12/07/2017

BIG CHIEF TEDDY EDWARD

Colour Photograph by Patrick and Mollie Matthews

Published by

J. ARTHUR DIXON

Ref: CP 9311

Teddy Edward was a toy teddy bear that appeared in a British children’s television series based on the books by Patrick and Mollie Matthews which were about the travels and adventures of this bear. There are strangely more postcards available than there were episodes in the series, of which there just 13.

There is no mention of this being a television series on the postcards so you have to be in the know if you collect TV as a theme. The series was first shown in 1973 but was repeated through to around 1980.  

Each programme was a story which was illustrated via photographs, which is where the postcard images originate.

Although not named on the postcard the little rabbit toy far left is Jasmine the Rabbit. The Panda is called ‘Snowytoes’, but I do not know the name of the other teddy bear far right. There was an episode titled ‘Red Indians’ (episode No 7) which I suspect this image came from.

11/07/2017

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

At the weekend, my wife and daughter spent a few days in London. They visited the Natural History Museum during this time and Jo kindly bought me a few of the museum’s postcards. They were all new to me which means I may have to pop up there and have a look myself as the ones here I think are very good.

CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN (1809 – 1882)

Cartoon of Darwin as an ape, which first appeared in the ‘London Sketch Book’

I have always been a big fan of the work of Charles Darwin and much of my childhood fascination was initiated when I found that we shared the same birthday (and, no, I am not that old, I am referring to month and day!!). This cartoon depicted here is extremely well known and appears in most of the books which talk about Darwin and his theory of evolution.

TAKE SOMETHING HOME WITH YOU FROM THE

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM SHOP

Poster Design

A Poster from the 1980’s promoting the Museum shop at the Natural History Museum, London

I remember seeing this poster as I was a regular visitor to the museum as a child and teenager during the 1970’s and 1980’s, and, I think I have mentioned before that the museum’s range of postcards was one of the founding forces on my own collecting. I believe that if I had not visited the museum and bought so many postcards there I might not have been the collector I am today. It is therefore a real delight to see this poster now appearing on one of their new(ish) postcards.

BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY)

BRITISH METEORITES

5 CARDS IN MONOCHROME

SET D2 – Sixpence

‘Envelope cover of the British meteorites postcard set’

The cover of an envelope that contained a set of five postcards. The set was published by the Natural History Museum in 1922.

This postcard has added ‘postcard’ interest as it depicts the cover of a museum postcard set from 1922. I have not seen these postcards but this now does give me something to look out for. I also think this is a great image of the front of the museum.

When I was younger I never really enjoyed the gemstones and rocks that appeared in the hall displaying these (it was on the first floor upstairs and to the right), but I always loved the big meteorite that was on display at the far end.

LESSER FLAMINGO

(PHOENICONAIAS MINOR)

‘A pencil and watercolour drawing by the British soldier, ornithologist and painter Claude Gibney Finch-Davies (18175 – 1920), taken from his African birds sketchbook’

One of the more unusual, but beautiful, images from the museum’s collection of art

MUSEUM OF

NATURAL HISTORY

SOUTH KENSINGTON

Museum of Natural History by Edward McKnight Kauffer, 1923’

Poster published by Underground Electric Railways Company Ltd in 1923. It was printed in double royal format (100cm x 63cm) by Vincent Brooks Day & Son Ltd

This is one poster design which I was aware of as the same image can also be found on an early postcard published by the company ‘Camden Graphics’ (although like many, or most, of the poster postcards published by this company the card comes with a white boarder to the front).    

