Cute Kittens, by artist E.L.Beckles

Well, what a great find these vintage postcards were. Amongst a whole bunch of modern, and quite honestly uninteresting postcards, I found these. As I was flicking through the batch quite quickly I only spotted one initially, but something made me go back and look more closely, unearthing another two.

I do wonder if I had looked through all the racks in that much detail whether I would have found the complete set.

All 3 postcards are by a postcard artist who is new to me, E.L.Beckles, and were published by Valentine in the Kitten series. None of them are postally used but date to around the late 1940's or early 1950's.

What I particularly like is that the kittens are cute, but not overly so (if that makes sense). The colours are striking yet subtle at the same time. I think my favourite of the 3 is probably Sweets For the Sweet, although this final one, Three Little Beauties, is also lovely.

As usual, postcards like these and 100's of others can be found on my vintage postcards website

Moonlight views

Today's vintage postcard blog update features postcards depicting moonlight scenes. I have some others but these three are probably my favourites. The colours on these postcards are really beautiful and almost make you feel like you're really there.

Postcard was published by Boots the Cash Chemists in their Moonlight on the River Series.

Moonlit lake scene, a panel postcard published by C.W.Faulkner

Moon over the Sea, published by Alphalsa, number 521

Check out my vintage postcard website for hundreds more postcards

Pavilions from across the UK

Today's vintage blog post covers the subject of Pavilions. Over the years I seem to have collected quite a few pavilions on postcards, a handful of which I'll share below. From my research it's good to see that many are still in use today, albeit serving different purposes than originally intended ... the concert hall has indeed been replaced by the shopping centre.

De La Warr Pavilion and Colonade, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, c.1956

The De La Warr Pavilion is one of the UK's earliest buildings to be built in the Modernist style. It was commissioned in 1935 by the 9th Earl De La Warr using the architects Serge Chermayeff and Erich Mendelsohn.

The Pavilion by Night, Brighton, Sussex, c.1933

The Pavilion in Brighton, also referred to as the Royal Pavilion, was built at the beginning of the 19th century for George IV, then Prince Regent, and frequented by Regency society

The Pavilion, Victoria Park, Leicester

I think this is the 'original' Leicester Pavilion which was damaged during the war and later reconstructed.

Promenade and Pavilion, Llandudno, Wales

Opened in 1886, surviving until 1994 when it was largely destroyed by vandalism followed by a fire. Originally popular as a Victorian holiday attraction, and later as a venue for political conferences, where allegedly one Margaret Thatcher set her mind on a career in politics.

The Pavilion, Torquay, Devon, c.1914

Opened in 1912 as a concert hall. Concerts were held in the pavilion until 1976. Alas it's now a shopping centre, but at least it's still standing.

The Pavilion, Ramsgate, Kent, c.1910

The Ramsgate Pavilion was opened in 1904 by one of Queen Victoria's daughters. It's now a casino.

The Pier, Bandstand and White Rock, Pavilion, Hastings, Sussex, c.1954

Built in 1927 for concerts and theatre performances. Still in use today.


Check out my web site for these and other vintage postcards