Vintage Postcards

Sepia Saturday 110 - Theatre

2012-01-28T14:05:00.002Z

From Alan's submission for this week's Sepia Saturday I have selected Theatre. I couldn't decide which of my theatre vintage postcards to share to decided on a few of them. My favourite is probably the Greek Theatre at Bradfiled College, in Berkshire, which is not too far away from where I live, although I've never been there. I did see an open air Shakespeare production once at the Pangbourne theatre, where rain stopped play half-way through and the play had to contunie indoors.

Cliftonville, Cliff Theatre and Ethelbert Terrace

Bradfield College, the Greek Theatre

Dartington Hall, Open Air Theatre

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

London War Office - vintage postcard, early 1900's

2012-01-22T10:27:00.001Z

Every so often I come across a vintage postcard which really stands out from the crowd. This can sometimes be a magnificent view, incredible colours, or simply a fantastic subject. When I found this particular postcard I felt it met all those criteria and more, so am very happy to share it with you all on this week's Postcard Friendship Friday. It's a vintage postcard of the War Office in London, in the early 1900's. The view is along Whitehall with Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey silhouetted in the background. A quick bit of research shows that the building has 7 floors, 1000 rooms and 2.5 miles of corridors. It's still in use today as a government office but is not open to the public, and is no doubt swamped by traffic.

London, The War Office, published by Raphael Tuck

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards can be found on my web site

Sepia Saturday 109 - Doll

2012-01-21T18:53:00.001Z

I knew I had a least one vintage postcard featuring a doll to share for this week's Sepia Saturday but it took a bit of searching before I eventually found it. This poor child, who I assume is Dutch given the clogs and windmill, is having a hard time trying to stop her doll being taken away by a goose of some sort.

Vintage postcard of Dutch children

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Postcard Friendship Friday 98 - roses

2012-01-14T10:37:00.000Z

Although I have a reasonably sizeable collection of vintage postcards, I don't think I've ever had one which celebrates Valentine's Day. I know we're not bound to keeping to any theme here on PFF, but I would have liked to this week, as the card Beth shared was wonderful. The nearest I could find was this vintage postcard of roses.

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sepia Saturday 108 - where did you get that hat

2012-01-14T10:26:00.002Z

Another crazily busy week at work, during which I have been working up in London for 4 of the 5 days and seem to have found time for very little else. I am very behind on my blog updates, and in fact last week managed to miss Sepia Saturday altogether. I think I may have shared one of these 2 vintage postcards before, but I felt that they fitted in well with my "hat" take on this week's Sepia Saturday. I have no information about the first postcard, but the second is published by C.W.Faulkner.

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sunday Stamps 52 - Montserrat

2012-01-08T20:38:00.004Z

Given that this week's theme for Sunday Stamps was anything you wish I decided to pick the first stamps that were on the top of my philatelic inbox. These stamps are all from Montserrat, a British overseas territory in the West Indies (in the Leeward Island to be more precise) and date back to 1942.

Stamps from Montserrat, c.1942

Mother, mother, mother, pin some clothes on me

2012-01-07T17:26:00.005Z

Happy New Year to everyone. I've only been back at work for 4 days but feel as though I need another holiday already. We've been researching a summer holiday to California over the past few days. Probably something like 1 week in the mountains, 1 week on the North California coast, 1 week in San Francisco ... I'm already getting excited and we haven't booked anything yet. Need to get those trans-Atlantic flights booked pretty soon though before the price increases even more. I did try and use my BA air miles but it seems those flights are long gone.

Anyway, back to the subject in hand, for this week's Postcard Friendship Friday I thought I'd share this vintage postcard that I picked up a few months ago. The postcard was published by Beagles and dates back to 1910. A curious use of the word pin here - I don't think I've ever come across it in this context before.

Mother, Mother, Mother, pin some clothes on me!

As always, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site, including some recent new additions

Postcard Friendship Friday - Happy New Year

2011-12-30T22:55:00.000Z

I only have a few vintage New Year postcards, but this is probably my favourite. So, a very Happy New Year to those who host and participate in Postcard Friendship Friday. Here's looking forward to another great year of postcard treats.

Vintage New Year postcard, c.1910

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sepia Saturday 105 - Happy Christmas

2011-12-22T18:20:00.000Z

A big Happy Christmas to Alan for hosting Sepia Saturday, and also to everyone who has ever participated, and commented on my posts. Fairly sure I've not shared this one before.

Vintage panel postcard, published by C.W.Faulkner

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sunday Stamps 49 - Christmas Aerogrammes

2011-12-18T10:21:00.002Z

My posting for this week's Sunday Stamps are stamps, but perhaps not in the conventional sense. These are in fact aerogrammes, which are basically pre-printed, pre-stamped, airmail weight letters. They almost certainly came as a gift from my mother who always bought me first day covers, but I don't remember them at all, and they were hidden away in the inside flap of my album. Bit what a find, and very appropriate for Christmas.