11/07/2017

MEMBERS OF THE CONCORDE STUDY CIRCLE

LONDON FEBRUARY 2017

‘Members of the Concorde Study Circle (CSC) at their meeting in London in Feb. 2017’

Privately produced Postcard

Limited to just 10 copies

A very special little old postcard this one as I can only show it to you because I am a member of the Concorde Study Circle and am one of the nine people depicted here on this photograph. There were ten members present for this meeting, the tenth, Stewart, took the photograph (he appears in a photograph on the reverse side – see below). All ten of us have received a copy of this postcard, which was produced by Henk, who is fourth in from the right side. Yours truly appears on the far-left side of the photograph. Don’t expect to see any of these for sale too soon as I suspect the people depicted will want to keep their copies.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

The ten postcards were posted from Rotterdam using a Nederland ‘International’ value Concorde stamp, cancelled with a Rotterdam wavy line machine cancel. Bottom left you can see the tenth member at the event, which I should mention was held at the bi-annual STAMPEX show (the ‘Spring Stampex’ show).

11/07/2017

UNTITLED POSTCARD

“Southend on Sea – yacht ‘Britannia’

06/09/1915

Ref: 519G

This postcard depicts a fascinating image which is packed with social history. It depicts a ‘fairly reasonable’ sized boat which appears to be packed (health & Safety would go nuts today) with passengers, who I assume are tourists or locals out for the day at the seaside.

There is unfortunately no printed informative text either on the front or reverse side of this postcard. But, someone has hand written “Southend on Sea – Yacht ‘Britannia’ – 6/9/15” on the reverse side. Now, here in lies the dilemma, is this someone being very helpful and providing information about the image depicted? Or did someone just need to write this down somewhere and used this postcard? I believe the former is more likely. And, if so, this is a local image from my home town, and it is a cracker. If the photograph could be confirmed as being an image from Southend then this would be a £25+ card. My heartfelt hope is that it is because I love this picture.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

With the hand written note

10/07/2017

MARILYN MONROE

1926 – 1962

IN MEMORIAM

1^ST JUNE 2016 WOULD HAVE BEEN HER 90^TH BIRTHDAY

Published by

CoIR CARDS

Ref: 2016.CR.204

Another unusual postcard published by this very interesting postcard producer. This one, clearly, was from last year and celebrated what would have been Monroe’s 90^th Birthday.

10/07/2017

A PAS CONTES

17e FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL JEUNE & TOUS PUBLICS DIJON. COTE D’OR

10 FEV – 24 FEV 2017

Translates literally as:

A NOT TALKED
17th INTERNATIONAL YOUTH & ALL PUBLIC FESTIVAL DIJON. GOLDEN COAST
10 FEV - 24 FEB 2017

My friend Charles sent me this postcard which I assume, because he has failed to tell me, he picked up on holiday in France. The poster like design has a very ‘French’ feel to it and I suspect that I would have known which country this was from even if it had no text on it. With all the little individual items shown on the shelves this has the potential to fit in several different thematic collections. My friend who collects ghosts on postcards could add it to his collection as there is a typical ‘sheet’ version ghost on the bottom shelf.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

I am not sure if this is supposed to be an alligator or a crocodile, if I had to guess (to be sure I would need to see the snout end on as Alligators are wider and Crocodiles more pointed) I would say Alligator Which ever it is it adds a nice little bit of extra interest in the postcard.     

09/07/2017

BRITISH AIRWAYS CONCORDE

Published by

J. ARTHUR DIXON

Ref: PNA/22095

A quick posting tonight before I go to sleep to try and catch up from a weekend’s cub camp! So, I have decided to post one from Concorde collection. This is an art image showing the British Airways Concorde, in my opinion a ‘really’ nice image.

07/07/2017

UNTITLED

1964

By

JAMES ROSENQUIST

Published by

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN

Ref: P14

I love this piece of art and I think it fits nicely in my film collection. Joan Crawford was of course one of Hollywood’s great actresses, although I believe her private life had some issues, but, this is still a great postcard.  

