21/01/2020
COKE AUCTIONS
COOLEST ITEMS GO TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER
1 RING PULL EQUALS 100 CREDITS - 500 CREDITS FREE
Published by
BOOMERANG
(Free Rack Cards)
These are a few years old now and I was lucky enough to come across them in a Boomerang rack in my local Odeon cinema, back when it had one. The designs used for this promotion were very bright in colour and clever in their design I thought. I do not know if this is a full set, but this is all the cards that I came across when I picked them up. I depict them all here
21/01/2020
HOLIDAY INN
HOTEL
LONDON-HEATHROW AIRPORT
Official ‘Holiday Inn’ promotional postcard
Printed and Published in Holland by
VITA NOVA
These early advertising postcards from the late 1960’s through to the mid to late 1970’s, are becoming harder to source and interest in them has grown as we move further away from this era. These cards are great for looking at our social history with their depiction of clothing styles, motor cars and postcard styling all of which give a sense of the time in which the card in question was designed and printed. This copy was posted in 1976 but I suspect it came out a bit earlier than this. Pick these up now if you like them as I suspect their value is going to rise.
21/01/2020
BRITISH COLUMBIA
IS CELEBRATING
JOIN US…
FOR TWO CENTENARIES
1966 and 1967
Printed in Litho in Canada
Published on behalf of the
PROVINCIAL CENENNIAL COMMITTEE
VICTORIA, B.C
Ref: C-1456
“1966 marks the Centenary of the Union of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia under the name British Columbia.
1967 marks the Centenary of the Confederation of Canada”
Dated event celebration and commemorative postcard issues tend to have a short shelf life due to their dated topicality. Depending on who is publishing the card this can mean that either just a small number are distributed or, if the event is popular and widespread in its coverage, a large number were placed into circulation. I suspect quite a few of these were printed, but I wonder how many survived?
21/01/2020
ZURICH
Multi-View Postcard
Published by
RUD. SUTER AG, 8942 OBERRIEDEN-ZURICH
Ref: Nr. 16816
I was going through a 20p box in an Oxfam charity shop in Cambridge last Friday when I came across this card. It is a standard styled tourist postcard, similar to thousands of others which can still be found across Europe, but I liked the aeroplane and airport photo that appears bottom centre. Airports is a popular theme and it is worth checking these multi-view postcards as sometimes they appear with nice aeroplanes included. This card was ‘definitely’ worth 20p.
20/01/2020
AMERICAN AIRLINES
IN AMERICA: AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.
U.S.A. – EUROPE: AMERICAN OVERSEAS AIRLINES, INC
THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ROUTE OF THE FLAGSHIPS
Photo By
IVAN DMITRI
Official American Airlines Promotional Postcard
Ref: T-150 B
Another of my American holiday buys and a great official airline postcard. The aeroplane is not named and I am no expert, but I think this is a Douglas DC 4 [my guess revolves around the age of this postcard, but I admit the design is not unsimilar to a DC 6 or a DC 7, but these came along a bit later and I am still going with this being a DC 4].
20/01/2020
FORMING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
DOES YOUR BOYFRIEND MAKE YOU FEEL:
HAPPY, CONFIDENT, RESPECTED, COMFORTABLE AND SECURE?
IF NOT, IS THIS RELATIONSHIP RIGHT FOR YOU?
Published by
PLANET BOOMERANG
Ref: PERSONAL SOCIAL HEALTH EDUCATION Series
A lovely image with a serious message behind it. This postcard was a free rack postcard exclusively placed in schools and universities.
20/01/2020
LEEDS BOOK FAIR
PUDSEY CIVIC HALL
THERE ARE A HUNDRED REASONS FOR GOING TO PUDSEY….
HERES ONE.
Bookmark Shaped Postcard
BOOK POST
Design by
FRED CAMP
I like postcards which are of an unusual shape and Book-Mark (or BOOK POST as this one is labelled on the reverse side) postcards have been around since the turn of the last century, although modern ones are far less common. This size and shape was ideal of course for the promotion of a book fair.
20/01/2020
AQUARELLE D’ALBERT DUBOUT
1962
Published by
JEAN DUBOUT
Ref: D8
The handwritten message written on the reverse side of this French issued postcard is dated 1989 which nicely places this close to its issue time I believe. I believe that the message is written by the artists son (Albert Dubout died in 1976) and his family and the card was sent to Craig Shergold (who I have mentioned before – he was a child with a serious medical condition, who wanted to get into the Guinness book of records with the world’s largest postcard collection – his name turns up on lots of postcards). Jean Dubout was the person who produced the postcards of his father’s artwork (or so I believe).
