Vintage postcards of Edinburgh by the artist A.Raeburn

We braved the garden yesterday to do some much needed clearing up, but today the weather is really grim and nasty. I love the UK and cannot imagine myself living anywhere else, apart from maybe the US west coast, but today has definitely got me wishing we had a winter retreat somewhere warm. Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I'm stuck indoors with some free time, so time for another posting. These postcard are all of Edinburgh, Scotland, by the artist A.Raeburn.

Vintage postcard of Bakehouse Close, Edinburgh, by the artist A.Raeburn

 Vintage postcard of Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket, by the artist A.Raeburn

 

Vintage postcard of the Canongate Tolbooth, Edinburgh, by the artist A.Raeburn 

Vintage postcard of Riddels Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, by the artist A.Raeburn

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

And for something a bit different why not head over to my In Search of Space blog, to read about my Urban Wanderings around London and other places.

    

Artist drawn, vintage postcards of Suffolk, Sussex and Yorkshire

Over the past few weeks I have picked up some artist drawn, vintage postcards by artists that I've either not come across before, or who are uncredited on the postcards. Given the long, bank holiday weekend, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a few of them here.

Vintage postcard of Ye Olde Neptune Inn, Ipswich, Suffolk, by the artist Parsons-Norman

Vintage postcard of Petergate, York, by the artist T.Guy

Vintage postcard of The Land Gate, Rye, Sussex, by the artist W.H.Burrow

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

And if you like this blog, how about popping over to have a look at my vintage magazines blog or my In Search of Space blog ... the latter is probably my most active blog at the moment and it charts my urban wanderings through London, inspired by some recent psychogeography reads.

 

Vintage postcards by the artist Elmer Keene

A few weeks ago when I shared a vintage Christmas postcard by the artist Elmer Keene, it attracted a fair bit of interest so I promised to dedicate a whole post to him. As with many artists whose work is regularly featured on vintage postcards, Elmer's wok is quite distinctive and relatively easy to spot when flicking through a batch of postcards. The majority of those I have found to date are black and white, with a few being colour, or colour-tinted. Whilst the majority of those I have come across are landscapes, and usually in Scotland, Ireland or the Lake District, I do also have a few of other scenes. Their distinctive appearance probably has a correct name in the world of art, but to me they appear dark, understated and slightly misty. I have quite a few to choose from but have tried to select a batch to share which are both interesting and varied. If this post generates sufficient interest I may do a follow-up post with more Elmer Keene postcards.

Portelet Bay, Jersey, vintage postcard by the artist Elmer Keene

Lower Lake, Killarney, Ireland, vintage postcard by the artist Elmer Keene

Sound of Kenerra, Oban, Scotland, vintage postcard by the artist Elmer Keene

Rough Sea, vintage postcard by the artist Elmer Keene

Tintern Abbey, vintage postcard by the artist Elmer Keene

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

Sepia Saturday 123 - May time

I've been away in India all week and have only just returned, so only time for the briefest of Sepia Saturday postings from me this week. I don't have anything to do with May poles, but I do have a vintage postcard called May time on the Ching, Epping Forest. The postcard was published by Hildesheimer and dates back to 1908.

May time on the Ching, Epping Forest

As usual 100's more vintage postcards can be found on my web site, and I'm also on pinterest and flickr

    

Sailing ships on the Thames

Unfortunately Fridays are no longer the day they used to be for me, and instead of working from home, I seem to spend most Fridays in London now, which typically means I end up missing Postcard Friendship Friday. So here's a late, but hopefully enjoyable, contribution. Both vintage postcards are from Raphael Tuck's Old Father Thames series II, and are by the artist Wyllie.

Greenwich Hospital

Royal Corinthian Club, Port Victoria

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

    

London War Office - vintage postcard, early 1900's

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

    

Vintage postcard of rough sea, Porthcawl, by artist E.W.Trick

A short post today, but I couldn't wait to share this recent find any longer. I've only ever come across a couple of E.W.Trick postcards before, so was very pleased when this one turned up. It's of a rough sea, in Porthcawl, Glamorganshire, Wales. The postcard is an art colour, number A2334, and was published by Valentine. It's postally unused so I can't be sure of the date but would guess at late 1940's or early 1950's.

