by cards advertising Film Festivals, 

Museum events, Theatre programmes etc and in 

this column at the same time last year when I reviewed 

some of the cards of 2008 I included a Boomerang card for 

an exhibition at the Museum in Docklands and one for 

Proms in the Park. Perhaps it is the fact that this year there 

have been fewer cards distributed that there appear to be 

more cultural and entertainment cards in the racks, and in 

the London area Boomerang and Big Smoke Media look 

as though they have tagged on to specific customers for 

promoting their events. 

Big Smoke 

Media include 

among their 

customers the 

National 

Gallery, The 

Dali Universe 

and The Animation 

Art 

Gallery, and 

three cards 

issued during 

the year are 

illustrated. Only 

the “Renaissance 

Faces” event at 

the National 

Students are targeted 

by this 

advertising postcard 

Gallery is a 

postable card. The 

reason, however, 

for illustrating a not particularly 

good card in terms of image 

reproduction, from the Animation 

Art Gallery is the reference 

in the top right hand corner to 

“postcard not for sale”. At least 

I am not the only one to consider 

this as being a “postcard” even if 

you cannot strictly post it. 

Boomerang cultural and 

entertainment clients 

included the British Library, one 

of four cards illustrated for the 

“Talking Liberties” event earlier 

in the year, and the RSC, one of 

two cards illustrated for “Arabian 

Nights” currently at the 

Courtyard Theatre in Stratford- 

Upon-Avon until the end of January. 

There have over the year, 

however, been many Boomerang 

cards for shows and four are 


National 

Gallery 

promotional 

card 

illustrated for “Sister Act”, “We 

Will Rock You” and “Treasure 

Island” at various 

Royal 

Shakespeare Co. 

publicity 

London Theatres plus one 

for the touring “ABBA 

the Show”. 

At the time of 

preparing this column at 

the beginning of November 

Boomerang were distributing 

a set of six cards in their cinema 

These postcards featuring high-profile 

performances make an interesting addition to a related postcard collection 

racks advertising the Michael 

Jackson Opus. The cards gave a 

discount of £50 on the list price 

of £199 for the book. By the 

time you read this the cards 

will probably have long 

since gone but I suspect there 

will still be plenty of copies 

of the book available. 

This Michael 

Jackson card is likely to be in 

demand from collectors

HULL CITY FC postcards wanted: 

team groups, players and crowds. 

N. Turner, 21 Wolfreton Mews, 

Willerby, Hull HU10 6PW. Email: 

nichturn@yahoo.co.uk 

LYDNEY, CINDERFORD, COLE- 

FORD, Mitcheldean, all Forest of 

Dean areas, Gloucestershire. Brian 

Clutterbuck, 32 Templeway West, 

Lydney, Glos GL15 5JD. Tel. 01594- 

841206. 

FOWEY, FOWEY, FOWEY, Cornwall. 

Quality postcards, photos and 

ephemera wanted. Marcus Lewis 

01726 832089. Mobile 07973 

420568. 

marcus@fowey9.freeserve.co.uk 

LEICESTERSHIRE STATION INTE- 

RIORS RPs - GNR, GWR, GCR. 

Royal Leicestershire Regiment 

scenes. Better Shipping cards: Liners, 

Warships, Cargo; British, german, 

American, Russian, Japanese. 

Nazi zeppelins, Nazi propagande, 

Irish political cards 1920s. 

RPs of port scenes - Humber, Liverpool, 

Tyne, Jarrow, Dublin, Cork, 

hamburg, Barrow. German Uboats 

WW1, WW2. Harry Potterton, 

63 Keyham Lane West, Leicester 

LE5 1RS. Tel. 0116 243 3444. 

CASTLES. Appreciative price paid 

for postcard of Dinas Powis Castle. 

Harry Welchman, 19 Orchard Crescent, 

Dinas Powis, South Glamorgan 

CF64 4JZ. Phone 029-2051- 

2439. 

A.R. QUINTON 2986, £00’s reward! 

P. Cove, Sanjoby, Eype, Dorset DT6 

6AP. 

MORETON - LEASOWE - SEA- 

COMBE. New Brighton, Liscard, 

Wallasey, Birkenhead, Upton, Hoylake, 

Rock Ferry, New Ferry, 

Bebington, West Kirby, Bromborough, 

Cammell Laird. L. Clow, 52 

Saughall Road, Moreton, Wirral 

CH46 5NG. 

WELSH WAR MEMORIALS - dedications 

especially. Graham Farthing, 

106 Ashridge Way, Morden, 

Surrey SM4 4ED. 

POSTCARDS OF FULHAM plus Fulham-associated 

football. John 

Martin, 1 The Rise, Tadworth, Surrey 

KT20 5PT. 

Classified 

COST 

Lineage: 16p per word per month (1-3 insertions) 

13p per word per month (4 or more consecutive 

insertions without text change) 

e.g. 12 words: £1.92 for 1 month, £3.84 for 2 months, £5.76 for 3 

months, £6.24 for 4 months, £7.80 for 5 months, £9.36 for 6 

months. 

Minimum cost of single insertion £1.50. Minimum cost of multiple 

insertions £1.20 per month. 

Semi-display (boxed) £7.50 for 3 col. cms, £1.75 each extra col. cm. 

(price includes lineage). 

These rates are inclusive of V.A.T. 

PAYMENT: All classified adverts should be prepaid. When calculating 

cost, do not count street number, and calculate tel. 

no./postal code as one word each. 

PRESENTATION: Please type or write advert clearly, underlining 

words required in bold. Include your name (and not just an 

address) within the advert. 

TRADE ADVERTISING: Traders advertising for postcards in the 

‘wanted’ section must conclude their advert thus: (T) if they 

require postcards for resale and expect trade discount/prices from 

other dealers. This avoids any misunderstanding by prospective 

vendors. Dealers who fail to comply with this instruction will in 

future be refused advertising space. 

ALTERATIONS: If any changes are required in an advert, or it is to 

be resumed after a break, please make sure you resubmit the 

whole advert. 

POSTCARDS 

WANTED 

PPM keeps yyou iin 

touch wwith tthe 

postcard wworld! 

MADEIRA ISLAND POSTCARDS - 

all types 1894-1950s. Shipping at 

Madeira + photos large and small 

1880-1930s + travel albums. J.R. De 

Silva, 147 Buxton Road, Hazel 

Grove, Stockport, Cheshire SK7 

6AN. 

CRICKET - anything considered. 

Local teams if named or located. 