[For more of Albert Dubout’s cartoons – rather naughty ones at that – check out three postcards depicted under the CENSORED tab, then the ‘Censored 3’ tab]
20/01/2020
RICHARD BLAKE
HANDMADE PERSONAL APPEARANCE POST CARDS
Individually handmade by Richard Blake
TOP
RICHARD BLAKE
POST CARDS
30 AUG 1995
Signed on the front by
RICHARD BLAKE
BOTTOM
BERTIE BEAR
FLIES THE CHRISTMAS MAIL
Signed on the front by
RICHARD BLAKE
There was a time when Richard Blake postcards were abundant, and very collectible, especially in the mid to late 1980’s through to the late 1990’s. I built up quite a collection of his postcards and had the pleasure of meeting Richard at a number of postcard fair events including the 1994 Picture Postcard Centenary show. One of the things I liked about meeting Richard at these events is that he would have a stack of plain postcards which he would then use a special ink stamp pad and press this down on the card and sign it for you at his stall. There were a few of different options and I show two of these here. As these were individually produced for collectors at the stand, they are now quite hard to source, because, obviously, those collectors have mainly kept them, but sometimes odd ones do turn up.
19/01/2020
SOUHAITS
SINCERES
‘Wishes Sincere’
Unknown French Publisher
Ref: 85
Another of the many mid-early French postcards from my collection. I bought many, if not most of them on my trips to Sainte, close to where my in-laws used to live. My many trips to France have given me a great fondness for their early postcards and because they are often also cheap you can build up a reasonable collection at little expense.
This one has the stamp on the front, top left corner, which is quite usual for French postcards of this era and many decades afterwards as well. I also like the pictures which have been used on the front of this card and wonder if they were used on other postcards, possibly even as the main image.
19/01/2020
JERUSALEM
INTERIOR OF EL-AKSA MOSQUE
Published by
THE CAIRO POSTCARD TRUST-CAIRO
Ref: Serie 804
A visit to Jerusalem is on my bucket list of things to do, sooner rather than later. The city is packed with history with no small part of this wrapped up in the El-Aksa [Al-Aqsa] Mosque. This Mosque is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, and it was built on top of the Temple Mount. This would, will, certainly be on my list of places to visit when I get to go.
19/01/2020
RUSSIAN
POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD
Official Russian Postal Stationery Post Card
[I’m not positive about this, but having looked-into-this a little through the internet, I believe this to be a postal stationery post card celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Russian airline Aeroflot, which was celebrated in 1983]
19/01/2020
LONDON AIRPORT
DOUGLAS SKYMASTER DC. 4 - MARSHALLING APRON
VISCOUNT
ELIZABETHAN - LOCKHEED CONSTELLATION
Published by
A. V. FRY & CO, LTD. LONDON
‘FRY’S POST CARD’
Ref: LA 18
A nice early deckle -edged multi-view aeroplane postcard which has some interesting planes included. The Lockheed Constellation has always been a favourite of mine and I love seeing them on old movies and it was probably this plane that led to me buying this card. The plane that interested me most though is the Elizabethan which is a plane I don’t think I previously had on a postcard.
The ‘Elizabethan’ is the popular name used for the Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador, a British twin piston-engined airliner that had its first flight on the 10th July 1947. Information states that this aircraft was in use during the 1950’s and 1960’s, all information which helps me age this postcard, which I had thought was from the 1950’s. They were called ‘Elizabethans’ because they were originally used and made popular by British European Airways in their ‘Elizabethan Class’ passenger service.
19/01/2020
CHINESE NEW YEAR
Novelty Cut-Out
Published by
BOOMERANG
(PLANET ‘BOOMERANG’)
2012 was the last Chinese year of the Dragon and 2024 will be the next, although this postcard here was, I believe, issued in 2000. I have posted lots of ‘Boomerang’ free rack postcards on the webpage, but most of these have been ‘Boomerang Media’ whilst this one is ‘Planet Boomerang’ which was a section of Boomerang which exclusively supplied free postcards in racks inside schools and universities. The Planet Boomerang cards are the hardest of the Boomerang postcards to source, so it was a bonus that I had three kids in the school when Boomerang commenced this section and that they placed a rack in their school… lucky or what? This is one of the cards one of them obtained for me.
