Vintage postcards of Tunbridge Wells, Kent

It's always surprising to me when I end up with several vintage postcards of a town in England that I've never visited, and Tunbridge Wells in Kent fits that description for me. Judging by the number of postcards, it's obviously a place that attracted Victorian and Edwardian visitors, although until I find the time to do some research I don't know why. Anyway, here are a handful of vintage postcards of Tunbridge Wells that I thought I'd share.

Toad Rock, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, c.1935

The Pantiles Promenade, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, c.1914, published by H.G.Groves

Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, published by H.G.Groves

Happy Valley, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, c.1912, published by Valentine

Lots more vintage postcards of Kent on my web site.

Vintage postcards of Brighton

Given the popularity of Brighton as a seaside resort in the Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian eras, it not surprising it generated are 1000's of postcards. Whilst many are relatively ordinary, featuring perhaps the pavilion or the rockery, every so often I come across one or two which don't quite fit that mould. I'm, sharing a few of these below.

The Dome, Brighton, c.1910

King's Road, Brighton, c.1925

Palace Pier, Brighton, c.1910

Loads more vintage postcards on my web site

Vintage Easter Greetings Postcards

Rather than paste in all of my vintage Easter postcard individually I've decided to put them into an embedded slideshow. It lacks the personal touch but I seem to have 101 other things I need to do at the moment. Full descriptions of the postcards can be found in my vintage easter greetings postcards Flickr set and also on my own postcards web site

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Vintage postcards of Wells-Next-the-Sea, Norfolk

Apart from the enjoyment of acquiring and collecting vintage postcards, one of the additional benefits, for me anyway, is that it furthers my knowledge about different places. I've certainly come across parts of England that I was blissfully unaware of until I started. One of these was Clovelly, in Devon, which I added to my list of places to visit and managed a trip there last Easter, in beautiful weather.

However, for this blog entry I'm going to share a few vintage postcards from Wells-Next-the-Sea, in Norfolk. Until acquiring these postcards the only Wells I'd heard of was the Wells in Somerset. Initially confusing was that one of the postcards is simply called 'Wells' but had a coastline. A bit of digging revealed this to be Wells-Next-the-Sea, which of course does have a coastline, rather than Wells in Somerset, which doesn't.

Wells-Next-the-Sea, the Quay, M&L National Series

Wells-Next-the-Sea, Lakeside Walk, Abraham's Bosom, c.1953, published by Frith, number WLS 25

The Beach, Wells [next the sea], RA series

So all-in-all, it looks a lovely place and one that I hope to get the opportunity to visit in the not too distant future.

Vintage birthday greeting postcards

Today's vintage postcard selection is vintage birthday greeting postcards. I have 10's I could choose from but thought this selection showcased the topic quite well.

The postcard on the left contains the generic birthday greeting "Many Happy Returns" with a short verse. There's no published name and it's postally unused so am not sure of the date.

The card in the middle bears the greeting "To My Dear Son", again with a verse. The publisher is Philco and it is in the "Glossy Series", number 2097/22. The stamp box has a slogan which reads "Invest in Government Securities" ... not sure if such a thing exists anymore, sounds a bit like an oxymoron to me.

The postcard on the right is another generic birthday postcard, bearing the greeting "A Birthday Greeting", again with a short verse. It was published by Wildt and Kray, series 2981. It's postally used with a green 1/2d George V stamp, but I can't make out the year. The greeting reads "Dear Emily, Just a PC wishing you many happy returns of the day. Hope you will live to see a great many more, with best love from Bert xx".

These ones are in my pile of postcards yet to get listed on my web site, but hopefully should be uploaded this week. In the meantime I have lots of other vintage postcards for sale

PS. If you like the content of these blog postings then why not follow or subsrcibe to it. I can't promise to post every day, but a handful of times per week should be the norm.

Vintage postcard of Anstey's Cove, Torquay, Devon, c.1903

Today's vintage postcard is a beautiful example from 1903. It's a vignette style postcard of Anstey's Cove, Torquay, Devon.

The greeting on the front of the postcard reads "It is lovely here today and I hope the weather has at last become more settled". Good to see the brit's fascination with the weather existed even 100 years ago, and that given this postcard was sent in August it's interesting to see they had perhaps been having a disappointing summer until that point ... sound familiar?

The undivided back of the postcard is also a real bonus, showing a clear 1903 Paignton duplex B69 postmark. The card was sent from Paignton to Aberavon, South Wales on August 19th 1903.

Vintage postcards of Cambridge Colleges

Over the past week or so I have picked up a few more interesting vintage postcards of the various Cambridge Colleges. I must confess my ignorance at not even having heard of one of them before, Caius College (apparently pronounced 'keys').

Gate of Honour, Caius College, Cambridge, published by V.&S Ltd., in the Homerton series

The Great Court, Trinity College, Cambridge, by the artist W.G.Blackall, published by A. & C. Black Ltd., in the Cambridge series from 'The Charm of Cambridge' by S.C.Roberts.

Real photographic, vintage postcard of Clare College and King's College, Cambridge. Published by Walter Scott, number H83.

