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.

Raphael Kirchner & Georges Leonnec

A little while ago, a friend was having a clear out and sent me a bundle of old postcards. Several French-looking pin ups were soon weeded out for further investigation. They were by two artists, Raphael Kirchner (1876-1917) and Georges Leonnec (1881-1940), who were Austrian and French respectively. Both sets of cards were produced during the First War, although by this time, Kirchner was living in the USA. His cards in particular found their way into the trenches, suggesting that he was one of the first 'pin up' artists. Indeed, all my cards have a tiny pin-hole at one end, so may well have bought a little entertainment to a soldier far from home. All were in rather poor condition, despite being postally unused and were a bit grubby (dirty postcards, indeed!). I have done minimal work in Photoshop as I felt that this would lose some of their character if I tidied them up too much. The first three are by Kirchner, the rest by Leonnec;

Scottish Mae West?

A bit of early post-war sauce, with this "Inter-Art" postcard, bought in Brighton a few years ago. Posted and delivered within Lanarkshire in July 1953, Mr J Wright appears to be on a promise........