07/07/2017

EUROPEAN WAR 1914 – 1917

NESLE

‘REMAINS OF THE RAILWAY-STATION’

Ce qui reste de la Gare

Published by

LL

LEVY FILS ET CIE PARIS

Ref: ‘Vise Paris No 859’

I have had this card in my collection for many years now. It appealed to me because of my interest in military history but also because I liked the fact that the title is the ‘EUROPEAN WAR’ and the fact that the war is clearly dated as the 1914 – 1917 war. Obviously, this is because the card was printed in 1917 and the war had not yet finished. These aspects of the card are what drew me to it.

This card depicts a lone French soldier standing on the platform of what was, before what looks like some heavy shelling, a railway station. The station was in Nesle which is in the Somme region of France.

06/07/2017

DARRELL LEA

CHOCOLATES

Unknown Chocolate Shop circa 1950’s

(Darrell Lea Library)

“THANKS FOR MY DAD’S BAG”

“Darrell Lea is an Australian company established in 1927 and has grown from a small factory under the Sydney Harbour Bridge to one of Australia’s most adored brands, shared and loved for generations”

(Text from reverse side of Postcard)

I think this is a cracking photograph but it is a shame the company did not record where the photograph was taken. I would definitely would have wanted to have gone into this shop, Butterscotch at 1’6, one of my favourite sweets. This is the type of unusual postcard which is full of interest and often cheap when you find them.

06/07/2017

RED ROSE POSTCARD CLUB

SPRING FAIR 1989

“OLD FASHIONED GREETINGS”

RED ROSE POSTCARD CLUB EIGHTH POSTCARD FAIR

Canterbury Hall

PRESTON

Saturday 15^th April

I believe these were souvenir postcards, possibly handed out as people went in and some may have been used as advanced promotional items (I’m not positive). The cards were individually numbered in the stamp box on the reverse side (my one here is No 71). A nice card, simple, but delightful.

SECTION FROM TOP OF REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

06/07/2017

CAROL LEE SCOTT ….. RIP

Carol Waterman 20^th December 1942 – 3^rd July 2017

Actress best remembered in the UK for playing the character of the witch called ‘Grotbags’ in the children’s Television series called ‘Emu’s World’.

OFFICIAL POSTCARD

EMU’S WORLD

Official Central TV postcard

I remember this series which was on when I was ‘actually’ too old for children’s television but Grotbags, the green witch character that Carol Lee Scott played, appeared on television until 1993 and my own children watched the show. On this postcard, she can be seen standing beside a crocodile character. This copy from my collection is signed on the reverse side (see below)

REVERSE SIDE ABOVE POSTCARD

Signed by actress Carol Lee Scott

05/07/2017

STARSKY & HUTCH

Official Promotional Postcard

(No published/printer is shown – this was almost certainly produced for the company that produced the television show and was probably sent out to people who wrote into the show requesting a signed card – Most of this type of card were printed by a company called TAMKIN – and this one may well also be by this company)

This is quite a ‘sought after’ card because the programme had quite a dedicated fan base and even now people, especially in America, want items which bring back nostalgia from their youth. This one is black and white, which is quite unusual as most of these are normally colour photographs. This one is probably catalogued around £5, but I have seen one sell for £8.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

This is the standard format for many of these cards, the programmes title across the top and then the printed signatures of the depicted stars underneath. Collectors of these cards in America (and the few here in the UK) are well aware of these cards and how they look.

05/07/2017

CURVE LURVE

If you grow them, know them!

McGRATH FOUNDATION

McGRATH BREAST CARE NURSES

Published by

AVANTCARD AUSTRALIA

Ref: #17205

Issued 2013

A fascinating and delightful way to promote breast care and knowledge. The front design is based on the 1940’s and 1950’s Americana style of pop-art, as often seen on the nose cones of American WWII bombers and advertising posters of that era. I love this card.