See my web site for plenty more vintage postcards of Cambridge and other English towns and counties

Vintage postcard of St. Johns New Court, Cambridge, c.1904

Today's vintage postcard is a vignette style postcard of St. John's New Court, Cambridge, c.1904. It was published by H. M. & Co., London. It was posted from Swansea to Aberavon and bears the greeting "Enjoying ourselves, Auntie June and Uncle Tom".

Follow link below for lots of other vintage postcards of Cambridge and other English counties and towns

Letter Card from the T.S.S. Corfu

Again not a postcard, but loosely related to the area. This is a letter card from the T.S.S. Corfu from the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

Front of letter card

Inside of letter card showing:
(i) the corner of Second Saloon Smoking Room
(ii) Second Saloon Children's Nursery

Inside of letter card showing:

(i)P.&.O. Turbine Steamer "Corfu" 15,000 Tons
(ii) Second Class Dining Saloon
(iii) Second Saloon Music Room

If those pictures are really from the second class areas of the ship, I'm fascinated to see what the first class ones looked like.

See my web site for more vintage postcards, etc.

Vintage Postcards of France

Actually, to call this entry "vintage postcards of France" is perhaps a little misleading as, although they are of France, they are specifically of Boulogne-Sur-Mer. All were published by Levy Fils in the LL series. All of these postcards are postally unused so I'm not really sure of the date.

Boulogne-Sur-Mer, La Colonne de la Grande Armee, LL 273

Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Le Cassino et la Terrasse, LL 119

Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Le Cassino et le Boulevard Sainte-Beuve, LL 315

Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Le Jardin public des Tintelleries, 542

See my vintage postcards website for more vintage postcards from France and other countries (Belgium, Egypt, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, India, USA, etc.)

Vintage postcards of Hythe, Kent, published by Eustace Watkins

Today's vintage postcard selection features a couple of vintage postcards from Hythe, Kent. Both postcards were published by Eustace Watkins of London, and neither one has a number. On both postcards the actual picture is set below the slightly raised border of the card, giving a photo-frame effect.

Parish Church, Hythe

The Grove, Hythe

If you're interested, there are loads more vintage postcards on my web site

Vintage Raphael Tuck postcard - A Rough Night At Cromer

When I first found this card, I assumed it was in the Raphael Tuck "Rough Seas" series so was slightly surprised when I turned it over and found it was actually in the "view" series. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful vintage postcard, and one of my favourite styles by probably my favourite publisher.

It dates back to 1903 and has a partial Malvern duplex postmark. The postcard was sent from Malvern to Aberavon, Port Talbot and the greeting reads"What are the Wild Waves saying", which I'm sure I've seen as the title of another Tuck postcard.

Vintage postcard of Gurnard's Head, Cornwall, c.1903

No specific topic today. I'm blogging about this vintage postcard as I thought it was perfect. It's a vintage postcard of Gurnard's Head, Cornwall, England, c.1903 and was published by Wharton.

Of additional interest is the hand-wtitten greeting on the right-hand side of the face of the postcard and the strikingly clear, St. Ives 817 duplex postmark.

Overall a lovely card. If you're interested in seeing more then please look at my vintage postcards website.

Raphael Tuck vintage postcards of London

I have only ever come across postally unused copies of these vintage postcards so am not exactly sure of their date. My guess would be the early mid-50's as the publisher notes on the back of the cards reads "Fine Art Publishers By Appointment To The Late King George VI ..." but the images on the postcards do appear to be older judging by some of the old cars and buses. They are all numbered starting with the letter 'L', and the highest number I've found to date is L24. Some are better than others but I've included a few of my favourites below:

The Thames With Tower Bridge and the Tower, L11


The Mansion House, L15

The Guards Band, L3

The Tower of London from Tower Bridge, L13

The Law Courts, L20

The Cenotaph and Whitehall, L12

Houses of Parliament showing Big Ben, L4

These and hundreds of other vintage postcards can be found on my vintage postcard web site

Vintage postcards by W.A.Call, Monmouth Studio

Firstly, a Happy New Year to all my followers. My first blog of the New Year concerns a postcard publisher who, I don't come across very often, but when I advertise them on ebay they sell like hot cakes. These vintage postcards are published in The "CAMBRIA" Series, from photographs by W.A.Call, The County Studio, Monmouth. Initially I thought these cards were restricted to Monmouthshire and the nearby counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, etc., but I have recently found one from Somerset. The ones I've found so far are all of church, abbey and cathedral interiors. To be honest these are not spectacular postcards to look at in the way that say a Raphael Tuck oilette or a Hildesheimer artist drawn postcard are, and in fact they remind me slightly of bland Judges postcards. However, as with most things in life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if these particular typeof vintage postcards are your passion then enjoy the handful that I've posted below.

Carhampton Church, Somerset

Newland Church, near Coleford, Gloucestershire

Skenfrith Church, Monmouthshire

Gloucester Cathedral, detail of the roof transept, north transept

Tintern Abbey, South Window, Monmouthshire