Christmas aerogramme, designed by Carol Walkin

Christmas aerogramme, designed by Victoria Ambrus

Christmas aerogramme, designed by Harry Titcombe

So another year is almost at its end. I can't believe how quickly this one has gone. My eldest has just finished his GCSE mock exams, my middle one is now a good 2 inches taller than me, and my youngest has just started senior school. So a big Happy Christmas to everyone reading this, and thanks for all the great comments on my blog posts throughout the year. My New Year's resolution is to find time to comment more on other people's postings.

As usual 100's of vintage postcards on my web site and also don't forget to see what's behind the door of my vintage postcard advent calendar

Postcard Friendship Friday 94 - Wolf

2011-12-16T21:34:00.001Z

This is not exactly a Christmas postcard, but it does have snow in the background so sort of counts. This is quite an unusual vintage postcard of a Wolf, published by S.Hildesheimer, c.1905. What's unusual about it, to my mind anyway, is that all the other Hildesheimer postcards I have are landscapes, and perhaps a couple of other subjects like children or ships, but never before have I come across an animal.

Vintage postcard of a wolf, published by S.Hildesheimer, c.1905

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site ... and of course don't forget to take a peek at what's behind the door on my vintage postcard advent calendar

Theme Thursday - Sweet

2011-12-14T22:54:00.002Z

Couldn't resist sharing this vintage postcard for this week's Theme Thursday of sweet. It's a vintage postcard by the artist E.L.Beckles, and was published by Valentine. The postcard is postally unused so I'm unsure of the date but would guess late 1940's/early 1950's.

Sweets For The Sweet

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sepia Saturday 105 - Hark! Hark! the Lark

2011-12-14T22:29:00.002Z

Inspired by Alan's posting in this week's Sepia Saturday of a festive feast which included stuffed larks, I have decided to follow the theme of larks with this vintage postcard called, Hark! Hark! the Lark.

Hark! Hark! the Lark, vintage postcard, c.1920's

And continuing on the food theme, and seemingly in the same postcard series, is this one called, If music be the food of love, play on.

If Music be the Food of Love, Play On, vintage postcard, c.1920's

Both postcards were published by Edward Gross, Curtis Publishing.

As usual 100s more vintage postcards on my web site

Sepia Saturday 103

2011-12-03T10:31:00.001Z

I thought I had just the picture for this week's Sepia Saturday when I saw Alan's post of a nurse. It was a picture of the actress Ann Todd, in a nurse's uniform, on the cover of a 1945 Picturegoer magazine. However, to my surprise I found that I had already blogged this back in March this year. Instead I am participating, but not theming, with a vintage Christmas greetings postcard from 1918. The postcard was published by Rotary.

A Merry Xmas, vintage Christmas greetings postcard, c.1918

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Postcard Friendship Friday 92

2011-12-03T10:03:00.001Z

Having blogged a different vintage Christmas postcard pretty much every day in December 2010, I'm trying to avoid blogging the same ones again this year. Pretty sure the one below is a relatively recent arrival. It's a beautiful, artist drawn, postcard of Oxford Cathedral. The publisher is S.Hildesheimer (one of my favourite publishers) and the card dates back to 1909. Unfortunetaly there's no artist name on either side of the postcard.

By the way, anyone wanting to see the 25 vintage Christmas postcards and cards I shared last year can look at my vintage postcard advent calendar ... but no peeking (in fact if my somewhat primitive code logic still works this year then it shouldn't allow you to peek past the current day).

Vintage Christmas gretings postcard of Oxford Cathedral, published by Hildesheimer

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Theme Thursday - Inside

2011-12-01T21:15:00.001Z

Another week has sped past. I just don't know where this year has gone. This week's Theme Thursday of Inside was quite a challenge, but hopefully this offering hits the mark. It's a vintage New Year card, showing both the inside and outside of the card, and now we're actually in December I feel I can now start sharing Christmas and New Year items.

Vintage New Year card

For more vintage Christmas postcards, take a look at my vintage postcard advent calendar which reveals a different vintage postcard every day up to 25th December.

Sepia Saturday 102

2011-11-26T15:21:00.001Z

We have visitors this weekend so not much time to blog. However just about managed to find time to share this one, inspired by the fish in this week's Sepia Saturday post.