Approvals to - G. Jennings, 4 

Henry Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham 

- Postage refunded. 

PIERROTS, MINSTREL 

TROUPES AND CONCERT 

PARTIES (1860-1930) 

wanted by private collector 

Postcard collections, 

ephemera. Any condition. 

Uncle Tacko! 

Cleveland House, 

Cleveland Place, Dawlish, 

Devon EX79HZ 

E-mail: uncle@prom-prom.com 

DENTAL POSTCARDS wanted. 

Also postcards from 

LUXEMBOURG. 

Postage always refunded. 

John Lesch, 133 Rue 

E. Beres, L-1232 

Howald, Luxembourg. 

NORWAY. Early cards/Postal History 

- Scott Simpson, 14 Dower 

Road, Sutton Coldfield B75 6UA. 

Email: 

scottsimpsonuk@btinternet.com 

PALESTINE 

I am a collector looking for 

all series from all periods. 

Please send even single 

cards. I will usually pay your 

price plus your postage 

costs, or I will exchange for 

your own subject 

David PPearlman 

788-7790 FFinchley RRoad 

London NNW11 77TJ 

Tel: 0020-88201-88998 

email: 

david@centrum-uk.com 

GREECE 

Postcard collector seeking all 

areas of any subject relating to 

Greece including Costumes, 

Personalities, Royalty, Ships, 

Trains, Cartoons, Art, etc. etc. 

Prompt response 

J. Tsatsas, 1A Netherhall 

Gardens, London NW3 5RN 

YORKSHIRE CRICKETERS AND 

CRICKET TEAMS. Private collector. 

Details to: Ron Deaton, 20 Hill Top 

Road, Harrogate HG1 3AN. 01423 

507690. 

DEVON AND CORNWALL cards 

required. J.R. Adams, 2 Devon 

Square, Newton Abbot, Devon 

TQ12 2HN. 

BLACK & WHITE SCOTTISH VIL- 

LAGE and town views, especially 

Angus, Fife, islands, plus Hallowe’en, 

posted Caymans, Sudan. 

Chad Neighbor, 8 Dalgarno Park, 

Hillside, Montrose DD10 9JF. (T). 

Email:- c.neighbor@virgin.net 

SYNAGOGUES (WORLDWIDE) 

JEWISH PALESTINE (PRE-1948) 

BRITISH FORCES PALESTINE 

JEWISH STREET SCENES 

(WORLDWIDE) PALESTINE 

HOTELS (INC. CACHETS) 

GRUSS AUS PALESTINE 

OR 

Any other interesting postcards on 

a Jewish or Palestine theme 

eagerly sought by collector. 

For immediate response please 

write to: 

Adrian Andrusier 

c/o Sheldon Monk & Co. Ltd., 

15-19 Cavendish Place, London 

W1G 0DX 

or telephone 020-7580 5866 

KEYWORTH & PLUMTREE postcards 

wanted, please, on approval. 

Help me improve our collection! I’d 

also like any postally used cards 

sent to an address in either village 

1900-11. Brian Lund, 15 Debdale 

Lane, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 

5HT. 

SUFFOLK, NORFOLK and Cambridgeshire 

Postcards published by 

F.G. Pawsey & Co. Ltd and Langhorn 

Pawsey & Co. (L.P. & Co.) of 

Bury St. Edmunds. Bob Pawsey, 82 

Westerfield Road, Ipswich IP4 2XN. 

Tel: 01473 252893. 

MEXICAN POSTCARDS 

WANTED 

Single cards or collections 

Contact: 

Grenville Collins 

Flat 81, 95 Wilton Road 

London SW1V 1BZ 

Tel. 020 7834 1852 

e-mail: 

grenvillecollins@safeserve.com 

WANTED - Postcards (modern & 

old) & ephemera of Tenerife, 

Canary Islands & Spain in general. 

We pay with UK cheque. Please 

contact before sending on 

approval to: Sophie Baillon, POR- 

TOBELLO, Cruz Chica 84, Guamasa, 

La Laguna. 38330. Tenerife. 

(T). sophiebaillon@hotmail.com 

skype-rastrilloportobello. 

BURNLEY, PADIHAM, EAST 

LANCS, BURNLEY F.C. Photographic 

postcards always required. 

Prompt response, postage refunded. 

Mark Yates, 8 Shakespeare 

Street, Padiham, Lancs BB12 8SN. 

Email:yatesmark2000@yahoo.com 

SOUTHPORT and SUBURBS 

BIRKDALE, AINSDALE, 

CROSSENS, CHURCHTOWN 

Single iitems aand ccollections 

welcome. PPostage rrefunded 

IAN SIMPSON 

55 LARKFIELD LANE 

SOUTHPORT 

LANCASHIRE PR9 8NN 

Tel: 01704-227765 

iansimpson@talktalk.net 

GOULBORNS, old Millgate, Manchester. 

Postcards of skittle alley, 

cheese store etc. K. Warrender, 36 

Moss Lane, Timperley, Cheshire 

WA15 6SZ. 

CHANNEL ISLANDS: vintage and 

modern cards wanted. Any quantity 

considered. P. Dunn, 12 Wyndham 

Crescent, Burton upon Trent, 

Staffs DE15 0DF. Tel: 01283 845190 

EARLS COLNE, WHITE COLNE 

& COLNE ENGAINE, CHAPPEL 

& WAKES COLNE (ESSEX) 

Good R.P. cards always required 

Gerry KKelly, 

20 WWaldemar AAvenue, 

Norwich, NNR6 66TB 

Phone: 01603 417961 

E-mail: gerry.kelly@btconnect.com 

PORTLING, PORT O’WARREN - in 

Kirkcudbrightshire wanted. Brian 

Cox, Kirknewton House, Kirknewton, 

Wooler NE71 6XF or 

briancox@mythica.co.uk. 

GERMANY - All areas and subjects 

particularly aviation up to 1945. P. 

Dickerson, 20 Easson Road, Redcar, 

TS10 1HJ. 

INDEX CARD & CARDS 3 & 5 of 

series 5 Misch & Co. “The Holy 

Scriptures” Old Testament. Also 

any cards of New Testament 

Series. A. Butterick 01483 769974, 

07706 190604. Walnut Tree House, 

Kingfield Road, Woking, Surrey 

GU22 9DZ. 

SUSSEX RAILWAY STATIONS: 

Ardingly, Barcombe, East Grinstead, 

Haywards Heath, Horsted 

Keynes, Lewes, Newick & Chailey, 

Sheffield Park and West Hoathly. 

