Saturday, 15 October 2011

Richmond, Surrey, 1910

Richmond, Surrey, 1910. This postcard, published by Lovell Smith of Richmond, is a bit of a mystery. Lovell Smith published many postcards of the famous Richmond Horse Show, so this may have been taken at that event. It is equally possible that it was taken at a May Day fair or any other similar celebration. I bought this postcard very recently at a postcard fair for a few pounds. There is nothing on the back other than the date 1910 written in the same ink as the 'X' on the front of the postcard. What is fascinating is the postcard itself, or rather the people in the postcard. I particularly like the contrast between the well-dressed young man on the left compared to the impoverished young man on the right. Their posture speaks volumes about their social standing, both posing with some pride, but in a very different way to each other. I don't think either of them are connected to the family in the centre of the picture. Many of the other people in the picture are smiling, something that you don't often see in old postcards. One of those postcards that rewards close study, every time I look at it I see something new. There are some fabulous hats on display here. Sorry, no 'now' picture in Google Street View this week as I haven't pinned down the location. For more old pictures please visit the Sepia Saturday blog. As always, click the postcard to enlarge.

14 comments:

  1. I could spend hours looking at this photo. What a wealth of information and a world of mystery. Your observation about the two young men is very astute. It brings to mind the classic 'trading places' motif of plays and movies. What if they looked alike and could switch identities for awhile? How would their world view change? There are so many expressions, stances, outfits, and unknowns in this photo. I'm glad you bought it.

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  2. I totally agree with Christine, you could even call it a sea of hats...those little girls in the front, so darling! It's a great photo, and to glimpse into the stories of these people, even just a few, imagine how that would read!

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  3. That's a fabulous photo - especially when you look at if full size. A costumier's dream...

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  4. A wonderful photo, with so much detail and so much to look at, all the expressions, fashions, poses, absolutely wonderful! I would so love to know who they are :)

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  5. Well worth the few pounds Howard. As you know I always admire your postcards with lots of people in them and this one gets the prize. Wonderfuly casual; it’s as though many of them were caught off guard, especially the little girl bending down to pick something up!

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  6. What a great variety of people. Do the signs in the background offer any clues?

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  7. This is a great photo indeed. I like the variety of expressions on the faces. Look at the little girl peaking out from behind on the left side.

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  8. For some reason or another the words of the old Harry Campion music hall song 'Any Old Iron' came to mind when I saw the watch chains in the photo - the young toff and the man with the pipe.

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  9. Quite a cross-section of society here. But I'm thinking that the appearance of a camera, at a public event, would probably have drawn the attention of all, in those days.

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  10. I love this candid shot. It is a shame that we so frequently have everyone line up for a posed photo and miss out on the story that could be captured with less formal photographs. Great postcard!

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  11. There are so many people obviously posing for this shot that it strikes me the photographer probably handed out tickets immediately afterwards, and those who wanted a copy could return half an hour later to buy one. Not too different, in fact, to those produced by Bailey of Bournemouth as illustrated in my previous Sepia Saturday post All Aboard the Bournemouth Queen.

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  12. The young man on the left is quite a dandy!

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  13. A wonderful find! Last year I visited an exhibition of Victorian paintings with the theme of story telling realism. There were many oil paintings with large masses of people similarly posed that tried to depict the same quick momment that this photographer captured in an instant.

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  14. I wonder if the scruffy looking boy just jumped into this group - an original party crasher. He looks so darn out of place. Sad and funny at the same time.
    Nancy
    Ladies of the grove

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