Downhills Park Conservatory, c1905

Comment by Peter on March 2, 2025 at 23:46

Another great postcard, Hugh!

I've noticed that a lot of these cards seem to be dated c1905, and I'm wondering whether someone made a concerted effort at the time to document streets, buildings, parks etc..

I'm just curious what it was about 1905 that prompted all this.

Or is it just a coincidence...

Comment by Hugh on March 3, 2025 at 1:52

Good question, Peter. To the best of my knowledge the surge in postcards during the first decade of the last century was occasioned by both technical and administrative developments as well as possibly a social one. To be lazy, let me quote and paraphrase from an article that I've written for the just-about-to-be  published Bulletin 66 of the Hornsey Historical Society.

The technical development to which I refer was in photography,

"Early photography called for a great deal heavy equipment and for processes which meant that street photography was challenging at best. Dry glass plate, or gelatin technology, was developed in the 1870s, followed by celluloid and then rollable celluloid film in the late 1880s and 1890s. Each technology represented a step change in practicality and cost and simplified the process of taking photographs enormously, particularly for landscape and street photography.'

Administratively, developments in the post service added fuel to the fire.

"In 1894, the Royal Mail gave its permission for the manufacture and distribution of picture postcards. ... Photographers quickly took advantage of the opportunity and reproduced images as postcards on to pre-printed postcard backs.

"As people got used to writing messages on open cards, the demand grew for a more organised layout and in 1902 ‘divided back’ postcards were allowed. These organised the space on the back of the card with one half being used for a message and the other for the stamp and address. This development along with a postal system that could deliver a postcard on the same day it was posted quickly led to a sharp increase in card sales."

It's possible that a recently emerged social movement also had some influence, at least indirectly. Both the above changes,

"...coincided with the emergence of a new social movement. During the second half of the nineteenth century people had begun to question the social and environmental changes brought about by industrialisation and urbanisation. Concern about these issues led to the emergence of societies for the preservation of the natural environment, architecture, and monuments. One such movement was the photographic record and survey movement. The leading group in the movement was the National Photographic Record Association (NPRA) which used photography to create an historical record for the national good, using a purely volunteer workforce."

Comment by John D on March 3, 2025 at 15:04

I thought that Hugh once said that he systematically put C 1905 when the subject was obviously old but could not be dated precisely.

Comment by Hugh on March 3, 2025 at 15:35

That sounds sort of similar to the kind of thing I'd say, John, but to the best of my knowledge it's rather looser than what I've in fact said. From a quick site search, below is a response that I gave in 2019 to a similar but less directed question about the 1905 date I so often use for images on this site.

"The reason I label so many photos c1905 is that the Edwardian era saw an explosion in commercial photography. For many of those photos no exact date is known. 1905 is an approximate date for these images."

By and large, I don't think it's hard for anyone to look at most images and date them to within an era. As far as my practice is concerned, If something is apparently from the 20s, 30s or 60s, then I'll date it accordingly to the best of my ability with a 'circa' prefix. Where a postcard is apparently Edwardian, unless I have a date or a reason to think otherwise, I'll date it as c1905 because that's pretty much exactly mid-period. 

Comment by Peter on March 3, 2025 at 15:57

Many thanks for your extremely informative reply, Hugh.

It all makes complete sense. 

AND the postcards are fabulous!

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