18/01/2020
UNITED STATES TREASURY
WASHINGTON. D. C.
Published by
B. S. REYNOLDS CO.,
1202 D. ST., NORTHWEST, WASHINGTON, D. C.
Ref: A-3528
This is one of the many Washington D.C. postcards I picked up in Flagstaff in Arizona on my trip across America in 2018. I came across a group of older Washington D.C. postcards in an antique’s shop all priced at just 50 cents each. I bought all of them that depicted buildings I had seen when I had been in Washington D. C. just a week or so beforehand. I also like the way these were printed, both on the front and the reverse sides.
18/01/2020
NATIONAL ANIMALS
AUSTRALIA – THAILAND – SOUTH AFRICA – CHINA – JAPAN
By
CHOW HON LAM
Published by
PAPER PLANES
Ref: PAP017
I loved this postcard design as soon as I saw it. I am a big fan of all monster movies and especially King Kong and Godzilla films. This design made me laugh and I had to have it.
18/01/2020
CAMBRIDGE LANDMARKS
PUNT WARS
By
Cambridge Artist ‘CHIZ’
“Some Cambridge punt operators have been known
to sabotage the rivals’ punts, fortunately not
while they are full of “punters””
Published by
WILLIAMS ART 2018
Ref: 2101
This is one of the postcards I picked up yesterday on my visit to Cambridge. This one was in a sales box at just 20p alongside a couple of other cards in this series (which I also bought, and which will appear on the webpage later).
I have had the pleasure of punting myself both as a passenger in a boat and ‘actually’ punting a boat myself, a couple of times. Its not easy, but it is fun, and I managed to stay onboard and not end up in the river, which I was more than happy about. I don’t know if they allow people to punt their own boats these days (health and safety probably), but if you get the chance then I recommend throwing all caution to the wind and having a go (but don’t forget a change of clothing! Just in case).
18/01/2020
H.M. QUEEN
ELIZABETH II
Printed by
SSL SOUVENIRS & GIFTS
Published by
DESTINATION GIFTS
Ref: RFPOS001
When I was in Cambridge yesterday, I came across this small set of royal themed postcards depicting a member or members of the royal family depicted within a gold gilt frame. I have not seen these before and these days you don’t find too many new royal family postcards. Cambridge is a major tourist destination and therefore has a quite wide range of tourist gift shops many selling what I describe as ‘Patriotic British Mementos’ otherwise known as cheap (although not always) stuff aimed at foreign tourists, not that any of this is a bad thing. Amongst this sort of stuff is lots of items with images of the Queen on them and other members of the royal family. Postcards like this fit in nicely.
WILLIAM & KATE
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE
Printed by
SSL SOUVENIRS & GIFTS
Published by
DESTINATION GIFTS
Ref: RFPOS002
Always popular, William and Kate. Nice to see a new design though. I should also mention that these postcards are slightly larger than the normal postcard size, but not too big.
HARRY & MEGHAN
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUSSEX
Printed by
SSL SOUVENIRS & GIFTS
Published by
DESTINATION GIFTS
Ref: RFPOS003
The news has been released today that as of this spring Harry and Meghan will not be using their HRH titles [His or Her Royal Highness]. This is as a result of their announcement that they were to step down as senior royals. So, what about their appearances on postcards like this? Will we no longer get this type of postcard? I suspect it is quite possible. This is a ‘fairly’ new postcard, but I do wonder if it is one which will be dropped in-the-near future due to all the current changing of positions. I personally don’t think Harry will become so unpopular that they no longer issue any such postcards, but I admit it is a possibility… watch this space.
(breaking news has just reported that Harry will now be known as ‘Harry, Duke of Sussex’ and Meghan as ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’)
UNITED KINGDOM
Printed by
SSL SOUVENIRS & GIFTS
Published by
DESTINATION GIFTS
Ref: RFPOS005
This is a card which does not feature a photograph, but it does feature a well-known outline of her Majesty the Queen. I was interested in this one because it is very much, and deliberately I feel, like the queen’s head that appears on our postage stamp. This stamp head outline on stamps is known by stamp collectors as the Machin Head. I liked this one because of this connection.
