1950s Eastbourne

A passenger on a open-top bus snaps Eastbourne sea-front around 1951. A touring coach has parked up and edges into the shot, a Leyland TD2/Harrington all the way from Manchester. A scan from a negative in my collection.

Wish you were here?

My general rule of thumb as to whether something is old enough to qualify for inclusion into Vintage Stuff is that it must be at least 25 years old. As I have estimated that the postcard above originated around 1990, it just slips in under the wire to be the most modern item on here so far.

Published by Coastal Colour Ltd., about whom I can find little, it illustrates the delights to be savoured at the Essex seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea. Presumably she will be there to greet you personally as you step from the train. I seem to remember similar cards being sold at the likes of Brighton and Southend, perhaps even using the same model, alongside the more traditional 'saucy postcards'.

Bought recently at Oxfam for the princely sum of 49p.

Art Deco in Cumberland

My only visit to the Cumberland town of Whitehaven was on a railway trip in 1979, taking scant interest in the local bus scene. I was therefore unaware of the splendid art deco 1932-built bus station situated on New Road. Closed under Stagecoach, it's future use is uncertain with the site being used for housing being a possibility, although there is a local desire to retain the frontage.

This picture, from a negative in my collection, dates from around 1955, the crew of one of the 1951 all-Leyland PD2s apparently in heated discussion before departure.

Life before Wikipedia

Before the internet, most homes would have at least one copy of an encyclopaedia, possibly a Pears, while many would proudly display a full set, such as Encyclopaedia Britannica (the last print edition - running to 32 volumes - was printed in 2010). The set of choice in our house when growing up was that produced by Arthur Mee, although I note that he died in 1943, so that I hope it had been updated for our 1960s consumption! I have a feeling that my father bought it from a man selling encyclopaedias from door to door, a common enough event back then.

This little flyer fell out of the Daily Mail Yearbook for 1961, offering a free trial of the Newnes Popular Encyclopaedia, not one that I had previously heard. The cash price was £15.00 or an extra 15/- should you opt to pay over fifteen months. The only full 8-volume I have found at the moment costs £35 plus p&p, but many odd single volumes appear to be around. I can't imagine that there is much of a market these days!