Lynn Haseldine Jones will be presenting local postcards of the past at the April meeting of the Woodford Historical Society
The golden heyday of the postcard was the period from about 1902 to 1920. People used the postcard as the email of the day. In many places, there were four collections from every pillar box and four deliveries to every home every day, Monday to Saturday (and even one on Sunday), so it was possible to send a message quickly, costing just a halfpenny!
There soon developed the idea of collecting postcards, of places, people, cats, steam engines, in fact, just about anything. But the most useful for today’s historian is the topographical postcard, with images of towns and villages, houses and features, many of which have changed so much, or disappeared, in the intervening period. Here are some views of Woodford from my own collection:
- George Lane showing the premises of the fishmonger Gildersleeve, tea rooms, the tower of Warne’s outfitters in the distance and horse-drawn delivery vehicles.
- Woodford High Road around 1905. Note the neat row of trees in front of the shops. Weatherboarded Fuller’s Corner has now become Tesco Corner.
- The top of George Lane, postmarked 1905. The policeman on point duty is looking down Woodford Road towards Snaresbrook. On the right is the corner of The George public house.
- Elegant Edwardian ladies strolling down ‘The Avenue’ of trees, long before the Churchill statue was erected.
- Woodford Bridge looking very rural.
The golden age gradually came to an end when postage went up to a penny, when people began to acquire their own cameras and telephones made leaving messages even easier. I shall be telling the story of the development of the postcard and showing more views of Woodford, Woodford Bridge, Woodford Green and South Woodford from my collection at the April meeting of the Woodford Historical Society.