Send cards/photographs to J. 

Young, 28 The Garstons, Bookham, 

Surrey KT23 3DS. Postage refunded. 

NORFOLK AND NORWICH CINE- 

MA postcards and ephemera wanted. 

P. Yaxley, ‘Polperro’, Silfield 

Road, Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 

9AU. (Tel: 01953 603549). 

ITALY 

POSTCARDS WANTED 

also postcards of all other 

countries, world postal history 

and postmarks 

Single items, collections and 

accumulations welcome 

RICHARD GEE 

7 Brooks Malting, Kiln Lane, 

Manningtree CO11 1HP 

Tel: 01206 393682 Mobile: 

077987 48350 

email: richardgeeuk@aol.com 

FRENCH & ITALIAN anti-Kaiser 

postcards. Graham Farthing, 106 

Ashridge Way, Morden, Surrey 

SM4 4ED. 

GOOD PRICES PAID for postcards 

of Stockwood Park, Bedfordshire, 

and Stoke Edith, Herefordshire. 

Alan Hamblin, 50 Overstone Road, 

Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 5PJ. 

Tel. 01582-763571. 

ANY AIRPORTS & AIRLINE ISSUED 

PROPELLOR aircraft wanted. Mike 

Charlton, 4 South East Farm, Horsley 

NE15 0NT. Email: 

mike@aviationpostcard.co.uk or 

www.aviationpostcard.co.uk 

SALVATION ARMY postcards 

wanted. David Pickard, 1 Beauval 

Road, East Dulwich, London SE22 

8UG. Tel: 020 8693 2585. 

BOY SCOUTS/BADEN POWELL. 

(Cards, Badges, Memorabilia). 

Comic & Greetings cards of Plymouth 

area and Royal Air Force. 

Graham Brooks, 28 Rawlin Close, 

Eggbuckland, Plymouth PL6 5TF. 

Tel. 01752 774467. 

WANTED: REAL PHOTO 

POSTCARDS OF PEOPLE 

Seeking quality RP cards of 

individuals or groups: 

all classes and kinds. 

Portrait and Social History type; 

formal or informal. 

Must be postcard backed and 

British. 

No commercially published cards. 

TOM PHILLIPS 

57 TALFOURD ROAD 

LONDON SE15 5NN 

Phone 020 7701 3978 

Fax 020 7703 2800 

tom@tomphillips.co.uk 


POSTCARDS 

WANTED 

NORWICH, STACY ROAD. Postcard 

urgently wanted. Julie Jakeway. 

Tel. 01603-437411. 

DOGS wanted, any breeds considered 

but no Bonzo, Comic or Puppies, 

thanks. John Rolfe, 39 Combe 

Avenue, Blackheath, London SE3 

7PZ. 

SHROPSHIRE, CHESHIRE, 

STAFFORDSHIRE, 

WORCESTERSHIRE 

All postcards wanted 

Top prices paid for better 

and RP cards 

PHIL JONES T.P.S 

6 PASTEUR DRIVE, 

LEEGOMERY, 

TELFORD TF1 6PQ 

Tel/Fax 01952-223926 

e-mail philjo@bigfoot.com 

BULLDOGS Comic, Patriotic, Real 

Photo anything considered. 

Approvals to - G. Jennings, 4 

Henry Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham. 

Postage refunded. 

BARTON, YORKS. Cards are 

marked Barton, Yorks, or Barton, 

Darlington. Related interest, 

groups of soldiers at Catterick 

Camp. W. Robotham, 17 Marygate, 

Barton, Richmond, North Yorkshire 

DL10 6LD. Tel. 01325-377772. 

PADDY THE IRISHMAN wants any 

good quality Irish cards you have 

for sale. Paddy Macken, 10 Villa 

Park Road, Dublin 7. 

DULWICH, CAMBERWELL, CAT- 

FORD postcards wanted. David 

Pickard, 1 Beauval Road, London 

SE22 8UG. Telephone 020 8693 

2585. 

BATCHES OF INTERESTING 

UNLOCATED UK topo. Must be 

clueful and reasonably priced. 

Postage refunded. Nigel Bown, 45 

Eastern Avenue, Chippenham, 

Wiltshire SN15 3WL. 

ISLE OF MAN, 

GIBRALTAR, 

SCOOTERING. 

Quality ccards ddesired. 

MAX COLLISTER, 

20 CREGGAN LEA, 

PORT ST MARY, 

ISLE OF MAN IM9 5BE 

Tel: 001624 8832062 

HULL CITY FC postcards wanted: 

team groups, players and crowds. 

N. Turner, 21 Wolfreton Mews, 

Willerby, Hull HU10 6PW. Email: 

nichturn@yahoo.co.uk 

DISS & DISTRICT, 5 miles radius, 

especially villages of Burston, 

Shimpling, Palgrave, Dickleburgh, 

Scole, Winfarthing and Tibenham. 

Also Crested China of Diss, and 

Norfolk & Suffolk railway stations. 

D. Cross, 60 Uplands Way, Diss 

IP22 4DF. Tel. 01379-651897. 

MOELFRE, ANGLESEY postcards 

of lifeboat & crew wanted, pre- 

1945 only. Approvals, scans, 

copies. Richard Roberts, 8207 

Regency Drive, Pleasanton, CA 

94588, U.S.A. 

richwrob@gmail.com 

DAPPER JUVENILE DELIN- 

QUENTS? Dashing hooligans? 

Stylish, punky criminals? Photos? 

Negatives? (1850-1940). Mr. Hartnett, 

Brewery, 19 Brow Road, 

Haworth BD22 8LD. 

EXHIBITION CARDS wanted by collector, 

especially cards of stands 

and advertising cards, no foreign 

exhibitions wanted. Also Church 

Missionary cards, Crystal Palace, 

and topo’s for the following areas: 

Anerley, Beckenham, Elmers End, 

Hayes, Keston, Penge and West 

Wickham. Postage paid. Bill 

Tonkin, 23 Bramley Way, West 

Wickham, Kent BR4 9NT. 

MALE FASHION 

Photographic 1870 - 1950 

Tintypes? Cabinets? CDVs? 

Real photo postcards? Quality 

silver gelatin photographs? 

Private collector seeks sharp, 

clear images depicting changing 

male fashions - tailoring 

styles, hairstyle trends, ‘looks’. 

