A step back in time with vintage postcards

“Dear Aunt Jane. We are having a very nice time on our short trip north and the weather is entirely satisfactory. We were very glad to receive mother’s favourable account of Uncle Hugh and look forward to seeing you both soon. Yours, Mary-Anne.”

The writing is neat, the language formal and the picture on the front is a slightly faded, sepia-toned view of the west coast; of unspoiled countryside and uninterrupted views – a step back in time.

Like many of the vintage postcards held in the Mitchell Library’s collection, it conjures up memories of childhood holidays for those who can remember a time before foreign travel was commonplace; before cars and coaches clogged up the Highlands roads; before selfies and social media spoiled any chance you had of a ‘get-away-from-it-all’ break.

Postcard fans will get a chance to see part of the collection in the library’s #MitchellCurious session at the end of the month (July 30, August 1 and 2). These free drop-in sessions are running on different topics throughout the summer, giving visitors the opportunity to ask librarians questions about the collection, or share their stories and memories.

The Mitchell’s Scottish Postcards collection was established in 1982 with the purchase of 1000 Scottish postcards from Mr George Waugh.

The library already held sets of jotters and albums full of postcards, which had all been stuck on to the pages. Once carefully soaped off by the Conservation department, they were added to the collection and now, thanks to subsequent substantial donations from the public and publishers, the Mitchell holds more than 10,000 postcards of Scotland, many dating from Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Librarian Alison Young explains: “People can see the postcards any time, by requesting them at the General Services desk on Level Four of the library.

“But our #MitchellCurious sessions will allow people to ask questions about the collection and find out more about them – as well as perhaps finding old postcards of places special to them.”

This is a closed collection – the library is not accepting any more contributions – and it makes fascinating viewing.

There are hundreds of Glasgow images, featuring people - from famous Gorbals grocer Sir Thomas Lipton, who is buried in the Southern Necropolis, to the ghoulish James Flynn With Four Feet (“now showing at the Trongate Waxwork!”) – and places, from landmarks like Glasgow Cathedral to the stunning Georgian restaurant of Pettigrew and Stephens, one of the city centre’s long-gone department stores.

Many are black and white, but there are some striking, colourful ones – such as the card advertising Bostock and Wombwell’s World Renowned Menagerie which appeared in Glasgow, or the card advertising Sinbad, “the 14th pantomime at the Royal Princess Theatre, 1893” – now known as the Citizens Theatre in the Gorbals which is undergoing a massive, multi-million pound refurbishment.

Until around the mid-19th century, people generally mailed messages to each other in sealed letters, but the appeal of postcards lay in its cost – it was much cheaper to send a postcard than a letter.

According to the National Library of Scotland, which also holds a postcard collection, the Post Office issued its first postcards in 1870 with a halfpenny stamp printed in the corner.

Scotland was a pioneer of the picture postcard industry, with big companies like Valentines of Dundee and Whiteholm, were at the forefront.

In the Mitchell’s collection, the occasional non-mass-market one stands out, such as a view of Arran published by the Island Cheese Company, one of its very own businesses.

There are many of west coast seaside towns, traditional summer haunts for Glasgow people, including Ayr, Largs, Millport and Rothesay.

One of Alison’s favourites is a card from Oban, sent in 1908, in which the writer comments on “the Games and Regatta” taking place in the town during her visit, and how all the “big swells of the county” have arrived for the balls.

Alison adds: “The postcards are a fascinating insight into how society has changed over the decades. You can see, from the early ones, that people spoke and wrote much more formally; some of the cards even have return addresses on.

“You start to see in the later ones, more overseas locations – a sign of the changing times, when people began to go abroad on holiday. People don’t send postcards as much, nowadays, so it’s a fantastic collection, a really important social history record.”

For more information about the Mitchell Curious events calll 0141 287 2999.

*Do you have your own vintage postcard collection? Email your stories and photos to ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk