Christmas is nearly upon us so I thought this would be a good time to share this vintage Christmas postcard on Postcard Friendship Friday! Rather than the usual snow and Santa seasonal images, however, this postcard is a traditional seaside souvenir onto which an embossed Christmas greeting has been added!
The view is of Tenby, South Sands, on the very beautiful Pembrokeshire coast of South West Wales, seen from Saint Catherine's Rock, a place renowned in Queen Victoria's day as a health resort and still a hugely popular seaside destination today for UK holiday makers. The postcard is full of delightful details - the beach is crowded with bathing machines, mobile bathing huts that allowed bathers to change into swimwear inside and be taken directly to the water's edge and discreetly take a dip without exposing as much as an ankle! Needless to say, these were all the rage in the prudish Victorian era. Whilst the postcard may have been posted on Christmas Eve in 1906, this image is probably from the 1890s when the postcard publisher F. Frith & Co.Ltd from Reigate seem to have added numerous images of the Welsh seaside location to their photographic archives (see Photos of Tenby - Francis Frith).
The year on the postmark isn't immediately very clear, but seeing as this is a yellow-green King Edward VII half penny stamp which was in use only from 1904 – 1910, 1906 would seem to be the best match.
Curiously, the message has been written upside down:
With Best wishesI second Bert's sentiments and wish you all Happy Holidays!
for a very merry
Xmas & a bright
& Prosperous New
Year. From Bert
Find more vintage postcards over at Beth's postcard blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy and join other collectors on Postcard Friendship Friday.
Comments
I've only been to Tenby once I think. It was the middle of summer and a beautiful day until the weather changed suddenly and we were bombarded by huge hail stones. The kids were very small at the time and were quite sore afterwards.