From casual (farm/factory/occupational 

workwear and sportswear) 

to traditional/formal 

(‘suited and booted’, starched 

collars, bow ties, top hat ‘n’ 

tails, fancy dress, ‘eccentrics’). 

No commercially published 

visuals, please. 

Approvals welcome and dealt 

with promptly, postage 

refunded. 

Mr Paul Hartnett, The Old 


Haworth, Yorkshire, BD22 8LD 

Questions? Tel: 01535 646 985 

or via 

hartnettnow@yahoo.com. 

Postcards of GHOSTS or 

HAUNTED PLACES 

required by serious 

collector - must either 

show apparition or text 

refer to haunting 

No Halloween, comic or 

Cornish Litany please 

Also looking for GWR 

‘Legendland’ series 

Approvals welcomed and 

dealt with promptly, 

postage refunded 

G.M Wheeldon, 

9 Ashtree Court, Feltham 

Hill Road, Ashford, 

Middlesex TW15 2BU 

Tel: 01784 246399 (eve) 

RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHS, POST- 

CARDS, EPHEMERA, books and 

relics required. N.J. Bridger, The 

Warren, Curridge, Newbury, Berkshire 

RG18 9DN. Tel: 01635 200507. 

(T). 

LITERATURE 

QUANTITY OF PPM back numbers 

early 1990s available. Contact Peter 

on 0208-300-3705. 

CARTES POSTALES ET COLLEC- 

TION, the French magazine for 

postcard collectors, costs £5.30 inc 

postage. CARD TIMES is the regular 

monthly magazine for cigarette 

card collectors. Current issue and 

back numbers £3.05 each (inc. 

postage). Reflections, 15 Debdale 

Lane, Keyworth, Nottingham 

NG12 5HT. 

PICTURE POSTCARD ANNUAL 

2010 is now available at £4.75 plus 

postage, with an up to date directory 

of dealers, fair organisers, 

auctions etc plus lots of features 

and articles, and a list of important 

2010 postcard fairs. On sale from 

your favourite dealer or direct from 

the publishers at 15 Debdale Lane, 

Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5HT 

(postage £1 UK, £3 Europe, £5.50 

rest of world) 


view or something 

to say? Write to 

PPM 

Postbag! 


POSTCARDS 

FOR SALE 

12,000 UK POSTCARDS 

for sale as one lot, unsorted. 

They are part of a large 

collection of cards accumulated 

over 38 years by rare bookseller 

Anah Dunsheath in Auckland. 

If any dealer has connections 

with New Zealand, maybe 

visiting for holiday, please get in 

touch to view. 

ALSO for sale in lots. 

4600 EUROPEAN POSTCARDS 

1500 USA 500 SOUTH AFRICAN 

anah@xtra.co.nz 

Tel. ++64 21 934 016 

or P.O. Box 4181, Auckland 1140 

New Zealand 

LISTS. Topographical - England, 

Ireland, Wales, Channel Islands. 

Detailed lists including condition. 

Please state interests and send 

SAE. Ken Simson, 14 Old Farm 

Road East, Sidcup, DA15 8AE. 

barandshe@clara.co.uk BARRY 

WRIGHT - part exchange vintage 

postcards & coins. www.barandshe.clara.net 

EBAY SELLER: 

GLOBALHISTORY 

BARGAIN BUNDLES! 20 postcards 

for £7 inc. post; A-Z of Counties, 

Foreign, Subject & Moderns available. 

Send SAE for sales list. Tom 

Carr, 8 Church Road, Thorrington, 

Essex CO7 8HH. Tel. 01206 250881. 

20 GENUINE OLD DONALD 

McGILL POSTCARDS £15 inc. post; 

also Bamforths, Pedro, Mike, Xerxes, 

Trow, Flip, Wilkins and many 

other saucy Sixties postcards 50p 

each. Eric Kent, 8 The Croft, 

Flitwick, Bedfordshire MK45 1DL. 

Tel. 01525-752222. 

VINTAGE POSTCARDS FOR 

SALE 

Visit my online shop at 

http://alfapostcards.com 

1000’s still to list 

Colin Williams 

31 Rivington Drive 

Burscough, Lancashire L40 7RN 

01704-895056 

FAIRS 

NOTTINGHAM Postcard, Cigarette 

Card & Ephemera Fair at Harvey 

Hadden Sports Centre, Wigman 

Road, Bilborough, Nottingham. 

Sunday 7th February 2010 from 

10am to 5pm. 50+ postcard dealers 

including moderns specialists. 

Postcard display competition.. 

Admission £1 (to ‘Children in 

Need’. Contact Reflections on 0115 

937 4079 or see our website 

www.postcardcollecting.co.uk for 

more details and locator map. 

Try aa PPPM Classified! 

WEB SITES 

barrywright@clara.co.uk BARRY 

WRIGHT - part exchange vintage 

postcards & coins. 

www.barandshe.clara.net 

PAT HOLTON (PH TOPICS). Give 

Moderns a Go! 

www.phtopics.clara.net 

FOR A SELECTION of quality topographical 

and photographic postcards 

visit 

www.footstepspostcards.co.uk 


WRIGHT - part exchange postcards, 

covers, postal history - sent 

on approval. 


*Oldpostcards.com* 

All Topics - take 

advantage of weak US 

Dollar, Buy 

Oldpostcards.com 

Email: alan@oldpostcards.com 

Accept: Credit Cards, Paypal, 

Western Union 

POSTCARDENMARK 

Vintage Quality Postcards 

www.delcampe.net/stores/postcardenmark 

PIPWICK’S CHURCH POSTCARD 

SHOP now on ebay.co.uk with over 

40,000 church postcards also available 

directly from Pip Barker. Send 

wants list to: g992barker@btinternet.com 

or phone 07778-560241. 

www.internetpostcards.co.uk 

UK topographical sales, approvals, 

wanted lists. Auction lots bought. 

Website updated weekly. 

www.postcardworld.co.uk 

Visit Postcard World for many surprises. 

We have thousands of vintage 

subject and UK topographical 

cards on offer here on our site. All 

of our cards are illustrated for your 

interest and information and we 

trust that this will add to your 

enjoyment of Postcard World. 

Please browse around and hopefully 

you will find something of 

interest. Our website is updated 

weekly so bookmark us and visit 

regularly 

Deryk and Brenda Whitfield 

5 Gipsy Close 

Balsall Common, West Midlands 

CV7 7FU 

www.postcardworld.co.uk 

DALKEITH POSTCARDS for Railway 

and Shipping see:www.dalkeithpostcards.co.uk 

M.E.P. POSTCARDS. www.meppostcards.co.uk. 

