Postcard Mania

Thomas Stevens Ltd

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:17:43 +0000

Originally a ribbon weaver, Thomas Stevens was born in Coventry in 1828. He learned his craft at Pears and Franklin in Upper Well Street. By 1854 he had managed to save enough to set himself up in business in Queen Street - eventually moving to Cox Street. Initially bookmarks were his stock-in-trade, although he soon expanded into making Valentine along with Christmas and Birthday cards. By the time of the Post Office's relaxation of the rules relating to postcards, the company was able to also move into this market also.

Thomas Stevens died in 1888 when the ownership of the business passed to his son, Thomas Inger Stevens. When he died in 1908 the business became a limited company. Production continued in Coventry up until 1940 when the factory was destroyed by German bombs.

woven silk castle Pierrefonds Stevengraph postcard

1 Bid

£9.99

3d 9h 41m

STEVENGRAPH WOVEN SILK POSTCARD CUNARD LINE RMS LUCANIA

0 Bid

£29.99

3d 11h 27m

Silk Stevengraph SS Celtic White Star Line 1908

6 Bids

£14.17

4d 19h 7m

For more information on Thomas Stevens Ltd, why not visit www.stevengraphs.com.

On the Beach

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:20:07 +0000

Ah Blackpool, the bracing air, the salty sea spray...

On the Beach

via Blackpool Postcards by Antony Cutler on 04/08/10

A carte de viste from 1864 showing the crew and lifeboat on the beach A selection of postcards showing people on the beach Punch & Judy show. c.1905 Ventriloquist with a large crowd watching. c.1904 A nice beach scene from 1905 A busy beach scene from 1906 showing the boat men taking people out to the boats A scene of children paddling [...]

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Cork, Ireland

Postcards From The Web — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:05:12 +0000

Shared by Simon
Although I've never been (and consequently don't have the Blarney) my sister has and she tells me that this is a fine day out if you're in the area.

Well, until not so long ago I used to classify Ireland in the 'rare countries'...but now, one way or another, I got a number of postcards from there, so I could use them more often here :)

The card shows the Blarney Castle, which is situated 7 km from Cork City. The Castle is famous for its Stone, which has the traditional power of conferring eloquence on all who kiss it. The word "Blarney" has found its way into the English Language and has been described as pleasant talk, intended to deceive without offending. The famous Stone is set in the wall below the battlements, and to kiss it, one has to lean backwards (grasping the iron railing) from the parapet walk.

Yeah, nothing good comes easy ;)

Have a great day and see you soon hopefully!

US-742564

Postcards From The Web — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:46:00 +0000

This impressive building is the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

US-742564, sent by Meg.

"The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books.

The Library of Congress was established by Congress in 1800, and was housed in the Unites States Capitol for most of the 19th century. After much of the original collection had been destroyed during the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold 6487 books, his entire personal collection, to the library in 1815.After a period of decline during the mid-19th century the Library of Congress began to grow rapidly in both size and importance after the American Civil War, culminating in the construction of a separate library building and the transference of all copyright deposit holdings to the Library. During the rapid expansion of the 20th century the Library of Congress assumed a preeminent public role, becoming a "library of last resort" and expanding its mission for the benefit of scholars and the American people.

The Library's primary mission is researching inquiries made by members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service; although it is open to the public, only legislators, Supreme Court justices and other high-ranking government officials may check out books. As the de facto national library, the Library of Congress promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book and Poet Laureate." - in: wikipedia

The Big Wheel

Postcards From The Web — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:48:57 +0000

The Wheel, the Gigantic Wheel, the Big Wheel , the Great Wheel and the Jolly Wheel are some of the names given to this huge attraction. Open on the 22nd August 1896. Early court card dated 1899 A brilliant view from Adelaide Street of the Big Wheel with the Tower in the background. The advertisement for [...]

Identify Crime/Robbery Related RPPC

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:33:37 +0000

This is a wonderful postcard. It's a real curiosity - it probably is a crime scene, but whether it's a crime of robbery or passion is perhaps moot. Anyway, as one of the contributors suggests, I reckon that the bloke in the bottom right hand corner IS the self same chap in the picture amongst the collection of things in the bottom left hand pane.

Identify Crime/Robbery Related RPPC

via PostcardCollector.org - Vintage Postcard Forum - Blog Feed by PostcardCollector on 5/19/10

It took me a minute to figure out what was going on in this multiview real photo postcard. It's a robbery crime scene including victim, recovered valuables & search party with bloodhounds! Is that the criminal in the lower right and maybe the house where to loot was recovered?
I would love to know the full story behind this postcard but it isn't identified as to location in any way. This is a real photo with AZO postcard back, other than that, the back is blank and the card is unused.

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“Your L.S.D. Will Make Men Free.”

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:01:01 +0000

This just goes to show what fascinating documents postcards are. They can offer such a wealth of information for the historian, professional or amateur. And it's not just the images depicted on them. No, in the case of this card it's the message on the back - L.S.D. referring of course(!) to the pre decimalisation British currency of pounds (L or £); Shillings (S) and Pence (D from the Latin Denarii). And the freedom? Well it's a WWII era postcard...

