Vintage French postcards

One question I am often asked, is what are my favourite types of vintage postcards? The answer may surprise you - I really love the old French street scenes - one of my own favourites is this rare vintage card of Le Tronquay, Maison de Commerce.... note the store owner posing on the step for the photographer, surrounded by other locals.

Le Tronquay is only a tiny village, it's situated in Calvados.  In 2008 it's population had dropped to 480.  So yes, it's an expensive card (£24) which captures a moment in time outside the village store.   Tempted to keep it not sell it  (I'll never be a millionaire!)

Here's another - La Gorgue (Nord) - I wonder how long it took to get the village locals to line up and pose, especially the children?  This card is one of three we currently have of La Gorgue.

Next we are visiting Lens in Pas-de-Calais; Rue de la Gare. Another favourite of mine and for sale in the store.

 Maybe not quite as interesting is this one of Lunel, in Herault; not as many people in this one but it still gives an idea of olde worlde France.... if I can use that phrase.

This card of Bayeux gives a rather ethereal feel - or was it just that it was a rainy day?

From Bayeux we travel to Bray-sur-Somme, which as you will assume, is in the Somme area of France. This is entitled La Poste (The Post Office).  Again, unposted, but probably circa 1915.  The card has a few marks on it, but still retains some charm.

Hope you've enjoyed a little trip through some of our old French postcards - if you'd like to see the full list of French cards in our store, click  HERE

VINTAGE VIEWS OF VARIOUS HIGH STREETS

In the UK lots of places have a High Street; in the store at the moment are dozens of old postcards depicting these views so I thought a feature slot to display some of them would be a good idea.  Underneath the images there is a link to that particular postcard in the store, should anyone wish to buy it.  Alternatively you can click on the link at the very end of the post, which will take you to a page showing ALL the High Street postcards we currently have in stock.

OK so here goes and the first one up, we travel back to 1907 and pop over to Boston Spa, nr Wetherby in Yorkshire. A lovely scene!

This postcard can be found at http://tinyurl.com/6yq55ep

From Boston Spa, it is a hop skip and a jump over to Wooler, in Northumberland for a view of their High Street in years gone by.  Lovely vintage car in the street there!

Click this link to go to the listing for Wooler High Street http://tinyurl.com/63qn5e5

From Wooler we will travel a lot further south and visit Winchester in 1915.

Winchester High Street, c1915 can be found at http://tinyurl.com/66cu6vn

As you can see, High Streets can be very different! How about a more modern one, let's go forward from 1915 and land in Rayleigh, in Essex in 1969.

The listing for this Rayleigh card is at http://tinyurl.com/5tqhtzm

Streets seemed so deserted didn't they - even in 1969!  Not always the case though - take a look at High Street in Solihull, in the 1950s!

http://tinyurl.com/6866w2m

Let's scoot off north of the border now, here is a lovely framed effect postcard of the High Street in Carnoustie, Angus c1915 (love the seashells!!)

http://tinyurl.com/69wabzs

From Carnoustie in around 1915, let's do a massive leap down to Bognor - landing in the High Street during the early 1900s, narrowly missing being run over by that lovely vintage car!

http://tinyurl.com/6jfslpw

We need to be a bit more careful if we are not going to cause a traffic accident - let's slow it down and visit the High Street in Uttoxeter, back in the 1920s:

http://tinyurl.com/6xkbd9n

Another framed type effect was given to this vintage card of the High Street in Swanage in pre 1918 days:

http://tinyurl.com/64h3flg

For our last visit to a High Street in years gone by we will land in Rugby, c1905 - not much traffic here to get entangled with!

http://tinyurl.com/64jj2n9

I hope you enjoyed our trip down the High Streets of yesteryear - there are over 40 in the store as I write this; I will try and update this blog if and when any of the above are sold so that you don't get taken to dead links, but apologies if this happens before I can amend the blog!

If you would like to see ALL the vintage cards of High Streets click this link: http://tinyurl.com/65ynpxm

As ever, thanks for looking at my blog - I will continue to try and update it each month.  If you wish to see the FULL index for all vintage cards in our store (it's a long list!!) here is the link. Scroll down till you come to the country/county/state of your choice.

 http://www.delcampe.co.uk/stores/old_postcards

SPOTLIGHT ON GRANTHAM

Several early 1900s postcards of Grantham have arrived and they are all in very good if not excellent condition.  As a collection they are a lovely set and I thought it might be a good idea to feature them in the blog.  So here goes!

I have no knowledge of Grantham or the surrounding area so can only show you the images and their titles, but I hope that they will prove interesting if not fascinating for anyone who knows the town well.

None of the postcards are postally used. All were published by Boots Cash Chemists and indeed one postcard actually shows the Boots building. They would make a great set, framed as they are all from the same publisher and obviously form a collection.

First off is a vintage view of Market Place.

This card is now SOLD

Next, is a vintage card entitled Angel & Royal Hotel, Grantham.  In actual fact the card shows much more than the Hotel - it shows Boots Cash Chemists building and note the patriotic flags hanging across the street, obviously celebrating something - maybe the end of WW1?  Like the last card it is a fascinating view of old Grantham.