Modern specialists. 

www.ukpostcards.com 

POSTCARDENMARK. Vintage 

quality postcards. 

www.stores.ebay.co.uk/postcardenmark 

Scotland starts November 

www.Postcards-for-Sale.com 

8,500 images of Great Britain 

with details and prices. 

Art cards listed by number 

Sylvia/John Jones 

On-line daily for queries 

www.grbcollectables.com 

www.carlton-antiques.com 

www.peterspostcards.co.uk for 

interesting and unusual old paper 

collectables.

SHOPS 

PAGE POSTCARDS 

at HUNGERFORD ARCADE 

Only 5 minutes from the M4 

(Junction 14) 

A constantly of UK, 

Foreign and Subject 

postcards - also some stamps, 

postal history and ephemera. 

20% ddiscount oon 

purchases oover ££50 

HUNGERFORD ARCADE 

(Unit 7) 26 HIGH STREET 

HUNGERFORD 

BERKSHIRE RG17 0NF 

Opening TTimes: 

Monday to Friday - 9.15 to 5.30 

Saturday - 9.15 till 6.00 

Sunday - 11.00 till 5.00 

Sunny EASTBOURNE 

has a Collectors’ Shop, 

trading in a wide range 

of collectables. 

Over 40,000 

OLD POSTCARDS 

always in stock. Also stamps, 

coins & medals, cigarette cards, 

toys, silver, ephemera 

SORRY NO APPROVALS 

Open Tues and Sat 10 - 5 

Other times by appointment 

“FRANCOIS” 

26 South Street, 

Eastbourne, Sussex 

Tel: (01323) 644464 

(Home) 01323-646694 after 6 pm 

POSTCARDS 

CIGARETTE CARDS 

BOOKS PRINTS 

STAMPS ACCESSORIES 

GRAHAM LEADLEY 

LITTLE PERFORATIONS 

59 HIGH ROAD 

WORMLEY, HERTS EN10 6JJ 

01992-467631 

Over 35 years at this address 

OPEN WEEKENDS 

Please ring first if travelling any 

distance 

AUTOGRAPHS 

ILLUSTRATED BI-MONTHLY 

AUTOGRAPH SALES LIST issued 

in aid of Children in Hunger. Send 

SAE for a copy to L. Marchant, 40 

Cornard Road, Sudbury, Suffolk 

CO10 2XA. 

WEB SITES 

SHOPS APPROVALS 

COLLECTABLES YARD. Books, 

ephemera, photos, prints, postcards 

on all subjects plus bric-abrac. 

De Silva, 2B Stockport Road, 

Cheadle SK8 2AA. Tel. 0161- 

4832086 or 07950-547243. 

PcPostcards 

We have now re-located 

Our premises are now at the 

side of The Foley Hotel 

CARLTON ANTIQUES 

R/O 12 Worcester Road, 

Foley Bank, MALVERN, 

Worcestershire WR14 4QU 

(open weekends and afternoons) 

Parking at rear on weekends 

only (Tel: 01684 573092) 

Cig ccards, BBooks, CChina, 

Dinky TToys eetc 

Over 5000 cards on our Website 

www.Pcpostcards.co.uk 

We specialise in Web Site Sales: 

Site updated every week 

Overseas Customers Especially 

Welcome 

(Ebay Trader - PcPostcards) 

FOSTERS OF FILEY 

When visiting the East Coast 

please call in for:- Postcards, 

Stamps, Postal History, FDC’s 

and small collectables 

28 BELLE VUE STREET, 

FILEY, NORTH 

YORKSHIRE YO14 9HY 

01723 514433 

Open Mon, Tues, Fri, Sat 

WARWICK ANTIQUE 

CENTRE 

22 HIGH ST., 

WARWICK CV34 4AP 

Comprehensive range of 

25,000 + postcards 

Good stocks of Coins, Banknotes, 

Cigarette Cards, FDCs, 

accessories, including postcard 

cases etc 

Buy, sell, exchange 

Mon-Sat 10am-5pm 

01926 491382 

ORIGINAL 

ARTWORK 

WANTED: ORIGINAL COMIC 

POSTCARD ARTWORK by the likes 

of Pedro, Taylor, Fitzpatrick & 

McGill etc. Top prices paid by private 

collector. Call David on 01903 

234432 or 07961 795333. 

Don’t miss out on a single 

copy of PPM - take 

out a subscription or 

place a regular order 

with your supplier 



MONTHLY WHEN 

REPLYING TO 

ADVERTISERS 

Looking for vintage old postcards? 

Please visit our online shop 

www.hoogeduinpostcards.com 

Jac. Verloop, Schoolstraat 1, 2202 HC Noordwijk, 

The Netherlands 

Tel: +31 71 3617568 


WRIGHT - part exchange postcards, 

covers, postal history - sent 

on approval. 


NEW APPROVAL SERVICE. All categories 

and subjects. Postcards, 

photos and prints, books and 

ephemera. Wants list to Collectables 

Yard, Rear of 2B Stockport 

Road, Cheadle SK8 2AA. Tel. 0161- 

483-2086 or 07950-547243 

(evenings). 

APPROVALS SERVICE for 

� ALL SUBJECTS FROM 

ACTRESSES TO ZOOs 

� UK TOPO, including topo art. 

NO MODERNS. NO FOREIGN. 

Send your wants list to 

Mike Pearl 

10 Peter’s Close 

Prestbury 

Macclesfield SK10 4JQ 

EPHEMERA 

POSTCARDS, 

EPHEMERA, BOOKS 

Send for latest free catalogue 

which includes a large section 

of British topographical 

postcards or see web site 

www.paperbygones.co.uk 

PAPER BYGONES 

PO BOX 4443, 

BOURNEMOUTH BH5 1ZX 

Tel: 01202 302842 

AUCTIONS 

FOR THE DALKEITH AUCTIONS 

CATALOGUE please go to 

www.dalkeithcatalogue.com. If 

you are not on the net and would 

like a copy of our monthly auction 

catalogue phone 01202 292905. 

LODDON AUCTIONS. Long established 

May and Nov/Dec auctions, 

regularly with 600+ lots comprising 

a wide range of printed material. 

Catalogues £3 by post. Entries 

invited. Enquiries to G. Arkell, 39 

Falmouth Road, Reading, Berks 

RG2 8QR. Tel: 0118 9611915 

(evenings). 

MODERNS 

WANTED 

TEDS? MODS? ROCKERS? Skinheads? 

