Friday 31 January 2014

Godalming Station, Surrey, c1913

Godalming Station, Surrey, c1913. Godalming Station seems relatively unchanged in the last hundred years. Postcard by W. H. Applebee. Click the postcard to enlarge.
For more old images have a look at the Sepia Saturday blog.



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Wednesday 22 January 2014

Old Kent Road, London, 1911

Old Kent Road, London, 1911. This lovely postcard shows the premises of Meta Dowden's shop at 652 Old Kent Road, London, dealing in confectionery, toys and fancy goods. Meta Whitting Dowden was born in 1886 in North Nibley, Gloucestershire. It is very likely that the lady posing in front of the shop is Meta herself. The message on the back is interesting, Meta has sent the postcard to a recently married acquaintance who is in Paris but she has forgotten her friend's married name. She has addressed the postcard to "Mrs F S-----, formerly Miss Corderoy. A Florence Corderoy from Croydon married either Wilfred Blumberg or Reginald Gates in 1911 so it is possible that it is her and Meta has mistaken the B of Blumberg or the G of Gates for an 'S'.

I've included a scan of the back, here is a transcript:
"Dear Flo, I thought I would call and see you to find out how you were getting on. You remember Miss Streeter, a dark young lady in the millinery showroom, rather short and stout. She gets married tomorrow (Wed May 24th) and thinks of calling on you if she has time. She will be in Paris for a few days. Sorry I can't think of your name. Best love from yours, Meta".

The building on the front of the postcard still exists, on the Google Street View image (dated May 2012) 652 Old Kent Road is the premises of Zenith Training. Click the postcard images to enlarge (then right-click and 'save as' to download high resolution copies).



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