Does Anyone know Algy?
an old postcard leads to Music Hall memories
Read MoreCategory: postcards
Still dreaming of travel
potential travel destinations – real and imaginary
Read MoreCommerce & Christmas
christmas cards from the good old days: sent by companies to customers.
Read More(H)Owls
As the nights draw in and Halloween is nigh’; my thoughts turned to owls – they can be seen as wise but also as menacing, they can be harbingers of lucky news, good health or of death. And here are some examples illustrating these different views – I hope you like them. and if you […]
Read MoreHappy New Year!
Hope you had a good start to 2019 – and that all your hopes and wishes get fulfilled!
Read MoreSpectres
Halloween is coming! If you’d like to see ghosts without any danger attached, here’s the book for you: ‘Spectropia, or Surprising Spectral Illusions’ (first published in 1863) “showing ghosts everywhere and of any colour”. The images are wonderful in their own right – directions below (no technology needed!) Directions: “To see the spectres, it is […]
Read MoreVariations on a tale
“She was my first love. I felt that if I could have married Little Red Riding-Hood, I should have known perfect bliss.” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Tree. These ‘scrap’ or ‘die-cut’ sheets both date from the late 50s/early 60s – one was produced in what was then the GDR, the other in ‘West Germany’. I know […]
Read MoreAre you feline lucky?
Excuse the pun – I couldn’t resist! There’s not only the international ‘Black Cat Appreciation Day’ (always in August) but also a ‘National Black Cat Day’ here in the UK (always in October). Why?According to the Cat Protection Society, it takes a week longer for black cats to be housed than other cats. One of […]
Read MoreGames without Frontiers
Spiel ohne Grenzen, Jeux Sans Frontieres, It’s a Knockout… Apparently the French title was the inspiration for the song “Games without frontiers‘ by Peter Gabriel: He even sang it in German (the lyrics are rather difficult to make out) I was – and still am – fully subscribed to the idea of all countries being able […]
Read MoreTales of Wonder
Luck or Fate would have it that I noticed and was able to attend an illustrated lecture by Jack Zipes last Thursday. Organised by the Folklore Society it took place at the Warburg Institute in London. “Fairy Tales with Wings: Reading Fairy Tales through Picture Postcards” was the title of the lecture – obviously right […]
Read More