Prints? Negatives? Mr. Hartnett, 


Haworth BD22 8LD. 

MODERNS 

FOR SALE 

MINT STANDARD SIZE from 

1960s/70s: Tom Browne Nurses 

reprints, Medici (Children, Artists, 

Salmon, Rural), Maps etc. SAE for 

list. Ruthven 01708-760049. 

M.E.P. POSTCARDS 

(Moderns) 

John & Margaret Pearsall 

Most Subjects Stocked - Lists 

Available 

Free Monthly Stock Additions List 

Fairs Attended - Refer to Website 

or Contact Direct 

34, Franche Road, Wolverley, 

Kidderminster, Worcs DY11 5TP 

Tel: (01562) 850915 

E-mail: mail@mep-postcards.co.uk 

Website: www.mep-postcards.co.uk 

POSTMARKS 

POSTMARKS 

WANTED 

Stamp, Postcard & Postal History 

Dealers urgently require English, 

Welsh, Scots postmarks on cards/ 

envelopes for re-sale to collectors. 

Must be clear impressions: 

Squared Circles, Duplexes, 

R.S.O.’s especially wanted. 

Highest prices paid, send for our offer. 

BAY STAMPS 

Nigel Davidson 

Freepost, Rogart, 

Sutherland IV28 3BR 

Tel. 01408-641747 

Contributors aand aadvertisers 

aare aadvised tthat tthe 

January 22010 eedition oof 

PICTURE PPOSTCARD 

MONTHLY wwill bbe ppublished 

oon DDecember 220th. 

Deadline ffor ccopy iis 

December 110th. 

HOSPISCARE CHARITY (reg no. 297798) 

This month’s sale of bargain packs of modern 

cards include 

(1) Pack of 50 UK/IRELAND MAPS (all different) @ £5.00 

(2) Pack of 50 MALDIVES (mixed used/unused) @ £7.50 

(3) Pack of 50 DISNEY (faces and places, all different) @ £5.00 

(4) Pack of 50 (ART UNLIMITED) unused, all different, new from 

Holland @ £5.00 

(5) Pack of 100 SHROPSHIRE @ £5.00 

(6) Pack of 100 FRITH old and new @ £5.00 

(7) Pack of 500 WILTSHIRE (heavy in tourist areas) @ £7.50 

(8) Pack of 500 NORFOLK (GOLDEN AGE SIZE) @ £20.00 

(9) Pack of 100 NEW ZEALAND (mixed used/unused) @ £5.00 

(10) Pack of 100 HORSES @ £7.50 

(11) Pack of 500 U.S.A. (golden age size) @ £10.00 

(12) Pack of 100 BOOMERANG (all different), (many out of print) 

@ £1.00 

(13) Pack of 100 FOREIGN FREECARDS (all different) @ £1.00 

(14) FULL SALES LIST FREE OF CHARGE 

(15) UNWANTED/UNLOVED (1-1000) no charge except for 

postage 

Invoices will be sent with orders and postage/packing 

added. Order from Alan Nethercott at P.O.Box 268, EXETER 

EX2 9ZS or telephone/telex 07800 841 816 or email nethercott.postcards@totalise.co.uk. 

Single cards available on 

approval. Please ask for details. 


In essence this 

is a tourist’s 

view of Wales, 

which after all is 

part of what picture 

postcards 

have always 

been about. The 

author begins 

with pageants 

and patriotism, 

showing Welsh 

wizard Lloyd 

George before 

moving on to 

Welsh women 

in national costume 

and a gen- 

erous 19 pages of comic 

postcards. Then we travel to 

the various parts of Wales 

and a succession of touristy 

postcards. In truth, the 

selection is fairly predictable, 

with few examples 

of what postcard collectors 

call ‘gems’, but then these 

are not the cards the general 

public might empathise 

with or buy a book of. To 

the bookshop browser, a 

card of Llandudno’s Great 

Orme and Happy Valley 

would strike a more familiar 

chord than a real photographic 

animated back 

street of downtown Rhyl. 

There are postcards of 

South Wales industry, but 

that is part of outsiders’ 

perceptions of early 20th 

century Wales. Having said 

that, it would have been 

nice to have found a bit 

more information about the 

card publishers or artists in 

the captions (my pet gripe!). 

In all, a pleasant tour of 

Wales - but hang on - there 

are no cards of rugby or 

singing? What’s going on? - 

B.L. 

* ISBN 978 1 84868 303 7. 96pp. 

£12.99. Amberley Publishing, 

Cirencester Road, Stroud, Glos 

GL6 8PE. 

Military photographs and 

� Books � how to date them (Neil OBITUARY 

Wales in the Golden Age of Picture Postcards (David 

Gwynn) sounds a pretty daunting challenge. How to 

cover a large country in one 96-page volume and 

under 200 postcards? Nevertheless, in this recentlypublished 

book from Amberley Publishing, David 

has a good stab at putting across Welshness through 

the medium of postcards, all in full colour or sepia. 

His aim, he says in the introduction, is to “examine 

the range of postcards that were sold in Wales in the 

early years of the 20th century”. 

The NORTH WALES club 

enormously enjoyed a talk 

from auctioneer David 

Rogers-Jones. He focused 

on social history and 

notable bills (like the 1946 

bill for a week’s treatment 

and maintenance at Bangor 

Hospital, £6-7s-3d) and 

confessed himself a ‘nos- 

Welshness: the lady and the bridge on 

card ref. 31 published by ETW Dennis of 

Scarborough. The artist was Warren 

Williams 

Clubscene extra 

NORTH-WEST KENT 

enjoyed a talk and 

slideshow by Tony Farnham 

on ‘The Romance of London’s 

River’. He featured 

barges, people and places 

on the Thames starting 

from Shoeburyness and 

ending at Sonning. Tony 

worked on the sailing 

barges when he was a 

young man and so has firsthand 

knowledge of life for 

those working the barges. 

CANTERBURY & EAST 

KENT’s AGM was an upbeat 

affair, with chairman Roger 

Stone in optimistic mood, 

and all officers returned for 

another year. Then guest 

speaker Douglas Chapman 

gave the club an insight into 

lesser-known aspects of 

Canterbury Cathedral. 

These included the curious 

story of murdered Archbishop 

Thomas Becket’s 

remains. 

