Sepia Saturday 160 - vintage postcards of piers

Thanks for the suggestion of piers as an option for this week's Sepia Saturday. I would have been struggling to stay on theme otherwise. Unsurprisingly piers do feature quite frequently on vintage postcards, or any postcards for that matter, so I had quite a few to choose from. These are some of my favourites and they vary from the very basic Eastham pier, to the grand piers of Brighton and Blackpool, and a few that fit in between.

Vintage postcard of Eastham Pier, Lancashire

Vintage postcard of North Pier, Blackpool, Lancashire, c.1938

Vintage postcard of Palace Pier, Brighton, Sussex

Vintage postcard of the pier, Skegness, Lincolnshire

Vintage postcard of Clarence Pier and Esplanade, Southsea, Hampshire

Vintage postcard of the Central Pier, Morecombe, Lancashire, c.1905

Many more vintage postcards can be found in my online shop

    

Sepia Saturday 79: Stormy Seas

To keep on theme this week with Alan's Sepia Saturday posting, I am sharing a couple of vintage postcards of rough seas, although I hope Alan's Atlantic crossing is much smoother than that. The pictures are almost identical, but not quite - perhaps I should start a "spot the difference" competition. Some of the differences are obvious, for example the seagulls towards the top right-hand corner. I am however assuming they are the same picture, but with a degree of Victorian 'airbrushing' applied. There's probably a technical term for this which I'm sure someone out there will know.

On the beach, Blackpool, published by Raphael Tuck, by the artist G.E.Newton, c.1903

On the beach, Blackpool, published by Raphael Tuck

    

Lots more Raphael Tuck vintage postcards on my web site

Vintage postcards of Blackpool Tower

Searching around for a topic this week I came across several vintage postcards of Blackpool Tower in my collection. As I think I mentioned in a previous posting, Blackpool is only ever somewhere I've visited via my postcard collection, but looking at these postcards again makes me think I am long overdue a visit. The sheer enormity of the 518 foot, 116 year old tower on this first postcard is incredible. Apparently inspired by the Eifel Tower, would it be so wrong of me to say I prefer this one?

 The Tower, Blackpool

 The Children's Corner, Blackpool, c.1920, with the tower in the background

 The Sands, Pier and Promenade, Blackpool, with the tower in the background

Tower, Wheel and Old Promenade, Blackpool, c.1907

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

Sepia vintage postcards of storms

Having just returned from holiday I'm a bit out-of-sync with my various blog updates, but here's my contribution to the current Sepia Saturday blog. The theme is storms (in sepia) and it seems very appropriate here in the UK today where we are experiencing multiple seasons in a single day over a bank holiday weekend. Our attempts at post-holiday washing and car cleaning activities are being punctuated by heavy downpoors and blustery winds, although fortunately I did manage to hoover out the inside of the car ... a combination of sand, croissant crumbs and a few pine needles from last year's Christmas tree make an interesting cocktail in a car's carpet, and one almost impossible to ever get rid of completely.

Rough Seas, Hastings, Sussex - this is probably my favourite of the batch as it's the most dramatic, although I suspect perhaps the photographer's positioning has made this even more so.

Splash Point, Eastbourne, Sussex, c.1904 - slightly less dramatic that the first postcard, but I like the setting with the hotel in the background.

Storm at Blackpool, Lancashire - this one looks pretty ferocious and perhaps reminds us the incredible power nature holds over us.

100's more postcards like these can be found on my vintage postcards web site

Vintage postcards of Blackpool

Blackpool is one of those places which generated thousands of different postcards thanks to its popularity as a seaside resort, from Victorian times right through to today. Whilst many postcards from Blackpool are typical beach scenes, or of the famous Blackpool Tower or the Blackpool Ballroom, these two caught my eye as they are strikingly different than others I have seen. The colours are magnificent and remind me more of a vintage French advert for the Cote d'Azur than for Blackpool ... particularly the amazing colour of the sky. I imagine the promenades are considerably more busy today than when these were produced, but I like to think that perhaps that tram in the 2nd postcard is still running in some form or another.

Three Promenades, North Shore, Blackpool, c,1954, published by Valentine, number H5552

North Pier, Blackpool, c,1939

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