Ethel Bailey’s early 20th-century postcard collection

This is the postcard that Ethel placed at the top of the first page of her album. It shows what was most likely her first ‘grown-up’ holiday, at 16 years old, to Brighton. She writes home to her older sister Emily in a functional, frill-free piece of communication: “Dear Em, Coming home by first train. Tell Mum to have my dinner ready about 12.30 I think. Yours Ethel.” The postcard shows Brighton Aquarium, which opened in 1872 and had exhibited, at various times, an octopus, a Norwegian lobster and a ‘real live mermaid’. It’s now SEA LIFE Brighton.

In 1904, a trip out in a motor car (travelling at up to 20mph) was a fashionable holiday highlight. A survey at Bournemouth, along the south coast from Torquay, counted 800 over a four-day long weekend. This postcard from ‘a.d.’- who we think is Ann Davy, Ethel’s cousin - shows she’s on-trend with just one short sentence: “We are going to drive to this place tomorrow morning”. Cockington village’s thatched cottages are still a tourist attraction.

Twenty-four-year-old bank clerk Alf takes solo holidays in which he explores coast and countryside, and always sends postcards to his sister Emily. The two seem close. Along with their mother, she is at the centre of communication in the house so is certain to show them around. Alf has a dry, informative style of communication, and writes from Brockenhurst in The New Forest: “Sunday noon. Dear Em, Many thanks for your PC. The weather here has been very hot until yesterday which was very dull but today it is again very hot. I am enjoying myself immensely. I am going to Bournemouth this afternoon. The SWR run cheap excursions every day. Yours affec, Alf” The reference to SWR is likely the London & South Western Railway, which ran from 1838 to 1922.

Alf is on a walking holiday to North Devon and Cornwall which begins well but seems to deteriorate as he heads south. Day one is spent in Ilfracombe: “Wednesday. Dear Em, This is a splendid place. We went to walk along the cliffs yesterday which are very fine, the rock scenery especially, yours, Alf”

“Wednesday [it was sent on Thursday]. Arrived here about noon & walked to Westward Ho, a one eyed place with about half a dozen houses. After I posted my last card I remembered that I hadn’t stamped it, sorry. Alf”

“Saturday. Sorry I could not get a better P.C. We intended stopping at Redruth tonight but it was such a dirty place, full of mines, that we decided to push on to this place. It is very dull & misty here, quite a contrast to yesterday’s heat.”

“Monday. Just walked here from Helston (7m) where we arrived from Lands End. We left Lands End in the rain this morning & came back to civilisation. We are stopping at Helston 2 nights to enable us to visit the Lizard tomorrow. Alf”

Now 17, Ethel is back in Brighton. “Dear Em, Tell Mother I have had a letter from Fred and he is going to meet me at LB. Sorry about Alf’s face, glad it’s better. Love to all, remain your loving sis, Ethel”. Firstly, what happened to Alf’s face on his hit-and-miss walking holiday in the South West? Our money is on sunburn or bee stings. Back to Ethel’s postcard: Fred, who has offered to meet her off the Brighton train at London Bridge Station, hands over postcards sent to his home for her collection. In doing so allows us to discover from censuses that he is Fred Ellis, a teenage warehouse clerk from Stamford Hill, which neighbours Stoke Newington.

Emily, 20, is on holiday in Dorset with another cousin, Ada (we are pretty certain this is Frances Ada, who had also lived in Bouverie Road). This postcard, titled ‘Australian convict ship (The only one left). A Wonderful Interior’, shows a grim tourist attraction on Weymouth harbour. It’s a prison ship that transported English convicts to colonial Australia in a practice that had ended only 37 years earlier. She writes to her mother: “Just been over this ship & feel very frightened. It gave us the horrors. Em.”

It’s Ada’s turn to write from Weymouth with a shimmering silver card on which she has written her message upside down - for privacy perhaps, which was a concern with postcards at the time. We learn that Emily has been unwell and what follows will not reassure Ada’s Aunt Maria. “Dear Aunt, You will be glad to hear we are getting on alright. I think Emmie is looking better for the change. The weather is rather rough just now. We got caught in a hailstorm last night and got wet through. The wind is so high we have to tie our hats on. Hoping you are keeping well. I remain yours etc Ada”. Her more formal sign-off suggests she’s new to postcard writing.

Emily’s postcard to Ethel from Weymouth again shows an interest in life’s darker side. She and Ada are visiting Admiralty Quarries, which produced Portland stone using convict labour - shaven-headed men from Portland Prison working in chains. Emily writes: “We saw the quarries and the prison but did not see the convicts at work as it was Sunday (they do not work on Sunday). It was a dreadful hill to climb. I would not climb it again at any price. Lovely day today, sun shining and no wind. Hope it will last. Love to all from Em.”