AVANTCARD AUSTRALIA

NEWS UPDATE

Sadly, Avantcard Australia have this month ceased postcard production. Their very last postcard issue depicted an image of Elvis Presley. A friend in Australia has obtained a copy for me and is bringing it over on a visit in September and we are meeting up and I will then be able to depict this final issue here on the webpage. Avantcard have been issuing postcards since 1992 and they have numbered them, which is a real bonus to collectors but I doubt anyone would be able to collect them all as the final numbered card is #20850. I can’t wait to show you the card (although I am greatly saddened that there will be no more ‘Avantcard Australia’ issues – the end of an era).

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

 I show this because this is a good cause and the details – if you are in Australia – are useful

04/07/2017

H.R.H. PRINCESS DIANA

LONDON

Published by

PAPER MILL PRESS S. L

(PAPER MILL CARDS)

Ref: 4494

This company have produced a nice little range of Royalty postcards and they were quite cheap when they first came out. I have collected Princess Diana postcards since the Royal Wedding back in 1981 produced so many related postcards (an event which kick started the last big modern postcard era). Cheaper issues like this were often not sort so much as the scarcer limited-edition postcards but over time these are going to harder to find, especially in good condition. I doubt these will ever have monetary value but they do expand a themed collection.

H.R.H. PRINCESS DIANA

LONDON

Published by

PAPER MILL PRESS S. L

(PAPER MILL CARDS)

Ref: 4495

The next card in the numbered series from this company and another Princess Diana postcard. Unfortunately, the cards do not give details of where or when these photographs (by Bob Thomas) were taken, although judging from the cloths being worn here this one was taken somewhere in Scotland, possibly at one of the Highland Games that the royal family attended.

04/07/2017

CEYLON

POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD

5 CENTS - Blue on buff card

Issued 1885

Higgins & Gage (‘World Postal Stationery Catalog’ Section 3) – Ref No 17

This early postal stationery postcard is one of the cheaper Ceylon early items but I like the use of blue printing. The card shown here has the pre-printed 5 cents stamp cancelled with a ‘COLOMBO’ circular single ring date stamp which I think is dated for September 3^rd, 1895 (it is the year part I am not certain of). This is some years after the cards release so I am not sure if or why this date would be important or significant, especially as this is not addressed and has no message on the other side. So, it seems t have been cancelled without having been posted and this normally means that the cancel has some relevance. It is possible that the original person who picked up this card was a collector of hand stamps and had this applied for his (or her) collection.

04/07/2017

GERMANY

POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD

19 Pfennig value pre-printed stamp

This post-WWII issue is one of many (and I mean MANY) postal stationery card items from the immediate post-war era. I have no catalogue for the cards from this era as the specialist books are quite expensive (and huge) and I am not that much of a dedicated collector.

This particular card was acquired because of the special hand stamp that has been used on it:

BUTTSTADT

Bekannt durch reine

Pferdemarkte

12 – 6 - 48

(Buttstadt – Pure – Horse Market)

For any collector of ‘Horse’ themed philatelic material this hand stamp would make this a very interesting item. I am aware that there are specialist horse collectors out there and I suspect the person who had this card hand stamped back in 1948 was also interested mainly in the hand stamp.

04/07/2017

2^nd PRITTLEWELL (ST LUKES) SCOUT GROUP OF SOUTHEND

Celebrated its Diamond Jubilee, in the year beginning 2^nd. August 1988.

The first scouts were recruited from the Sunday School and the present members had their photograph taken after Church Parade on the 8^th January 1989

Limited Edition of 250 postcard

Printed by

Thought Factory

(as a private publication)

This is my scout group in Southend. I used to be an Assistant Scout Leader here back in the mid 1980’s and eventually became the Scout Leader for a few years into the early 1990’s when work initially prevented me continuing because of the shift pattern. I returned in the early 2000’s as an Assistant Cub Scout Leader and I am still here now.