Rough Sea, Porthcawl, Glamorganshire, Wales

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

Vintage postcard of Barra Head, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

When I first came across this postcard, I assumed it was just anouth 'rough seas' postcard of somewhere like Brighton, Blackpool or Hastings, of which I have several. It wasn't until today when I started to enter my latest batch into my database that I realised that this one was a bit different, and of somewhere that I'd never heard of before. A quick internet search surprised me even more, in that this postcard was of somewhere in the Outer Hebrides, an island chain off the west coast of Scotland.

The written greeting is also quite unusual and it reads, 'Dear Old Woman, What a pity that when you swept the sky you did not sweep the rain down, when are you going again?. I have absolutely no idea what that means.

Vintage postcard of Barra Head, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, by the artist G.E.Newton, published by Raphael Tuck in the 'Scottish Rough Seas' series, number 257

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

    

Vintage postcard of Jersey, Channel Islands

This week's Postcard Friendship Friday choice comes from a recent batch of vintage postcards that I've only just managed to find time to sort through. It's of Portelet Bay in Jersey, the Channel Islands ... which is yet another place I have only 'visited by postcard'. The style of the postcard looked very familiar but I was surprised to discover that it was by an artist new to me, C.G.Blampied.

Portelet Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands

    

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

Vintage postcard of Golders Green Crematorium

A curious postcard to share today. When I first saw this I thought that given the terracotta colouring it was perhaps of somewhere in Italy. It wasn't until I had a closer look at home that I realised that it was in fact Golders Green in North London. Now, I have been to Golders Green on occasions, but admittedly only to change buses having somehow arrived there descending from Hampstead Heath. However, after the tiniest amount of research, I have found that firstly it's still around today, and also that it's 'home' to various famous people including Marc Bolan, Kingsley Amis, Sid James, Sigmund Freud, Keith Moon, and countless others. Perhaps I'll have to pay a visit next time I'm round that way.

Memorial Cloister, Golders Green Crematorium, vintage postcard from the original water-colour drawing by Mary Hill.

    

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

A selection of recently acquired artist drawn vintage postcards

I've just acquired another batch of vintage postcards to 'process'. I think I still have a bit of a backlog with the previous batch but there were a few in this latest find which I knew I'd have to share sooner rather than later. Other than the fact that the postcards are all artist drawn, there's no connection or theme. Each postcard has its own appeal, but I think may favourite one is probably the last one, Edinburgh Castle, and in particular the muted colours. I am however struggling with the name of the artist ... it looks like Raeburh but I can't be sure ... does anyone know?

Ightham Mote, Kent (published by J.Salmon from an original watercolour by Essenhigh Corke)

High Bridge, Lincoln (published by J.W.Ruddock from an original water-colour drawing by the artist C.W.Martyn)

Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket (by the artist A.Raeburh ???)

As always, 100's more vintage postcards and vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Vintage postcards: Charles Dickens

I was very pleased to pick up these 3 wonderful postcards a few weeks ago. They are all from Raphael Tuck's In Dickens Land series, although each from a different series. What's also great about these postcards for me is that I've discovered a new postcard artist, P. Fletcher-Watson.

The Leather Bottle, Cobham, published by Raphael Tuck in the 'In Dickens Land' series II, number 1164, c.1909

Charles Dickens's House, Gadshill, published by Raphael Tuck in the 'In Dickens Land' series I, number 1163, c.1904

The White Hart, Hook, Surrey, published by Raphael Tuck in the 'In Dickens Land' series, number 1350, c.1903

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

More vintage postcards by Seppings Wright

As promised a few weeks ago, here is the 2nd installment of my recently acquired Henry Charles Seppings Wright postcards. I did think I had posted the 3 best ones first, but these next 3 are as good if not better. All 3 postcards were published by S.Hildesheimer and date back to 1904. All are addressed to the same person with a great Westgate-on-Sea duplex postmark. Seppings Wright was a painter who lived from 1850 to 1937, and captured many battles and naval scenes.

