Month: November 2021
Rectangular Window On The Past
A generation is growing up which may possibly never send or receive a single postcard. And yet, in 1910, 800 million were sent in Britain alone. Today this equates to every man, woman and child sending one every month for a year. And why should they? With texts, chat, photo messaging able to do so much more, so much faster and so much more cheaply, the humble postcard seems to be living on borrowed time.
And, in a way, this makes the lure of postcard collecting all the more appealing. They are a finite historical resource which will only become rarer with time – a window on a forgotten world of etiquette, Empire and seaside sauciness. London’s Postal Museum has mounted a wonderfully informative exhibition of postcard history which is well worth a visit, even an online one. Discover how Victorians communicated (relatively!) intimate messages just by the angle at which they affixed their stamps. Or how the army censored postcards home from the trenches to avoid damaging morale at home. The exhibition runs until January.
Advance Notice
It’s that time of year again (already!) and we wanted to let you know ahead of time that the Market will be closed Christmas Day so everyone can fill up on turkey and presents, enjoy the break and plan their first visit of the new year when we reopen on 1st January!
A Collector’s Cornucopia
The UK’s only weekly stamp, coin, postcard, militaria and ephemera collectors’ market is back this Saturday. Where else could you buy genuine military artefacts, some of the most sought after stamps and postcards from all corners of the globe, coins from the reign of Elizabeth I, historic signatures, ancient African ethnography and any number of other unusual and exotic items all under one roof? Every item has its own story to tell and our dealers are all specialists in their field. It’s unlikely that a more eclectic collectors market exists anywhere else in the world… It’s not for nothing that Charing Cross is traditionally regarded as the very centre of London. It’s certainly the home of collecting. So come along this Saturday from 7am to 2pm, browse to your heart’s content and see what our traders have for you this week!