18/01/2020
ALL THE WAY FROM FLORIDA
Published by
TICHNOR BROS., INC. BOSTON, MASS
“TICHNOR QUALITY VIEWS”
Ref: 199
I first saw this postcard design on a website about early Floridian postcards. I thought it was a great image and, as readers will know, I have a great fondness for Florida themed postcards, as it is a location I have visited many times and much love. So, I had to try and find a copy of this postcard [collectors will know the urge to obtain something they have either seen in another- persons collection, or in a display or like me either on a webpage or in a book. This feature, or urge is commonplace]. I found a couple on eBay, but they were ‘really’ expensive and had high postage costs from the US. I kept looking though and as the months passed by, I started to give up on ever obtaining one. Thankfully, as you can see, my persistence paid off. OK, not a cheap postcard, but a cracker.
As an aside, this is one massive Alligator! It reminds me a bit, as it did when I first saw this card, of the ending of the feature film ‘Lake Placid’, although in this film it is a giant crocodile rather than an alligator and they are transporting it on the back of a lorry… but you get what I mean.
18/01/2020
THE STORY OF THE EARTH
Painting by
BARRY EVANS
Published by the
GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON
Printed for
THE INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
By
COLIN RICHARDSON PRINTERS LIMITED, YORKSHIRE
Ref: CP 118
This postcard holds a very special and important place in my own postcard collecting story. I have previously mentioned that I initially, when a child and young teenager, only collected postcards depicting animals and wildlife. Then on a school trip to London to visit the museums around South Kensington I found myself in the Geological Museum where in the gift shop I saw this postcard. For some reason, which I still can not explain fully, but I decided I had to have it. So, this became the very first non-wildlife themed postcard to join my collection. Therefore, this was the postcard that started me on the road towards the highly eclectic collection that I have been placing here on this webpage. This postcard has a lot to answer for!
Sadly the Geological Museum is no more, its space now filled with more displays overflowing from the next door Natural History Museum, but if you know where the entrance used to be you can still find the carved GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM stonework sign above the doorway. I look for it every trip and it brings back good memories.
17/01/2020
BERLIN
Published by
HENRI BANKS
The Original Henri Banks Since 2005
I bought this great postcard – which ‘definitely’ does not depict Mickey Mouse, ‘definitely’ not… OK – when I visited the excellent gift shop at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Unfortunately, the source of this piece of artwork is not given but given that this is from Berlin I did wonder if it appeared on the wall or in or around one of the US buildings which went up during the cold war. I was joking above, but clearly there is a couple of aspects to this piece which are symptomatic of Mickey Mouse, which is probably why it appealed to me.
17/01/2020
VOLBEAT
BEYOND HELL, ABOVE HEAVEN
TOUR 2010
Tour for new album (10.09.2010)
Published by
EDGAR FREECARDS
(UNITED AMBIENT MEDIA A[R?]G)
Ref: # 13.376
Free Rack Postcard
Volbeat are a rock band which started out in Copenhagen in 2001. Their music is described as a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal and rockabilly (what ever that combination sounds like!) All their current six albums have gone gold in Denmark (their second album, ‘Rock the metal – Metal the Devil’, went platinum). They have also had hits in Sweden, Austria and the United States, so they have some popularity. This postcard advertises their 2010 tour of Germany.
17/01/2020
UNTITLED
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
Published by
SCRIBBLER
A lovely picture of the Queen when she was younger and, judging from this photograph, very happy. The huge smile gives it away. I have a feeling that her majesty has not been so happy recently what with certain family issues, not that we are unaware of these of course because they have been all over the news, Prince Andrew before Christmas and Prince Harry since.
I bought this postcard around October time when I was in London to record a podcast. I got to visit a London branch of the ‘scribbler’ stationery chain. If you come across one of these shops, then take-a-look inside as they have some interesting exclusive designs.
17/01/2020
HOW TO SEE
EUROPE FORM
AN ARMCHAIR
Motor Pullman Travel Brochure 1929
(From the Robert Opie Collection)
Published by
BBC HOMES & ANTIQUES MAGAZINE
Postcard given away free with a copy of this magazine
The magazine ‘BBC HOMES & ANTIQUES MAGAZINE’ gave away a lot of postcards during the 1990’s but I think this one may well have been the best one they gave away. This is a superb piece of advertising artwork from an early travel brochure. I did have a little laugh though because clearly Robert Opie is not satisfied with filling the shops and museums of the country with his own postcards! He is also giving away images for others to produce on postcards to be given away. Is there no end to his postcard conquest of the UK? (he laughs…)