"Your L.S.D. Will Make Men Free."

via PostcardCollector.org - Vintage Postcard Forum - Blog Feed by Randy on 5/9/10

The first scan shows a view of Elizabethan houses in London's central Holborn district. This WW2-era Tuck's card itself is rather unremarkable, but there's a slogan on the rear of the card (shown on the second scan) that at first seemed very odd to me -- "Your L.S.D. will make men free." Surely the respected, "Fine Art Publishers to their Majesties the King & Queen and Her Majesty Queen Mary" wouldn't include a seemingly pro-psychedelic drug slogan on the rear of their postcards!

After a little research I learned that L.S.D. is not only the acronym for the psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (first synthesized in 1938), but also for "Librae Solidi Denarii," a shorthand version to indicate England's pre-decimal currencies of pounds, shillings, and pence. The "L" stands for the Roman basic unit of weight (libra), from which the British currency sign, or "pound sign"...

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Transport postcards

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:48:19 +0000

Wheels in Edwardian times were still mostly horse-drawn. Imagine, you hear the sound of a fire engine's bells, followed immediately by the clatter of 8, 16 who knows how many hooves. Motorised public transport wasn't commonplace until the 1914-18 period. There were some ambulances, as supplied by the Wolseley Car Company and these appeared in British cities between 1906-07. There are examples of these which do appear on postcards.

Of course there were some cars. As Prince of Wales, Edward VII received his first Daimler in 1900 and there are scarce postcards featuring him and it. Of course his cousin Kaiser Wilhelm would also have been so endowed, so there must be postcards out there featuring him and his cars.

By 1910 there were a few small motorised buses and some of these found their way onto postcards. However, Britian was just waking up to the fact of electrified trams at this time too, so there are examples of these on postcards. Of course, horse-drawn transport and almost all trams have long since disappeared, so postcards featuring them are popular ones for the modern collector.

Rare postcard Scrap Car King Charlie Trent Poole Dorset

5 Bids

£5.52

1h 9m

1930 BENTLEY CAR POSTCARD

0 Bid

£.99

1h 20m

BCT 1930 Thorneycroft Bus Bournemouth Pier Pamlin 189

£1.99

1h 46m

Man with vintage Bicycle lamp Real Photo RP Postcard

0 Bid

£4.99

4h 38m

Travelling 60 Years Ago Lot of 3 Vintage Postcards 189

£1.99

5h 31m

OLD POSTCARD 1908 PEUGEOT 8 hp DOUBLE PHAETON

£1.00

5h 32m

OLD POSTCARD 1903 MERCEDES SIXTY CAR

£1.00

5h 32m

OLD POSTCARD ANTIQUE CAR RALLY

£1.00

5h 32m

OLD POSTCARD 1925 3 LITRE BENTLEY

£1.00

5h 33m

POSTCARD BASS MUSEUM BOTTLE CAR 1923 30 HP DAIMLER

£1.00

5h 34m

Travelling 60 Years Ago Lot of 4 Vntage Postcards 189

£2.50

6h 40m

old postcard 1913 MC Cuird Box Lorry

£1.80

7h 29m

Theatrical postcards

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:49:45 +0000

Music Hall

As well as being the golden age of the postcard itself, the Edwardian period was also the golden age of the music hall. Although popular, more refined nights out such as the opera or ballet had nothing on this form of entertainment. Knockabout fun is perhaps the most apt description of music hall.

Actors

Stars like Gladys Cooper, Marie Studholme, Camille Clifford, Henry Irving, Henry Ainley, Albert Chevalier, Gaby Deslys, Vesta Tilley and the great Marie Lloyd played to packed houses night after night. Postcards featuring them or their antics were produced by the likes of J. Beagles & Co. or the Rotary Photo Co. - both of London. They evoke the opulence of the theatres themselves and the smell of the greasepaint.

m1894 stage actress Gladys Cooper dog Rita Martin

£2.00

3h 24m

m5909 stage actress Gladys Cooper Joan John

£2.00

4h 29m

GG A7038 Goethe Interest Henry Ainley as Faust

£3.00

4h 40m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.50

5h 10m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.75

5h 10m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.50

5h 10m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.50

5h 10m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.50

5h 10m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.50

5h 10m

POSTCARD ACTRESSES Miss Marie Studholme

0 Bid

£1.50

5h 11m

SIR HENRY IRVING

0 Bid

£.99

9h 29m

MISS MARIE STUDHOLME AS LADY MADCAP IN MILITARY UNIFORM

0 Bid

£.99

9h 29m

Sporting postcards

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:15:01 +0000

In the Edwardian heyday of the postcard, sports such as football and the like just weren't the multi-million pound businesses that they are today. Just as now, though, they were immensely popular amongst the general population and the industry produced postcards featuring many of the teams and stars of the day. Footballers, athletes, swimmers, rowers, rugby players, golfers, cricketers, jockeys and horses - all were featured, both in close up and in action.

Sporting locations were also featured. Apart from the various stadiums, race courses were featured quite heavily - they were very popular amongst the race-going fraternity. It's interesting to note also that there wasn't the modern day squeamishness about blood sports. There are a number of examples of such postcards which feature the 'business end' of such pastimes.