Here it is:

This card is now SOLD

Next up is an old card of Boys Grammar School and King Edward School, Grantham.

This card is now SOLD.

Here's one of Grantham Hospital

This postcard now SOLD.

Let's pop over to Westgate, Grantham - a lovely street scene. Again, postally unused and published by Boots Cash Chemists.

This card is now SOLD

Have a look at this one of St Peter's Hill, Grantham.

This card is now SOLD

From street scenes, we now take a look at some Gardens at Grantham. First up is the Gardens at Belton House, one of three of that location in the collection for sale. I won't link individually to these but they are in the Lincolnshire section (click the link at the end of this feature).

At the same location, here is Belton House and Avenue

And here is one of  The Lake, Belton House

This one simply entitled Belton Gardens, Grantham

Then there is one view of The Dairies, Belvoir Castle, Grantham. 

As far as price goes, obviously old cards of gardens and static locations are cheaper than those which feature street scenes which can (not always) change vastly over time; full details of all these cards and their prices are at the links shown.  

All of them are fixed price items, none at auction.

You will find our store's LINCOLNSHIRE Section at http://tinyurl.com/2uzcpeu

GREETINGS TO ALL AMERICANS FOR THANKSGIVING DAY 25 NOVEMBER

To commemorate the American public holiday on 25th November here are a selection of the US vintage postcards in our store currently for sale.

We hope you have a wonderful celebration and enjoy looking at the cards - alongside each image is the direct link to the page in our store where that particular postcard is available for sale.  At the bottom of the feature is a link to our full index of all the categories in our store, scroll down to your country/state of interest.


We're starting off in Massachusetts, in Stoughton Square, Stoughton during the early 1900s.  This postcard is listed at http://tinyurl.com/36zrbyy



From there it is over to Idaho! Glen's Ferry, Snake River to be exact.  http://tinyurl.com/37jv2ne

Fancy a lovely peaceful relaxing time on the golf course?  This one is entitled The Pump Station, Golf Links and Country Club, Geneva, N.Y and posted in 1922.  Listed at http://tinyurl.com/34u34bc

Over to New Jersey now, to a card showing the Post Office in Gt Meadows, N.J., early 1900s. Are they the staff outside or customers, do you think? Here is the link to our N.J. section, you'll find this card listed  there.  http://tinyurl.com/3xrssev

How about a brisk dip in the ocean, here is the Scene at Tirelli's Baths, South Beach, S.I., in 1917! Listed http://tinyurl.com/39eolm6

If you've caught a chill after that ice cold dip in the sea, there is always the Dr Gibens Sanitarium, at Stamford,Connecticut! Listed here on this page with a couple of other Connecticut cards http://tinyurl.com/33a63vb

Going over to Maine now - here is Main Street in Ellsworth in 1953 - amongst other Maine cards find it here http://tinyurl.com/3255x2z

Here is an old shot of Heron Street, Aberdeen, Wash., posted in 1908; find it here http://tinyurl.com/2uf5kah

Last but not least in this particular feature is an old card of the High School, Italy, Texas complete with vintage cars parked up outside. http://tinyurl.com/38avbaq

If you would like to see the full index to the various categories in our store here is the link - the numbers in brackets denote how many cards are listed in those sections.

FULL INDEX TO ALL POSTCARDS IN OUR STORE IS AT http://tinyurl.com/39vlqgp

Check out the FAQs page on our website for most of the answers to any questions you may have

http://tinyurl.com/2wjkdgt

Don't forget you can also follow us on TWITTER 

Enjoy Thanksgiving Day and we hope you've enjoyed looking at this feature.

VINTAGE HUMOUR

As well as scenic views there is a vast range of illustrations on vintage postcards and one of the most popular is vintage humour. There are literally thousands of these dating back to the early 1900s and I thought I would share a few with you here.

All these and more are for sale in my store - here is the link to the Humour section:

http://bit.ly/a3D4H8

There are some others under Militaria>>>>Humour and individual illustrators, but take a look at these for starters - I will let the images do the talking!

BRAINTREE AND BOCKING AREAS

Following receipt of several superb vintage postcards of Braintree and Bocking areas, I thought I would highlight some of them here on the blog. They were all from a single family collection, stored since WW1.

Since I don't know the area I cannot give much background information to the postcards, but I hope you will enjoy browsing them nonetheless.

The first image is Bocking End, Braintree, c1915.

If you wish to buy or bid for any they can be found at http://bit.ly/csY9yl









Bradford Street, Bocking, Braintree, c.1915












Bocking Chapel and Causeway, Braintree - c1915












London Road, Braintree - c1915













Bocking Mill, Braintree - c1915












St Michael's Church, Braintree - c1915












The Avenue, Braintree - c1915














Thatched Cottages, Cressing Road, Braintree - c1915











The Old Woolpack, Bocking, Braintree - c1915












Lodge Entrance to Public Gardens, Braintree - c1915








I hope you've enjoyed seeing these images of First World War Braintree and Bocking - there are some others not listed here, most are listed for auction as they are quite rare and have not seen the light of day for nearly a hundred years.

If you wish to buy or bid for any of the above, they can be found at http://bit.ly/csY9yl

Full ESSEX listings (including the ones above) are at http://bit.ly/clr6kH