Ripley, Surrey, 1913 & The Strange Obliteration of Ruth Hill

Ripley, Surrey, 1913. These postcards, all photographed and published by W. H. Applebee of Ashford, Middlesex in 1913 show various views of Ripley, a village near Woking. If we study the first image, Ripley Court WHA 6, we can clearly see a young lady. She has been identified as Ruth Lydia Hill, born 1898, granddaughter of Alfred Hill, a 'bootmaker, clothing and draper'. A later version of the same postcard, Ripley Court WHA 3946 shows the same image, but poor Ruth has been crudely obliterated by the photographer, scratching her out of the negative.
The next image, Rose Lane Ripley WHA 4 shows Ruth on her bicycle next to a boy. Again, a later version of this postcard, Rose Lane Ripley WHA 3944 shows her to have been obliterated from the negative. The boy is still there.
Another image, Fire Station, Ripley, WHA 7 shows Ruth again. Though I do not possess it, there is surely a later version of this image in the 394x series showing the same view with Ruth having been obliterated.
Finally, an image of Rose Cottage (WHA3948) with a tell-tale obliterated person. I do not possess the original, but I am keeping an eye out for it, we all know who will be behind the scratchy lines.
It has long bothered me why Applebee, a fairly well known postcard publisher in Middlesex and Surrey would want to obliterate a 15 year old girl from a postcard. Initially I had visions of Mrs Applebee insisting her husband do this because of an insane jealously for this girl half her age. But there is no evidence at all to suggest this. Mrs Applebee was utterly devoted to her husband and when he died in 1915 she remained a widow, never remarrying. She died alone in 1972. Another, much more sensible scenario has recently occurred to me. I think the original postcards featuring Ruth were commissioned by her grandfather, Alfred Hill, to sell in his shop. Another establishment in Ripley asked for some postcards to sell so Applebee thought to sent them these. However he realised they might not want to feature the daughter of another local businessman so he simply just scratched Ruth off the negatives and renumbered them. Simple!
Click the postcards to enlarge. I've also included a couple of close-ups of Ruth.
For more old images have a look at the Sepia Saturday blog.

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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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Brighton, Sussex, Palace Pier 1903

Brighton, Sussex, Palace Pier 1903. These two old postcards by John Walker in their 'Bells Series' postcards show Brighton Pier in 1903. I'm using that date from the poster in the second postcard that advertises a play, 'One Summer's Day', on Monday August 31st. August 31st fell on a Monday in 1903 and 1908, the style of these postcards suggests to me the earlier year. The first postcard shows a seller of Hokey Pokey - an early form of Ice Cream, known for its unhygenic methods of production. Both of these postcards were very badly faded and I've made some crude attempts to digitally enhance them. Click the postcards to enlarge.
For more old photos visit Sepia Saturday.

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Iver, Buckinghamshire, The High Street, c1910

Iver, Buckinghamshire, The High Street, circa 1910. The building on the right was the premises of George Morton, grocer. It survives, but it is a shadow of its former self. The building on the left was a beerhouse called the 'General Garibaldi'. It was run by the Hutton family in the first decade of the 20th century. No trace of it survives today.
Postcard by an uncredited publisher. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Wembley, Middlesex, The High Road c1910

Wembley, Middlesex, The High Road circa 1910. It looks like nothing in the old postcard has survived, but a few of the buildings in the middle of the postcard are still there. Postcard by Young & Co of Teddington. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Hayes, Middlesex, Station Road, c1913

Hayes, Middlesex, Station Road, c1913. In this postcard by W. H. Applebee you can clearly see his three-wheeled car, an A. C. Sociable that appeared in many of his postcards (also see these posts on this blog here, here and here). This postcards is one of my favourites from my collection. It gives the town of Hayes a 'wild-west' feel. Notice the girl walking down the street and the men sitting in the garden of the cafe on the right staring at her (or perhaps they are staring at the photographer)?
Click the postcard to enlarge.
Have a look at this week's Sepia Saturday blog - it features a similar three-wheeled vehicle.

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Maidenhead, Berkshire, King Street c1912

Maidenhead, Berkshire, King Street circa 1912. If you look carefully on the right-hand side of the postcard you can see the roof and gable of the Rose Hotel (mostly obscured by the premises of C. Grinsted, Fishmonger). The Rose Hotel (now just a pub) appears to be the only building in this postcard that has survived into the 21st century. Postcard by W. H. Applebee. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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CDVs of Beautiful Women, Richmond, Surrey, late 1800s

CDVs of beautiful women, Richmond, Surrey, late 1800s. In addition to my postcard collecting, I also collect CDVs (Carte de Visites - visiting cards) from my local town of Richmond, Surrey. This week's Sepia Saturday blog shows a beautiful woman's face, so I thought that presented a good opportunity to show off a few of my favourite CDVs. Most are by William Byrne, probably the most prolific late 19th century photographer from Richmond. Others are by George Tuohy, Frank Meek, William Bayfield and Alfred Seeley. Seeley's photograph here is marked on the back 'With love from Norah', possibly the sitter. Seeley also photographed topographic views all over the south of England. Click the photographs to enlarge.

*Edit - after posting this I am reminded of The Who song 'Pictures of Lily', about a young man obsessed by an ancient photograph of a sepia beauty... Choose your own Lily.

Northfields, West London c1913

Northfields, West London c1913. Although the postcard caption states this to be West Ealing it would be more accurate to call it Northfields. On the right of the postcard we can see the Northfields Cinema, a typical early 'flea-pit' cinema, now demolished and replaced by the Navasartian Centre, an Armenian social club. Unfortunately I can't find anything online about this cinema. A little further north up Northfields Avenue was a big cinema, the West Ealing Kinema, built 1913 and demolished in 2004. South of the cinema in the postcard was another cinema, built in 1932 which still survives as a Pentecostal church. Click the postcard to enlarge.
For more old images visit the Sepia Saturday blog.

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London, Switchboard Operators, c1920

London, Switchboard Operators, circa 1920. This week's Sepia Saturday blog posting is about switchboard operators. I couldn't resist posting this postcard from my collection. This postcard was written by the lady on the second left of the picture. My transcription of the text on the back of the postcard is below. Postcard by the Grafton Reproduction Co. of 291 Lavender Hill, Clapham, London SW11.

'Dear G (or S or something else)

What do you think of this? The official photographers have been paying us a visit. I was coaching a learner at the time but you see she has moved. I suppose I shall have a letter from you some day. There is no harm in waiting. I heard from Peggy two weeks ago, she said they hadn't heard from you for ages. Hope you are fit. *name illegible*'

No 'now' picture for this postcard for obvious reasons. Click on the pictures to enlarge.