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

Vintage Postcards by the artist Jotter

Jotter is one of those postcard artists whose postcards seem to turn up infrequently, but when they do they are usually quite special. I have only a handful or which these 3 are probably my favourites, with the one of Cambridge being my absolute favourite.

St. John's College. Cambridge, c.1909

Bray Head, County Wick, Ireland, published by Raphael Tuck

Flatford Valley Farm, Suffolk, published by Wildt and Kray

As usual old postcards like these and hundreds of others can be found on my web site

Vintage postcards by the artist Baness

I always like it when I come across a 'new' postcard artist, and recently I've acquired a few vintage postcards by an artist called Baness. I've only managed the briefest of internet searches but didn't manage to find any information. The 3 postcards below are from Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, with my favourite probably being the first.

Worcester Cathedral

New Inn, Gloucester

Old Judges House, Westgate Street, Gloucester

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

More postcards from the tatty pile

Following from all the great comments in reactions to last week's post, I've decided to blog again this week from my 'tatty' pile. These 3 are all artist drawn, vintage postcards. My favourite is the middle one - I think the creases contribute well to the picture. The artists Arthur de Breanski and S.Endacott do not seem to turn up very often, and I think I only have a handful by each ... and as for E.W.Haslehurst, I'm pretty sure this is the only postcard I have.

Clovelly, Devon, by the artist S.Endacott, published by Worth and Co.

Stormy Sea, by the artist Arthur de Breanski, published by C.W.Faulkner, c.1925

Lynmouth, by the artist E.W.Haslehurst, published by Mansell

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site ... and don't forget to check out my vintage magazine blog and my in search of space blog

Happy New Year - Spring Flighting

Happy New Year to everyone. The postcard below is called 'Spring Flighting' ... is is too early to be thinking about Spring? I've almost had enough of Winter now.

Spring Flighting, by the artist Vernon Ward, published by the Medici Society, c.1973

Just a quick note to say that after months of deliberation I have created another new blog. My music blog, vintage postcard blog and vintage magazine blog will all keep going, but I will try and steer my more general/random observations and musings to the new blog called In Search of Space. The first couple of entries are live and, as always, comments and interaction are very welcome.

Vintage postcards by Meissner and Buch

Another fairly recent find were these 2 artist drawn, vintage postcards published by Meissner and Buch. Again I am assuming that because of the very similar style they are both by the same artist, but I can't be sure. The postcards have no indication of the artist, although the more I stare at the Mill on the Avon card, the more the blades of grass in the foreground seem to contain initials. Both postcards are unposted so no idea about the date I'm afraid but I would guess 1930's? If anyone can shed any light on the artist I would be really grateful.

Mill on the Avon, published by Meissner and Buch

A Hayfield, Buckinghamshire, published by Meissner and Buch

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

Vintage postcards of North Wales

Despite my best efforts to maintain my postcards in some sort of vaguely coherent order, I keep finding Lancashire ones buried deep within the Yorkshire section, and postcards of Devon mis-filed almost everywhere. However, one of the good fortunes in having to sort through them today to try and locate one that someone had ordered, was that I came across these 2 beautiful artist drawn, vintage postcards of North Wales, which I'm pretty sure I've never blogged about. I assume they are by the same artist as the style is very similar, but unfortunately there is no indication on the postcard. Despite their similarities however they have different publishers.

 Near Capel Curig, North Wales, published by B.B. London, series A2, c.1907

Near Cader Idris, North Wales, c.1908

More vintage postcards of Wales can be found on my web site

Vintage postcards of Chanctonbury Ring, Sussex

Having recently stumbled across these 2 wonderful vintage postcards of Chanctonbury Ring in Sussex, it's become yet another place to add to my "to be visited" list. Chanctonbury Ring is a hill fort and artifacts found there suggest it was constructed around the 6th or 5th century BC. Various legends surround the ring, including increasing fertility and summoning the devil ... might be tricky though if bits of those rituals get mixed up !! Both postcards are published by J.Salmon Ltd., and although have no artist name or initials on the cards, they do look very like something that A.R.Quinton might have painted - anyone know for sure?

Chanctonbury Ring, Wiston Pond, South Downs

Chanctonbury Ring and Dew Pond

As always, loads more vintage postcards on my web site