Back in 1988 it was my idea to produce this special commemorative postcard but sadly, due again to the shift pattern I was working, I was unable to make this photo-shoot so I am not in the picture. The picture itself was taken by my wife Jo and then I sorted out its printing and distribution. Copies were sold to raise funds for the group and it did really well as the parents of all the kids depicted bought copies to keep and to send to relatives and friends.

The card’s image is quite poignant as my father-in-law Brian is depicted top right, he was the Group Scout Leader at the time, as he sadly passed away this January.

This card would appeal to the many ‘Scout’ theme collectors out there but it also has a local history interest and there is the fact that only 250 were printed so there are not that many available, and most are in the hands of family members.

REVERSE SIDE ABOVE POSTCARD

I bought a small number of this card for my own collection and I had a card used with the 1989 19p European Parliament Third Direct Elections stamp (SG 1433) which I had cancelled first day of issue with the Basildon basic circular FIRST DAY OF ISSUE hand stamp, dated 11 APR 1989 (at the time I was living in Pitsea, a sub area of Basildon, which explains why this has a Basildon hand stamp rather than a Southend one (I lived in Pitsea for around three or four years and it was the only time I have not lived in the Southend area).

04/07/2017

(TOP)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 1

BOBCAT

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

(BOTTOM)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 1

BOB-WHITE QUAIL

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

This is a series that I came across on eBay whilst looking for new wildlife postcards for my collection. The series is from the very late 1930’s into the 1940’s and the cards are from America and depict American birds and mammals. Each card has a potted information text area on the reverse side which gives you some interesting information about the depicted animal.

You can find these on eBay at almost any price between £2.50 and £9 each with the mammal ones seemingly being the most expensive. I loved this series and was very fortunate to buy a group of eleven of these cards for just £11, which was a bargain and one which I think I was fortunate to pick up on eBay. So, here I shall depict the ones I picked up along with images of the reverse sides which give a nice block of information.

REVERSE SIDES OF THE ABOVE TWO POSTCARDS

BOBCAT

BOB-WHITE QUAIL

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 3

COMMON TERN

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 4

BLACK BEAR

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

(I have seen this on eBay priced at £2.90 and £9, but both came witha £13+ postage and packing charge so neither was a cheap option)

REVERSE SIDES OF THE ABOVE TWO POSTCARDS

COMMON TERN

BLACK BEAR

(TOP)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 7

THE SCAUP DUCK

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

(BOTTOM)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 9

THE CANVASBACK

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

REVERSE SIDES OF THE ABOVE TWO POSTCARDS

THE SCAUP DUCK

THE CANVASBACK

(TOP)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 11

RUFFED GROUSE

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

(BOTTOM)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 12

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

REVERSE SIDES OF THE ABOVE TWO POSTCARDS

RUFFED GROUSE

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

(TOP)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 13

AMERICAN PINTAIL

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

(BOTTOM)

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 14

BLUEBIRD

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

REVERSE SIDES OF THE ABOVE TWO POSTCARDS

AMERICAN PINTAIL

                                BLUEBIRD

WILDLIFE POST CARD SERIES

‘AMERICA’S WILDLIFE RESOURCES’

SUBJECT 15

WOODCOCK

Copyright 1939

National Wildlife Publishing Corp., New York

As you can see from the numbering system I am short of some of the cards in this series but now that I have obtained this selection at a reasonable price I don’t mind, too much, paying out for the rest of the cards in the series.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

04/07/2017

SHERATON-ANAHEIM HOTEL

Published by

Dom McIntyre-Photography

Printed via

KOLOR VIEW PRESS

“348 luxurious super-size rooms in a delightful setting, adjacent to Disneyland and close to Knott’s Berry Farm, Movieland Wax Museum, Convention Center and Anaheim Stadium. Falstaff Dining Room and Tavern, Happy Yeoman Lounge, Coffee Shoppe. Free Parking, heated pool, color TV, free transportation to Disneyland. Ideal for families. Extensive Banquet and Meeting Facilities”

(Text from reverse side of postcard)

Hotel and motel postcards are extremely common in America, and, Motel postcards are collected as a theme within themselves. This one interested me because of its mention of both Disneyland and ‘color TV’. The Disneyland connection is minor but it is there. I also liked the old English castle like structure of this hotel as well.