Lake Biwa, after the rain, Japan

Asa usual, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sunday Stamps 45 - Economic Summit 1984

2011-11-20T20:31:00.001Z

Given that the theme this week on Sunday Stamps was anything you wish I dipped into my childhood First Day Cover album and was struck by this one. Given the poignancy of the current economic climate, this one seemed apt. It's a British First Day Cover featuring a gutter pair of 31p stamps commemorating the London Economic Summit of 1984. Slightly ironic that such an event was commemorated in the past as a specific event rather than the day-to-day business it has become of late.

London Economic Summit, First Day Cover, c.1984

Fisher Studies, Shrimpers, vintage postcard, c.1911

2011-11-18T18:29:00.001Z

It's been a few weeks now since I posted on Postcard Friendship Friday. I certainly can't stay 'on theme' as I have no Thanksgiving postcards. In the UK it's not something we celebrate, but I was fortunate enough to be in New York for my 40th birthday back in 2005, where we celebrated with a traditional Thanksgiving meal in the The Tavern on the Green, just off Central Park.

My vintage postcard today is one I picked up a few months ago which until today had nestled at the bottom of a rather large pile on unprocessed postcards. It's published by Raphael Tuck in the Fisher Studies series, and features Shrimpers.

Vintage postcard of Shrimpers, published by Raphael Tuck, c.1911

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards can be seen on my web site, including some recent additions

Theme Thursday - Treasure

2011-11-18T08:20:00.001Z

I had hoped to find something a bit mork sparkly, and a bit more inspiratinnal than this, but I'm pushed for time today so I'm afraid this will have to suffice for thie week's Theme Thursday. This is a real photographic, vintage postcard of the Treasurer's House in York, c.1949, and was published by Photochrom, number 71238.

A quick bit of research revelaed that this was the first property to be given to the National Trust, it has a 2,000 year history, has a sunken garden, and is abound with ghost stories. I think perhaps the rather sombre looking postcard may not do it justice.

Treasurer's House, York, c.1949

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site ... and finally I've started adding some of my 300+ that I acquired in September, so if you've not visited for a while you may find something new.

Sunday Stamps 44 - 1948 Olympic Games

2011-11-13T16:54:00.001Z

It was a difficult choice for me for this week's Sunday Stamps Sports theme. The deicison I faced was between the 1966 World Cup stamps, or the 1948 Olympic Games stamps. Given that it's Olympic year again this year, I have opted for the latter. As with all stamps of this era, the colours are muted and understated, but I actually like this more low-key approach, with the brown 1 shilling stamp being my favourite of the four. Given the current state of the worldwide economies, I thought it was also fitting that these games are also referred to as the Austerity Olympics.

1948 Olympic Games

Sepia Saturday 100 - The first Walk

2011-11-12T20:19:00.001Z

Firstly a big Happy Birthday and best wishes to Sepia Saturday on reaching its 100th birthday - and here's to the next 100! I really had hoped to theme for this one but have not had much success. So, instead I'm sharing a vignette style, vintage postcard called The First Walk in Wellingborough, Northamptonshre.The postcard was published by Wrench and dates back to 1908.

Wellingborough, The First Walk, c.1908

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sunday Stamps 43 - Australia and New Zealand

2011-11-06T19:33:00.001Z

Well I couldn't decide whether to choose Australia or New Zealand for this week's Sunday Stamps so I ended up selecting a stamp from both. The first stamp if from Australia and depicts Christmas 1957. I am normally a firm advocate of keeping Christmas in December, but this seemed like an opportunity not to miss.

Christmas 1957, Australia

The second stamp is from New Zealand, and is an 8d stamp from New Zealand, c.1986, from the Peace series, and shows a Knight holding a banner depicting the Cross of St George - from the stained glass window of the Wellington College Memorial Hall.

Peace, New Zealand, c.1946

Sepia Saturday 99 - Illustrated Songs, c.1905

2011-11-04T13:28:00.002Z

For this week's Sepia Saturday I've picked up on the musical theme from this week's posting. Below is a handful of vintage postcards all featuring Illustrated Songs. All four postcards were published by Raphael Tuck, and date back to the early 1900's.

Illustrated Songs, Comin' Thro' the Rye, c.1905

Illustrated Songs, The Meeting of the Water

Illustrated Songs, Killarney, Angels Fold Their Wings and Rest

Illustrated Songs, Killarney, Every Rock That Passes You By

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Sunday Stamps 41 - the Philippine Islands

2011-10-23T12:09:00.001+01:00

As Sunday Stamps continues its journey around the globe, I was initially stumped to find something relevant. I was sure I had plenty of Japanese stamps to share, but either I was imagining it or I was looking in the wrong place. Fortunately however the Philippine Islands came to my rescue, so here a a few stamps from there.

4 pesos stamp from the Philippine Islands

Two 6s stamps from the Philippines (Pilipinas) showing Jose Rizal