London Symphonies - A postcard from the edge (of London)

 I received an envelope through the letter box last week. It contained four postcards, issued by the London Borough of Barnet Libraries service. Each depicted a scene between 1900 and 1930, of well known landmarks in Mill Hill, London, NW7. The envelope had a note saying "I'm having a clear out, I thought you might have some use for these. Richard". It was from my old friend Richard Wilkinson.

It got me thinking about postcards. When was the last time I sent one? I am not sure but probably some time before 2008, to my mother. She used to love to recieve a postcard. I hated writing them, I never really saw the point. I'd try and find cheeky or funny ones and they'd have a short message saying "Having a great time, wish you were here". When mum passed away, we had hundreds, if not thousands of postcards that she'd kept, all in bags. All went in the bin. We didn't pause to look at them. However Richards present got me thinking. I'm sure that perhaps 99% of them were pictures from Torremolinos with bland messages, what about the odd gem that maybe went in the bin with them? I looked at Richards cards and they were fascinating.

I have no idea what year the Barnet Library service issued them. I'm assuming that they were sold in local libraries, so that visitors could share with all what a wonderful place the London Borough of Barnet was. My mum would berate me when I sent silly cards. She said she wanted to see what the place I was visiting looked like. I used to say "I'll show you the pictures when they are developed (no digital pictures or Instagram in 2008). She'd say "It's not the same, when I see a post card, it's like going on a journey"". She would always send us post cards. They'd have long messages saying about the bars, clubs and sights. She'd use every inch of space and write in small letters, whereas I'd write in the largest letters possible. 

I can recall my Dad telling me about when he arrived in Boston in 1942 with the Australian air force. He'd never seen snow befofe, having been born in the out back of Australia. He went to a gift shop and asked for some pictures to send back to his sisters. All of the postcards had idylic scenes, trees lined with cherry blossom, blue skies, etc. He asked if there were any pictures of Boston, not realising that it was only a frozen hellhole for a few months of the year, the rest of the time it is very nice.

When I was a kid, I used to visit London with my mum quite regularly. You'd see all manner of postcards and tat being sold. I used to wonder why anyone would ever want to send a postcard of London to anyone. It wasn't a sunny seaside scene like the pictures of Majorca that we'd get through the post. It didn't occur to me that for someone livinmg im Majorca, a visit to London might be rather interesting. 

As for postcards of Mill Hill. Such a concept would have seemed completely bonkers to me. I could just about understand someone sending a postcard to their brother in Utah of the Tower of London, but why would anyone want to send a picture of The Old Forge or The Adam and Eve?I mean if you'd come 4,000 miles to visit England, then  the last place you'd want to send a post card from was Mill Hill? Who on earth ends up in Mill Hill, who might want to share a postcard of such a place with anyone?

Of course, I'd made the classic mistake of having the blinkers on. Just because I was born and raised in Mill Hill and all of my siblings knew what Mill Hill looks like, what about my Dad? When the postcards were issued, probably in the 1970's or 80's, his sisters were alive and living in Townesville in Queensland, Australia. None had been to London. None knew what the town their brother had lived in for 40 years looked like. Like my mother, they loved getting cards and a picture is worth a thousand words. My Dad was not alone in living in Mill Hill, having arrived from all manner of places. Highly esteemed scientists from the four corners of the world would turn up to work at the National Institute for Medical Research. Many would drink at the Adam and Eve and the Rising Sun. They might have had tea at the Old Forge tea rooms and worshipped at The Sacred Heart. Theyhad mums, dads, brothers and sisters, who would be fascinated by such cards. 

I wondered what sort of message may be appended "Dear Florence, I have started work at the NIMR in Mill Hill. This card shows our local pub, The Adam and Eve, which we sometimes pop in for a pint on the way home, Mill Hill is a lovely little town on the outskirts of London and we are settling in well" might be the sort of message. Maybe, like my mothers cards, it sat there for forty years, until Florence passed away, when like my mothers cards, it was slung in the bin, without a second glance.

When I look at these vintage cards, I'm fascinated by them. I wonder what other London Boroughs produced and what are the most unlikely cards produced? Perhaps the strangest I've seen is a poscard depicting the 1905 Shenly Hill fire.

Clearly there was a market for such cards, as they were relatively expensive. I suppose that in 1905, it was rare to have such an exciting event locally preserved on film. The decline of the post card seems to have been brought about by the accessibility and cheapness of photography. With Facebook and Instagram, we don't need cards to show mum what Ibiza looks like. Now we spend our life snapping pictures, which we post on line and forget. My kids won't have bags of old postcards to discrd. I wonder when all of the talking dogs and bad meme's will be binned by Facebook etc?

How times change. When I was a teenager, I found the concept of a postcard from London almost absurd. Now I find them fascinating. Sadly my Mum is not around to post a card to, but that's no reason not to send her a card. So which one?

I've decided to choose the Adam and Eve card. Why? Mum loved a visit to the pub. The Adam and Eve has significantly changed since she passed in 2008. So here's my card 

Dear Mum, Hope all is good, wherever you are! Mill Hill has changed a bit. The Ridgeway and the Adam and Eve are almost unercognisable from when you last visited. The Medical Research has been demolished, the pub has been completely refurbished and is unrecognisable from when we last went. It's been cold recently, we are looking forward to summer, when the doggy walks will be more fun

Love Rog.