A classic Alf postcard! He writes to Emily from a trip to Wales: “Rhayader Thursday. The Birmingham Corporation get their water supply from here. It is sent through pipes to B’ham 85 miles away. Alf”

Alf is now travelling north up the West Wales coast: “Barmouth, Monday. We cannot see much of this place as the hills all round are covered with a thick mist.”

“Another one for your album. What???” A jokey message to his youngest sister from tea merchant’s clerk Albert, 31, who’s at the Wroxham Regatta, shows that postcard collectors are now a phenomenon - and that Ethel is one of them.

Ethel is holidaying at Great Yeldham village in Essex. She has sent a postcard to a friend Ria in Stoke Newington, who replies with this cheeky one: “Dear Ethel,” she writes. “Glad you are enjoying yourself, keep on doing so. Miss [indecipherable] thanks for card, don’t you wish you were in Brighton so you could be clasped in the arms of a [indecipherable] fisherman. Love Ria”.

A view of the harbour from the golf links. “Hillyers, Littlehampton, Sept 2 07. Got down alright, Very windy & wet when we arrived but fine now. A.D.”

Albert’s cards are full of life, written in a direct, often humorous style. He tells Emily: “Having a good time. Lovely weather. Went fishing and motoring yesterday. Albert.” The resort of Scarborough’s impressive Grand Hotel, shown in his postcard, lured southerners up to the Yorkshire coast on the train. It was the largest hotel in Europe when it opened in 1867, and every room had a bath that could be filled with chilly sea water. Albert’s in humbler digs - 28 Lyell St, Scarborough, a little terraced lodging house.

The day before his 18th birthday, Ted has set off to cycle to Great Yarmouth from his North London home - a distance of 110 miles as the crow flies. He has set a schedule for his coming-of-age adventure. But at 9.50am on July 1, he writes from Brentwood in Essex: “Dear mum, arrived Ilford 8.50 - 10 minutes late: arrived here 15 minutes late. The wind is blowing very strong against me but I am feeling allright. Ted. This was written in my saddle.”

Ted’s enthusiasm is flagging: “Colchester 1.30. Dear Mum, Got here 1 hour 20 mins late. I don’t think I shall go much farther than Ipswich. The wind is chronic and I have had about enough. Ted (sun shining grand).” Trams such as the one shown on the postcard operated in Colchester town centre between 1904 and 1929.

It’s 9.30am on Ted’s 18th birthday. We don’t know where he spent the night, but he has rallied and hit the Suffolk coast. He writes, rather cockily: “Dear Em, Tell mother to send my things when she gets my card from Yarmouth and when you write tell me how many presents I have had. Ted.”

He made it! At 1.15pm Ted writes airily from Yarmouth: “Dear Mum, Please send my things to me c/o Mrs Bamfield, 156 Blackfriars Rd? St, and if you could send me another shirt besides the stiff cuffed one I should like it as this one is dirty.” The card shows one of the steamers that, until World War I, ran between Great Yarmouth and the Thames in London, and perhaps suggests that he was tempted to take the easy way home.

North London’s closest holiday resorts were raucous Southend (see the postcard below left) and its calmer neighbour Walton-on-the-Naze. Ethel has taken a break here even though she has another holiday to Brighton coming up. She writes, “Dear Em, We are having a lovely time. Grand day, been to bathe. Ethel.”

“Tuesday. 6 hours on the train yesterday, crowded. This is a lovely place, in fact all along the coast is very fine. Alf”

Ethel, who’s now 20, has visited Brighton for the last four years and adopts a slightly superior tone about her friend Flo’s excitement at seeing it for the first time. “Dear Em,” she writes. “Arrived safe about 4.30, three others in room. Flo can’t get over the wonderful sea. All she keeps saying is ‘Oh, ain’t it grand, ain’t it lovely.’ Ethel”. The girls’ accommodation seems to be hostel-style, sharing with other girls.

Ethel is fretting in Brighton: “Dear Em, I have sent 18 postcards & not had one single card in return. Still enjoying myself. Yours, Ethel.” Her postcard shows the Volk’s Electric Railway, which opened on the seafront in 1883 and is still running..

Ethel is visiting a new resort this year. “Dear Mum, Arrived quite safe. In room with Bessie and Daisy. Think I shall like it very much. Am going to send my bag home by Carter as my hand is blistered with carrying it. Love to all, your loving daughter, Ethel”.

In 1909, Ada writes in typically sparky style from Portsmouth’s elegant South Parade Pier, which has been newly rebuilt after a fire the previous year. “Dear E, We are getting such dreadful weather, the wind is fearful and the rain coming down in torrents. There are plenty of concerts going on. We have a nice room. Love to all. From Ada.” She sends the postcard above right, showing the beach and bathing huts to Ethel on the same day with further complaints about the weather.

