Different generations find different things amusing. The funny or mildly saucy postcard was common
in the early 19th century when all four of these were sent to my
grandmother, Alice (b. 1890).
Although
they are not all dated, they clearly belong to her pre-married life. (ie before
1911)
The first one is from a friend, “Ida” and asks how Alice and
“her bloke” are getting on. It is dated
1907, so Alice was 17. I have no idea
who “her bloke” was at this time but perhaps he was like the “overworked clerk” in the image?
This one is dated 1909 and comes from Alice’s sister Violet,
who was about 16 at the time. She was
away from home and she names the characters on the front of the card as “Miss
King” and “Tick” and asks Alice to ask Tick if “this is the way he did it”. Perhaps Tick was very short?
This one is undated and not written on. Did someone give it to Alice or did she buy it
and then not send it?
This one is both undated and unsigned but has a message
which suggests that the “Alice” of the card represents our Alice. It says, “Seeing as this is the next position
you are about to take on, see that the bells are switched off when the boy
arrives”.
Postcards are a dying industry in the age of the internet
and the text message. It’s hard to
imagine that any of these would resonate today.
The gentle fun and innuendo of the messages and images seems very dated to us now.
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