Monday, February 21, 2011

7th of September 1904



"Just after our Tea will soon be home again lots of people on the sands." C.C.

This is a Reliable Series 1634 colour postcard of Municipal Buildings, Portobello
It was sent to Mrs. Morrison, at 33 Mayfield Gdns, Edinburgh from Portobello, Scotland on September 7, 1904, by Christina Campbell, who signs herself C.C.

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Mrs. Morrison was likely the lady of the house where Christina worked.  As with her brother, Christina addresses Mrs. M, with the same abrupt somewhat directive - 'Just ...'.  And as in previous postcards the focus is on time which occurs at the end of phrases:  after our Tea, again. There is no polite salutation 'Dear ...' on this postcard. And it concludes abruptly with no 'Love to all ...' sort of thing.  Salutations, and conclusions, on many of the postcards where very formulaic.  This lack of conformity is odd - giving Christina's postcards an abrupt sound.  Again, I wonder about speech patterns. 

Portobello is a beach area not far from Edinburgh.  This particular postcard shows the town and notably a 'hatter' in the lower right corner.  Pretty much everyone, domestics included, wore elaborate hats.  Some are visible in this photograph. 

There is a motorized double decker trolley operating in the center of the street and the photographer is at ground level looking up which adds stature to the buildings.  The time is just past 11:30 in the morning on the clock in the steeple.  There are electric street lights in this shot.   

Domestics of that era took short trips to beach areas on their days off, and sent postcards that would become part of each other's collections. 

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