With a few exceptions, the majority of the hundred or so postcards in the collection put together by my Great Uncle Fowler over one hundred years ago, fit into three distinct geographic categories: East Lancashire where Fowlers' sister Eliza was living at the time; Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire where the family originated … Continue reading Fowlers’ Cards : The Longtown Connection
Category: Vintage Postcards
Fowler’s Cards : Keighley Mechanics
The second of the cards from my Great Uncle, Fowler Beanland's postcard collection shows a view of Keighley Mechanics Institute, which is quite appropriate, as the Beanland family were rooted in Keighley and they were mechanics of one sort or another for generation after generation. The Mechanics Institute was a fine building that stood at … Continue reading Fowler’s Cards : Keighley Mechanics
Fowler’s Cards : John Bright
If I've inherited my love of collecting things from anyone, it must be from my Great Uncle Fowler Beanland. Uncle Fowler - whose name was always pronounced "Fooler" within the family - was an avid collector of picture postcards during the early years of the twentieth century. His collection of cards was housed in a … Continue reading Fowler’s Cards : John Bright
Roadworks On Salterhebble Hill
I have just added a new vintage postcard to my collection which shows "St Luke's Hospital and Salterhebble Hill, Halifax" The card was posted in May 1917, but I suspect that the photograph dates from at least a decade before that. St Luke's Hospital was the original name for what later became Halifax General Hospital, … Continue reading Roadworks On Salterhebble Hill
Nuts And Sweets And A Trip To The Dentist
Here is another of those wonderful old picture postcards of Halifax from the turn of the twentieth century, which provides an insight into both the public persona of the town and, at the same time, the private persona of its citizens. The public persona is provided by the front of the card, posted in May … Continue reading Nuts And Sweets And A Trip To The Dentist
Wainhouse Tower And The Sea Of Truth
Jacob D Saddleworth in his seminal book "The Principles And Practices Of Pointlessness" stated that the abandonment of objectives need not necessarily lead to the rejection of purpose; especially in the context of linear progression. He used the memorable example of a river in its progress towards the ocean - an example I couldn't help … Continue reading Wainhouse Tower And The Sea Of Truth
My Dearest May
I have been collecting old picture postcards for the best part of forty years. What attracts me to them is that they represent little nuggets of history, brought to life through, not only the picture, but also the brief message that they contain.. This postcard of the River Danube in Budapest is one of the … Continue reading My Dearest May
CELEBRITY LOVE
We tend to think of "celebrity culture" - and all the tissue-paper thin emotions and over-dramatic excesses which accompany it - as a recent phenomenon. But as any self-respecting elephant will tell you, few things are new in this world of ours. Step forward into the limelight Miss Mabel Love. Born in the English seaside resort … Continue reading CELEBRITY LOVE
ROMEO REMEMBERED
The Edwardian actor, Harcourt Williams, As Romeo (1905) The absence of Instagram and the like back in Edwardian times meant that celebrities had to turn to other methods of "getting themselves out there". Luckily they were able to climb onto the great postcard craze bandwagon. Ernest George Harcourt Williams (1880-1957) began his career playing Mr … Continue reading ROMEO REMEMBERED
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