Postcard Mania

Millar, David Philip

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:43:14 +0000

Born in August 1909, Millar started his career as a professional cartoonist drawing for men's magazines in the thirties. He produced work for the likes of Razzle and Blighty, and also for the Daily Mirror. Millar married Maude Withers in 1936.

By the late 1940's, Millar had begun to draw seaside postcards for a number of publishers. Between 1948 and 1949 he drew for E. Marks, using the pseudonym "Pip". At the same time he worked for Joseph Easton & Co. as "Milla". In 1951 at the end of his time at Joseph Easton he worked for Easton Millar, this time using the name "Davo".

Millar is perhaps most well known for his illustrations for D. Constance Ltd., where in 1962 he replaced the great Donald McGill on the latter's death. Using four different pseudonyms, "Pedro", "Carlos", "Bob" and "Flip", Millar even managed to get away with redrawing and updating some of the great man's designs.

In common with McGill, Millar was an arch exponent of the double entendre. He could also be much, much less subtle than that. For example, many of his pictures depicted women with over large breasts and less than ample clothing. Add in randy neighbours, milkmen, golfers, campers, holidaymakers and Millar drew, as Russell Ash notes in his book It Just Slipped Out......A Bulging Compendium of Double Entendres, "pretty much Carry On on a [post]card."

Millar died in East Anglia in 1988.

Vintage Pedro saucy postcard 1967 no 126

0 Bid

£1.20

13h 52m

Vintage Pedro saucy postcard 1972 no 108

0 Bid

£1.20

13h 53m

Vintage Pedro saucy postcard 1967 no 116

0 Bid

£1.20

13h 53m

Vintage Pedro saucy postcard 1966 no 127

0 Bid

£1.20

13h 54m

NAUGHTY PEDRO POSTCARD

£1.55

14h 13m

COMIC POSTCARD PEDRO NO191

0 Bid

£.99

18h 56m

Keene, Elmer

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:47:25 +0000

Ezra "Elmer" Keene was a son of Osberton near Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Born in 1853, he was the fourth of nine children born to Stephen and Elizabeth Keene.

His original occupation was miller and baker, indeed he is listed as such in the census of 1871. However, by 1881 his occupation had changed to Photographic Artist. By this time Keene was married to Eliza Elizabeth (née Darlow), but they lived, initially at least, with his parents in Scarborough.

In 1901 the family had moved to Leicester, where Keene painted landscapes,including many featuring marine subjects. Most of this work was for local patrons so he was rarely exhibited. He also painted views of the English Lakes, amongst them Coniston and Windermere; he also painted evocative buildings such as Holyrood Palace and Warwick Castle.

Keene's work was used by postcard publishers such as Raphael Tuck and Sons, E.T.W. Dennis, C.W. Faulkner, E.W. Savory, although his most productive relationship was with Charles Worcester of Bristol.

Keene and Eliza had a total of eleven children, although five had died before the age of three years. Of the remaining six, Frank, Minnie, Marjorie and Dorothy all had work published as postcards.

Elmer Keene died at the age of seventy-eight at home in Leicester on 2 December 1929.

College Barges Isis Oxford Elmer Keene Postcard 0280

£2.75

15h 42m

College Barges Isis Oxford Elmer Keene 1910 0280

£2.75

16h 47m

RP of Moonlit Magdalen College OXFORD Elmer Keene c1920

£3.00

19h 26m

Conway Castle Elmer Keene Vintage Postcard 0373

£2.75

1d 5h 56m

Snowdon From Capel Curig Elmer Keene Postcard 0300

£2.75

1d 9h 1m

Elmer Keene Lynmouth A222

£2.25

1d 13h 51m

Harrison, Florence

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:16:47 +0000

There is some confusion over who the real Florence Harrison was. Some would have us believe that she was Emma Florence Harrison, whilst others would have it that she was one Florence Susan Harrison.

I am not so sure as to which one is the genuine one. However, both claimants on the name lived between 1877 and 1955, so it might just be a case of what's in a name?

It is accepted that Florence Harrison was an artist of no little talent and of considerable repute. In the years immediately before the First World War she was commissioned by the publishers Blackie to illustrate editions of works by Christina Rossetti, Tennyson and William Morris. This was in edition to having works published in her own right.

In actual fact postcards by her or featuring her work are rare. She did illustrate cards for A. Vivian Mansell & Co. Ltd of Silk Street London. Most notable perhaps, are a set of six cards featuring Fairies - series number 2114.

Set of 6 FLORENCE HARRISON FAIRY FAIRIES Vivian Mansell Series 2114 Postcards

£150.00

5d 2h 40m

BE66Vintage Vivian Mansell PostcardThe fairies supper Signed Florence Harrison

0 Bid

£5.99

9d 3h 1m

Black, A&C

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:10:07 +0000

Adam Black founded his publishing company in Edinburgh in 1807, a long time before the market for postcards had been even dreamed of.

In 1826 Black acquired the copyright to the Encyclopædia Britannica, and his company published the seventh, eighth and ninth editions. Around this time also, Black was joined in business by his nephew Charles and the company became A&C Black. In 1851 they acquired the rights to Walter Scott's Waverley Novels and also were later to publish Thomas De Quincey's works.