� Tim Ward of Put The 

Clock back postcard fame 

launched his latest book at 

both Ross-on-Wye and 

Presteigne last month. Entitled 

Roses around the door? 

the book looks at rural 

images of Herefordshire 

from 1830-1930. Naturally, 

postcard images loom large 

- of harvesting and hoppicking, 

cidermaking and 

cattle breeding, blacksmiths, 

beekeepers and 

basket-makers. Tim has 

done painstaking research 

to unearth the stories 

behind the pictures and also 

charts the history of the 

agricultural unions. 


Storey) is published by 

Countryside Books. So 

many postcard collectors 

look for military cards, 

either as a regimental or 

war interest, or as part of 

family history research, 

but find that many photos 

of groups or individuals 

are uncaptioned or 

unidentified. At last a book 

has come along that could 

save them time and trouble 

in unearthing the origins 

of some of those frustratingly 

anonymous postcards. 

The author, a Military 

and Social Historian 

of 25 years’ experience, 

offers advice on how to 

identify military uniforms, 

ranks, badges, insignia, 

medals and equipment, 

and because he specifically 

covers the period 1870- 

1940, the information is 

particularly relevant to the 

postcard scene. A wealth 

of photos, many taken 

from postcards, guides 

the reader through the 

complexities of soldierspotting, 

with big sections 

on the Edwardian era and 

the First World War. Many 

are naturally from studio 

or army camp photographers, 

and fortunately the 

participants in these situations 

normally showed off 

their uniforms proudly 

and prominently, to make 

identification easier. Neil 

Storey’s detailed text 

explains the nuances of 

dress and insignia in this 

very useful publication. - 

B.L. 

* ISBN 978 1 84674 152 4. 

192pp softback, £12.99. Countryside 

Books, Highfield 

House, 2 Highfield Avenue, 

Newbury, Berkshire RG14 

5DS. 

Special rreader ooffer: 

Countryside Books, the publishers, 

are offering copies 

of MILITARY PHO- 

TOGRAPHS & HOW TO 

DATE THEM to Picture Postcard 

Monthly readers at a 

special price of £10.99 - £2 

off the cover price of £12.99 

- inclusive of postage and 

packing. 

If you would like a 

copy, please print your 

name, address and the title 

of the book you want clearly 

on a sheet of paper and 

send it with a cheque 

(payable to Countryside 

Books) to Picture Postcard 

Monthly Offer, Countryside 

Books, 2 Highfield Avenue, 

Newbury, Berkshire RG14 

5DS. Tel: Newbury (01635) 

43816 - e-mail address: 

info@countrysidebooks.co. 

uk 

tagia nutter’. Right: investigating the military 

with Neil Storey 

Ron Linsdell, long-standing 

supporter of 

Northamptonshire Postcard 

Club and a former 

mayor of the town, has 

died at the age of 80. He 

was a councillor for 25 

years. Ron worked for a 

postcard printing and publishing 

firm in Northampton, 

and collected postcards 

of the town and 

county, along with many 

other interesting subjects. 

John signs off 

John Gent, speaker at 

CROYDON Postcard Club 

last month, told his audience 

that he had been giving 

talks on local history 

and postcard-related subjects 

for over 50 years! This 

was to be, however, his 

final presentation. He 

showed over 200 social history 

postcards from his 

10,000-strong local collection, 

including fires and fire 

brigades, railways and railway 

accidents, buses, 

trams, motor and steam 

vehicles, portraits, adverts, 

comic cards, pubs, cafes, 

hotels, military parades, 

brass bands, sports groups 

and suffragette meetings. 

There were also several 

cards of Croydon Lifeboat 

Day Carnival in 1908 which 

attracted thousands of 

spectators and included 

lifeboats from Eastbourne 

and Southend. It was not 

clear what would have happened 

in either of these two 

towns had there been an 

emergency at sea! 

* A profile of John Gent’s 

amazing postcard life 

appeared in PPM in April 

2006. 

�� Nottingham Postcard 

Club member John Atherton 

won the Gerry Weston 

Cup at the annual Military 

Historical Society Exhibition 

in Farnham with a display of 

Royal Marine badges.

Picture Postcard 

� Puzzles � 

Another selection of puzzles for you to identify, all on 

picture postcards sent in by readers. If you know the 

location, tell us (write, fax, email or phone) and give 

yourself the chance of a prize. First authentic identification 

of each puzzle wins you a choice of: pack of modern 

social history cards, a free classified ad in PPM 

(max. 25 words), a Reflections pen, one of the Yesterday’s 

series of books based on old postcards, or a set of 

Reflections Postcard Centenary cards (state which 

you’d like when writing). 

If you have a postcard (or cards) you’d like identified, 

send in, enclosing two first-class or three secondclass 

stamps per card submitted (for administration 

costs). List any identifiable clues on a separate piece of 

paper, and write your name in pencil on the back of the 

postcard. Email scans/photocopies not accepted. 

Address for all correspondence: PPM, 15 Debdale Lane, 

Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5HT. 

368/1 Does anyone recognise this street scene of terraced 

houses, with a tram wending its way downhill? (Mark 

Bown collection) 

November 

results 

Brian Lowther 

identified 367/1 as 

a hotel just outside 

Conwy in 

North Wales, 

close to the Sychnant 

pass. The 

Oakwood Park 

Hotel (right) was 

built in the 1930s and used as a school during World 

war Two (Brian was there!). It is now a complex of 

country residences. Chris Jackson was first to place 

367/3 as Beoley, near Redditch, while Terry Blud located 

367/4 as Hadley, Shropshire. The area is now part of 

Telford New Town and the pub on the postcard demolished 

in 1961. Peter Kennedy reckoned 367/7 was Bearwood, 

Birmingham, while 367/8 was recognised by 

Nigel Bown as Birchington-on-Sea. The arch on 367/15 

was erected in Sheffield for the Royal visit of 12 July 

1905 (King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), Mark Bailey 

told us. Finally, Gerald Lamont was quickest to spot 

367/19 as Fakenham, looking down Bridge Street from 

the Market Place. Still plenty to identify from last month 

- have another look! 

From October, Alf Carney placed 366/20 as the 

Cerebos Salt Factory at Greatham, near Hartlepool - it 

produced Cerebos and Saxo salt as well as Bisto gravy. 

Contributors aand aadvertisers aare aadvised tthat tthe 

January 22010 eedition oof PPICTURE PPOSTCARD 

MONTHLY wwill bbe ppublished oon DDecember 220th. 

Deadline ffor ccopy iis DDecember 110th. 

