February | 2022 | The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Random. We love random here at TVTA, and some of these postcards I’ve had since the late 80s, while others are recent additions. Featuring films, tourist destinations, public events, rude anagrams, Kate Bush and, yay, Cartman – “You will respect my authority!!” There’s a little something for everyone here…

Where possible I’ve included the publishers of the postcards, relevant dates, photographers and artists.

Enjoy the scans!

Late 19th century lithographs

: Job. Mucha. 1896.

: Collection du Chat Noir. Théophile Steinlen. 1898.

: Théâtre de l’Opéra Grande Veglione de Gala. Jules Chéret. 1895.

: American Crescent Cycles. Winthrop Ramsdell. 1899.

Tourism

South Wales and Normandy

South Wales. Precision Ltd. Colourmaster International. Date unknown.

Normandie. Artaud Pére et Fils. Gabycolor. Date unknown.

Lourdes, Costa Brava, Bordeaux, Eiffel Tower and Blackpool.

: Lourdes. The Basilica and the Pic du Jer. A Doucet. Circa 1972.

: Costa Brava. 1962. Comercial Escuda De Ora.

: Bordeaux. Cathédrale St André et Tour Pey Berland. Yvon Paris. 1971.

: La tour Eiffel. Lyna. Italcolor. Date unknown.

: Lower promenade and cliffs, North Shore, Blackpool. Date unknown.

: Sunken Gardens, North Shore, Blackpool. Date unknown.

You shall not pass!

Some Birmingham facts and trivia alert!

The postcard below depicts Sare Hole Mill in Moseley, Birmingham, UK. Titled: ‘View from the pool’, the image was taken in 1921.

This location in Moseley is one of ‘The Shire’ inspirations Tolkien drew from when he lived in Birmingham and later wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In the noughties I used to live just up the road from this mill and was lucky to take a tour inside when it was operational. When taking my frequent walks through the surrounding natural park, bogs and woods, it really felt like I’d been transported to Middle England and ‘The Shire’. It’s easy to see how Tolkien fell in love with this place and became inspired.

Sare Hole Mill, Moseley, Birmingham, UK. View from the pool. 1921.

Just for fun #1: Opposite the mill was a café called ‘The Hungry Hobbit’. Just for fun #2: It never escaped the attention of residents of Birmingham that the name ‘Sare Hole’ is an anagram of a certain body part. Just for fun #3: A couple of districts away lies a road called ‘Dog Pool Lane’, where visitors often had fun whitening-out the letter ‘L’ of ‘Pool’. A couple of other districts away is ‘Cockshut Hill’ – I won’t say how a certain letter was changed on that signpost. Safe to say though that upwards of Birmingham, in North Warwickshire where I lived for a spell, was a place called ‘Harts Hill’, where some cheeky little beggar changed the first letter ‘H’ to an ‘F’. Farts Hill. Don’t you just love British toilet humour?

But seriously, Birmingham… below is a postcard I picked up from the Weoley Castle Museum (where I lived nearby for two spells), depicting an archer on a decorated floor tile circa 1350.