Great Yarmouth is a big favourite with the Bailey siblings. Perhaps, since their father is from Norfolk, they holidayed here as children. Whichever of them visits, they always send back a box of bloaters (smoked, ungutted herrings) for their mother. Emily’s postcard to Ethel illustrates her central position in the family and interest in all they are doing: “Dear E, What is the weather like in London, it is very cold & showery here, it was lovely yesterday though, I got burnt up. It is the regatta today, going to have fireworks on the pier tonight, just going to have a look at the fun. Em. Just had a card from Alf in Snowdon. Write and tell me all the news.”

The Norfolk resort is where the liveliest Bailey brothers let their hair down. Now 19, Ted is getting in the swing of things: ”Yarmouth Sunday. Shall be home Wednesday night some time. Ted.”

Albert writes to Emily: “Caught the 10 o’clock train. Arrived here 1.55. Brought some grub in Liverpool St & had it on the train. Been on Brit Pier watching anglers, 30 of them, total weight of catch in 2 hours 1/2oz. No shrimps here til next year.” It was usual to send postcards of singers and entertainers - Ethel has more than 40 in her collection. Lily Brayton co-managed the Ambassadors Theatre in London and performed in Shakespeare productions there.

Five hours later, Albert is mulling over his holiday entertainment. He writes again to Emily: “There are only three shows going this week. The Gem, Hippodrome & H.L.A.T.H. at The Aquarium. Roller skating, Winter Gardens, Scenic Ry still going. Just off to The Gem.” Scenic Ry probably refers to a Scenic Railway that had opened earlier in the year, Maidie Andrews, shown in Alb’s postcard, was a child actress who was touring in Peter Pan in 1909.

An intriguing postcard from Albert to Emily on the following day: “I think it would be a good idea if you sold all that old stock, so that I could get some fresh when I come back. What??” This suggests that Emily is involved in a business set up by tea merchant Albert. Or is it perhaps a side hustle?

The following year, Albert writes to Emily: “Wednesday. Will send Mum some bloaters this week. At present I am listening to the Pierrots. There is a bloke singing about Sexton Blake. A.” Troupes of pierrots - Continental-style performers in white make-up - were a familiar sights at the seaside. Sexton Blake was a fictional detective who featured in various magazines including Penny Pictorial. Miss Max Hinton, shown in the postcard, unfortunately is a total mystery!

Some interesting companions on Alb’s 1911 holiday: “We have had part of the fleet here since Sunday. 5 battleships, 4 cruisers, 5 torpedo boat destroyers, 3 submarines.” Billie Burke, the actress who features on this postcard, iater became part of film history as as Glenda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz. She had been performing in London for most of the early 20th century.

By now, most of the family have a favourite resort. Ada’s is Portsmouth. “Dear E, Just got back from a nice bike ride all in the rain coming back. Am now off to the Kings Music Hall. Love from Ada. Lucy and I are going to come Sunday if fine.” A Sunday visit surely means that Ada and Lucy are sisters and two of the Davy siblings Then three years old, the Kings Theatre is still going strong in the 21st century.

Alf is on the Dorset coast and has been to view Portland Prison, with better timing than Emily had in 1905. The prisoners quarrying Portland stone under hard labour conditions seem to be quite the tourist attraction: “Went here today and saw the poor devils at work from the window of a pub overlooking the wall. Alf”

Queen Victoria’s favourite holiday island captures Ethel’s heart. She writes: “Dear Emily, Simply lovely here. You would love it. Love Ethel.” Although the date is obscured here, the year must be 1911 or later as this is the year George V stamps were first used.

Emily writes home from the Bohemia district of Hastings where she has lodgings with a “nice old girl’. She quickly receives a reply from Alf, who has travelled most of the south coast by now and offers some advice: “Don’t forget to go to Fairlight or Ecclesbourne, they are better than Bexhill. Did you notice at Bexhill that everything belongs to Earl de la Warr? It did when I went. Alf.” In 1935 the De La Warr Pavilion will become Bexhill’s major landmark.

Finally, having heard all about it from Ethel for the previous nine years, 63-year-old Mrs Bailey takes her turn on Brighton prom. She writes to her eldest daughter: “Dear Em, Arrived quite safe. Lovely weather. I think I shall like Brighton. Nice lodgings and landlady. Love from Mum.” Is Mr Bailey there too? We hope he is parked comfortably on a deckchair watching Sussex waves foam across the cobbles.

Less than two months before the start of WWI, 23-year-old Ted is on a carefree cycling holiday on the south coast and is mixing activity with entertainment in Southampton. He writes: “(88 miles) Dear Mum, Arrived here OK at 6pm. Had rather heavy local showers all the way, did the last 2 miles in 7 minutes & arrived 5 minutes ahead of a big thunderstorm. Tell Horace I am going to see HMS Goliath??? tonight & Haley’s Juveniles.” One of the performers in Hayley’s Juveniles, a children’s singing troupe, was a certain Gracie Fields.