368/2 This postcard features a service by a war memorial 

in a churchyard. Where? (Nigel Bown collection) 

368/3 The banner on top of the high-flying decoration 

appears to read ‘Mission Bridge...’ .The cobbled street is 

on a steep hill, too (Colin McLean collection) 

368/4 (above) This 

postcard of Jacques’ 

Family Hotel was published 

in Reed’s Pictorial 

series. Can someone 

give us the location? 

(Peter Snartt 

collection) 

368/5 (left) A Singer 

sewing shop is on 

the corner of this 

distinctively-architectured 

street in 

the 1930s, with the 

shops of Leo and 

A. Butler & Co. to 

its left (Doug Forton 

collection) 


368/6 Traction engine action on this card of Newbiggin 

Rectory. Which of many Newbiggins is this? (Mick Liversedge 

collection) 

368/7 Gloverson’s Ales were on offer at the “Park Hotel”. 

Where? (Barrie Rollinson collection) 

368/8 Can anyone identify this attractive village scene, 

complete with pond? (John Chesworth collection) 

368/9 There are lots of 

Whitchurches, too, so we need to know which one 

this is. The card was posted at Kilburn in June 1914 (D. 

Sandland collection) 


368/10 Here’s an attractive rural panormaic topographical, 

with clues in the church tower and the distinctive range of 

hills in the background (Verna Palmer collection) 

368/11 

St. Lawrence Schools, Cowley 

- clear enough, but many Cowleys exist. Which is this? 

(Julian Dunn collection) 

368/12 (above) The 

Rev. S. Whitehead 

was the minister at 

this new Wesleyan 

Chapel somewhere 

(Tom Norgate collection) 

368/13 (left) Worth 

& Son ran a 

music shop and 

cafe - and the 

shop next door 

sold postcards 

and fancy goods 

(Andrew Swift 

collection)

Picture Postcard 

� Puzzles � 

368/16 

Does this street scene ring a 

bell with anyone?(Gerald Wright collection) 

368/14 The “Lion Hotel” 

stood behind this 

impressive war memorial. 

Where?(Len Whittaker 

collection) 

368/15 

(below) 

Where was 

Moxon’s 

milliners’ 

shop at no. 

130?(Derek 

Hurst collection) 

368/17 Peace celebrations at Milton in July 1919 outside 

the “.... Arms” pub which sold Young’s Noted Ales (Brian 

Clutterbuck collection) 

Children in Need Postcards 

All proceeds to BBC Children in Need appeal 

1990 Pudsey Bear & Friends (Rosalind Wicks) out of stock 

1992 Not all kids have a colourful life (Frank Burridge)40p 

1993 Maybe Robin Hood can fix me up (John Green) 40p 

1993 Poverty St (John Green) o/s 

1993 Teddy Bears & Money Boxes no. 2 (R. Wicks) o/s 

1996 ...and these little piggies (Michael O’Brien) 40p 

1996 Pudsey & Building Blocks (Boomerang) o/s 

1997 Girl & Pudsey Bear (Brian Partidge) 40p 

1998 Wishing you the best of health (Rosalind Wicks) o/s 

1999 Join in the fun (BBC) o/s 

1999 To make a donation please call (BBC) o/s 

1999 Remember remember (BBC) o/s 

1999 Pudsey Bear and building blocks (BBC) o/s 

2000 Girl, Teddy Bear & Doll (Brian Partridge) 40p 

2000 Boy & Football (Thought Factory) 40p 

2001 Teddy Bears & Money Boxes no. 

20 (R. Wicks) o/s 

2002 Art Class (Rupert Besley) 

50p (signed copies £1.50) 

2003 Offence to impersonate (Terry 

Irvine) 50p 

2004 Posting my donation (Rosalind 

Wicks) 50p 

2006 Children in New Brighton (Martin 

Parr) (2) 50p each 

2007 Whose bright idea? (Terry Irvine) 

50p 

2009 Pudsey in Wonderland (Brian 

Partridge) 50p 

(signed copies £1.50) 

Order from: Reflections of a Bygone 

Age, 15 Debdale Lane, 

Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5HT 

Please mmake ccheques ppayable tto: 

Reflections ‘‘Children iin NNeed’ 

Appeal 


National Motorcycle Museum Solihull B92 0EJ 

POSTCARDS & CIGARETTE CARDS 


Hello Playmates, Here We Are Again...... 

10am the curtain rises - your cast list is as follows 

Peter’s Postcards 

Simon Smith 

Rosalie Postcards 

Mike Tarrant 

Picture Postcard Co. 

Barry Davis 

John Ashford 

R.F. Postcards 

Terry Powell 

Maxam Cards 

Birmingham 

Stamp 

Auctions 

David Benson 

David Calvert 

Rob Roy 

(accessories) 

David Walker 

Mary Wheeler 

Reflections of a 

Bygone Age 

Melanie 

Mordsley 

Mike Pearl 

Derek Garvey 

John Priestley (autographs) 

Mike Heard* 

Julian Dunn 

Ted Gerry 

Christine Booth 

Derek Warry 

A.M.P. Fairs 

Geoff McMillan* 

Vicki Greenwood 

Jack Stasiak 

Geoff Ellis 

Tracy Powell 

Blue Bridge Postcards 

Mike Cremin 

Paul Willmott 

Peter Robards 

Gordon Collier 

Mark Bown 

Andrew Reid 

Greg Pos 

Pat Morriss 

Final curtain 5pm 

Full ccatering, llarge ccar ppark 

Admission ££1.50 

Peter & Simon look 

forward to 

seeing you all 

Mike Huddy (moderns) 

Simon Rapstoff 

Peter Lincoln 

Elm Postcards 

Ron Holmes 

Ray Jones 

Andrew George 

Mike Cant 

Neil Parkhouse 

Andrew Swift 

David Seddon 

Richard Flavell 

Ian & Lynne Hurst 

Derek & Jean Garrod 

John Ryan 

David Lapworth 

Jim Jackson (postcards & 

cigarette cards) 

Andrew Dally 

Ephemera Warehouse 

Bill Kirkland 

Phil Vass 

Keith Irwin 

Chris Vaughan-Jones 

Chris Bates 

Ann Gray 

Mike & Sharon Bennett 

Mike Clark 

G & C Cards 

George Nairn 

* Cigarette cards 

Next yyear’s ddates aat tthis vvenue: 

Sunday 11th July 


DETAILS 

SIMON COLLYER 

01283-820151 mobile 07966-565151 

PETER ROBARDS 

01588-640474

Christmas special: Postcard Stockings galore! - Picture Postcard ...

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