According to the internet this hotel has now ‘closed down’ for good. I wonder when this happened as it looked like an interesting place to stay and I don’t think it was that long ago it closed.

04/07/2017

WONDERGROUND GALLERY

WALT DISNEY WORLD

FLORIDA

Original Artwork of

“Honorable Daughter’

By Artist

Jerrod Maruyama

It has been awhile since my last ‘Wonderground’ posting but, as you know, I like these a lot (despite their price) and this one is another of those obtained last November on my holiday in Florida. This time the subject matter is Mulan and she is depicted in four different guises depending on the theories of the adults around her. One of the nicer cards in this extensive series.

04/07/2017

GREETINGS FROM

GOTHAM CITY

Unknown Publisher or Printer

From the USA

This design is based on the current television series ‘GOTHAM’ and is probably a privately produced card printed in quite low numbers (I suspect – there are no printed details on the reverse side – just the stamp box, centre dividing line and address lines). I think it is a great card and I love Airships so it has extra interest for me. It cost me $2 from a specialised comic-book sci-fi shop in the International Drive area of Orlando. Worth every cent I reckon. So far this is the only postcard I have related to this new TV series.

04/07/2017

“WILLKOMMEN, BIENVENUE, WELCOME”

Published by

BOOMERANG

In their:

“CINEMA IN CARDS”

Series

Ref: No 66 

BOOMERANG

“CINEMA IN CARDS”

SERIES

Time for another postcard from this very large series of cards which depict a phrase or quote from a specific film. Some of these are easy to work out, some from the fact that the quote is famous, some from the design of the card and others from personal fandom for that film. This one might well be up there with the easiest of these cards to identify the film from. This one is clearly for ‘Cabaret’. 

03/07/2017

HMS TAXES

‘THERE ARE NOW MORE TAXMEN AT THE INLAND REVENUE THAN THERE ARE SAILORS IN THE ROYAL NAVY’

Published by

SMALL BUISNESS BUREAU (London)

Printed by

JOHN BROWN (PRINTERS) LTD

A simple cartoon postcard from either 1980’s or early 1990’s with a comment that was much in use around this time as a moan towards the number of taxmen. I suspect nothing much has changed except the number of sailors is now probably far less than then.

03/07/2017

UNTITLED DESIGN

Christmas themed

Novelty Item

Published by

NEWBIE CARD

Is this a true postcard? I suspect not. Is it a postcard release? Well, yes. It comes from a postcard publisher and is a card in their series. What this actually looks like is four ‘gift tags’ blocked together to make a postcard sized card. The idea is that you cut along the dotted lines and then there is a place for a FROM name and a TOO name – then you place one of these on a xmas present. Unusual and a must for me with my interest in the novelty cards. Definitely, a strange one though.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

TRIUMPH INTERNATIONAL

RADICAL IN RED – LUXURIOUS IN RED

Unknown Publisher

(Possibly a ‘Triumph International’ official)

This is another card which is made up of ‘Gift Tags’ although this time there is just the two. The images would certainly place this card in the ‘Glamour’ category but it would again also grace any Novelty collection as well (which is where it resides in my collection). I doubt anyone collecting novelty ‘Gift Tag’ postcards would have very many I their collection

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

03/07/2017

PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE

Poster Design

NORMAN WISDON

Published by

THE BADGER PRESS

“A BADGER POST CARD”

Ref: P21

The Badger Press company issued a wide range of very interesting postcards depicting theatre posters. The cards are an excellent source of unusual performers who are sometimes not easy to find on postcards. They are also of course a superb source of theatre history. When I come across these in dealer’s stock I check them for the names of known TV presenters and entertainers.