In 1889 the company moved to Soho Square, London and soon after it began to publish tricolor postcards in line block. A large number of postcard images were taken from the watercolours of Wilfred Ball, Heaton Cooper, and H.B. Wimbush which had featured in their books. A&C Black also published books featuring, and postcards of, artwork by Ida Outhwaite (née Rentoul).

Whilst postcards no longer form part of their portfolio, A&C Black still exists as a publishing company, albeit as a subsidiary of the Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury. Nowadays the A&C Black imprint is probably most famous for the publication of such luminary titles as the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

Cambridge Kings Chapel Walter Keesey A C Black A189

£2.75

14h 31m

One of our new allies Pc published by A C Black Wrench series no 8498

0 Bid

£.99

2d 2h 54m

POSTCARD FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF JAPAN NO 34 A C BLACK 1912

0 Bid

£4.99

3d 16h 50m

DINANT general view old Belgium artistic postcard A C Black series 9

£.99

8d 23h 43m

THACKERAY Donkey Boy Hammar A C BLACK

£6.50

9d 1h 57m

A C BLACK POSTCARD ARTIST FRED RICHARDS OXFORD SERIES NO51 CIRCA 1920

£1.49

14d 5h 6m

Outhwaite, Ida (née Rentoul)

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:10:37 +0000

Born Ida Sherbourne Rentoul (9 June 1888 - 15 June 1960), Outhwaite was an Australian illustrator of children's books. Her illustrations were first published to accompany stories written by her sister (Anne R. Rentoul) and later her husband Grenbry Outhwaite. Many of her illustrations depicted fairies.

The UK publisher, A&C Black, published several of Anne and Ida's books and also produced postcards from Ida's illustrations. In total eight sets of postcards were produced. She is one of the most collectable fairy artists and cards can fetch upwards of £25 depending, of course, upon condition.

c1936 Elves and Fairies card by Ida Outhwaite There were seven of them

0 Bid

£14.99

3d 2h 12m

IDA RENTOUL OUTHWAITE KEXY FRIEND OF FAIRIES VINTAGE FROG POSTCARD BETTY DAVIES

0 Bid

£4.95

9d 30m

Medici Society Art Postcard Beneath The Blossom by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

0 Bid

£1.45

9d 2h 47m

Ida Renaul OUTHWAITE Fairy Beauty Rocks a Babe

£30.00

18d 3h 13m

Ida Rentaul OUTHWAITE FAIRY Faries Good bye

£35.00

27d 4h 25m

Ida Rentaul OUTHWAITE FAIRY Faries Mauve Crocus

£35.00

27d 4h 25m

Ida Rentaul OUTHWAITE The Glowlamp FAIRY

£40.00

29d 6h 38m

Birn Brothers

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:16:13 +0000

Birn Brothers, based in London, were a major publishing house. They were listed in the London trade directories in 1882 at 135 London Wall, and in later at 27 Finsbury St and later at 67-70 Bunhill Row EC1Y.

Birns were famous for producing cards covering a wide variety of themes. These included Christmas cards, greetings cards, actresses, views and artist signed cards. They also produced propaganda plus military and naval themes.

In the early part of WWI as Kitchener built his army, there was a rash of postcards depicting the cap badges that these new soldiers would wear. Birns produced some of the most attractive of these - embossed with the regimental badge in gold, a sketch of soldiers in action and verse explaining the role of the regiment.

Birns also published many real photo postcards, sepia postcards and embroidered silks. Despite their large postcard production (up to nineteen million cards in the years of the late Victorian period) they seem to have been primarily involved in printing cheap pictorial books. Many of their cards were published under the name BB London and, in common with those of a similar vintage, printed in Saxony and Bavaria.

BLACK CAT WOMAN Nearest and Dearest Greeting Postcard Birn Bros

0 Bid

£2.40

6d 1h 20m

HAVE YOU HAD A DREAM Of Success Singing Comic Postcard Birn Bros

0 Bid

£2.40

6d 1h 23m

WANTED A WIFE Applicants Apply Comic Postcard Birn Bros

0 Bid

£2.40

6d 1h 25m

WW1 BRITISH SOLDIER Writes Home Auld Lang Syne Song Postcard Birn Bros

1 Bid

£2.20

6d 1h 33m

Five Nice Floral cards by Birn Brothers Series S2

£24.00

7d 2h 35m

Comic Birn Bros Vintage 1904 Comic Postcard Popular Songs My Love Lies Dreaming

£14.99

9d 17h 41m

Payne, Harry

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:11:01 +0000

Harry Payne (1858 - 1927) along with his brother Arthur C.Payne produced many postcard designs of a military theme for Raphael Tuck & Sons and also for Gale & Polden. In addition in the 1880s, Harry also produced embossed scraps for the fine art publishers, Birn Brothers, again on a military theme. Although these were not postcards in the proper sense, they were of a very similar size and were a precursor to Payne and Birn Bros's eventual movement into the postcard business. There follows an example of Payne's work - a private of the East Lancashire Regiment from a postcard circa 1900:

HARRY PAYNE A Devonshire Lane old Tuck postcard

£1.69

22h 4m

HARRY PAYNE DIPPING THE COLOURS TUCK 9587 OLD POSTCARD

0 Bid

£2.00

1d 27m

HARRY PAYNE RURAL POSTCARD TUCK OILETTE 9223 DEVONSHIRE LANES

£5.00

1d 1h 38m

ms753 Royal Horse Artillery art by Harry Payne postcard

£10.00

1d 17h 56m

ms1865 Argyllshire Regiment on foot art by Harry Payne reproduction postcard

£1.25

1d 21h 58m

ms1866 10th Hussars as Gore Dragoons art by Harry Payne reproduction postcard

£1.25

1d 21h 58m

ms1868 Canadian Infantry art by Harry Payne reproduction postcard

£1.25

1d 21h 58m

ms1873 Cameroon Highlanders art by Harry Payne repro x2 postcard

£2.50

1d 21h 59m

ms1876 Royal Scots Dragoons art by Harry Payne reproduction postcard

£1.25

1d 21h 59m

ms1878 Gordon Highlanders art by Harry Payne reproduction x3 postcard

£3.75

1d 22h

HARRY PAYNE TUCK POSTCARD THE OLD YEW TREE ON THE COMMON Hampshire Common Cattle

£3.95

2d 41m

HARRY PAYNE ROYAL SCOTS GREYS TUCKS OILETTE POSTCARD

1 Bid

£2.99

2d 2h 2m

Savory, E.W. Ltd.

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:36:13 +0000

Founded in Bristol in 1889, E.W. Savory Ltd was a printing and fine art publishing company. They used the chromolithography process for the production of postcards. Subjects consisted mainly of landscapes although portrait, glamour, ethnic, animal, and hunting cards were produced. The company also published artist signed postcards and later produced cards in photogravure under the trade name Bromogravure. Time ran out for the company in 1920.

GLAMOUR POSTCARD EWSAVORY SERIES NO 813 TYPES OF ENGLISH BEAUTY

£6.00

3h 15m

LOVELY GLAMOUR LADY POSTCARD GLADYS EWSAVORY SERIES NO 596

£5.00

12d 1h 12m

Millar & Lang Art Publishing Co. Ltd.

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:18:14 +0000

Founded in Glasgow in 1903, Millar & Lang was a publisher of postcards depicting a wide variety of subjects, including landscapes, street scenes, comic cards and animals. They also used a wide variety of techniques. Most of their cards were published under the National Series name. Some scenes that were printed as black & white real photo postcards were used to create hand coloured collotypes. By the 1930’s many of the company's photo cards began to be hand coloured. In addition they published a series of line drawings by the artist Andrew Allan (1863 - 1940) in the New Colour-Crayon Process. In their later years the company moved to London. The company went out of business in 1941.

SIGNAL STATION old Gibraltar postcard Millar Lang No 10

£.99

14h 52m

GOVERNORS COTTAGE old Gibraltar postcard Millar Lang No 14

£.99

14h 52m

LIGHTHOUSE GOVERNORS COTTAGE old Gibraltar postcard Millar Lang No 16

£.99

14h 53m

ROCK FROM NEUTRAL GROUND old Gibraltar postcard Millar Lang No 4

£.99

14h 53m

ROCK FROM THE NORTH WEST old Gibraltar postcard Millar Lang No 2

£.99

14h 53m

ROCK FROM THE BAY old Gibraltar postcard Millar Lang No 1

£.99

14h 53m

Gale & Polden Ltd.

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:02:26 +0000

In 1866 James Gale opened a book shop in Chatham, Kent. In the early 1870's he had progressed to printing books and by 1877 he had taken on one Ernest Polden as an apprentice. In 1888 the pair had moved to Aldershot and had joined together as a limited partnership with an office in London. As befits the company's origins in Chatham and then Aldershot, most of the work it carried out was of a military nature. Their military links were further strengthened with the opening of a third office in Portsmouth in order to help capture business from the Royal Navy.

Moving into the twentieth century the company continued producing cards of a military theme, by now using the new technology of halftone lithography. Series produced at this time covered Admiral Nelson, Naval vessels and British Army Regiments. Even the view-cards produced by the company were military themed. Gale and Polden finally ceased trading in 1981 after 89 years in business.

The Scots Guards Gale Polden Military Postcard

1 Bid

£.99

21m

WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT History TraditionsGale Polden No Naval Crown 1909

£5.50

31m

HISTORY AND TRADITIONS 106 ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY GALE POLDEN

£5.00

2h 31m

HISTORY AND TRADITIONS 96 THE QUEENS OWN CAMERON HIGHLANDERS GALE POLDEN

£10.00

2h 33m

Military SOLDIERS relaxing at Camp early RP PPC Gale Polden

£8.00

3h 45m

GALE POLDEN RP PC HMS LOFOTEN K07 LST 3027 HELICOPTER SUPPORT SHIP 1964

£3.00

21h 49m