Men at Work

This site is currently being prepared for archive, and this will involve providing more higher resolution images and better indexing of post cards. As a result some of the pages listed below may be "work in progress".

Many of the surviving views of Hertfordshire Towns and Villages of the early 20th century come from picture post cards and quite a few are used to illustrate this web site. The aim of these pages is to provide information on how cards may be dated, with examples from Hertfordshire.

 Much of my information on national publishers comes from Picture Postcards and their Publishers by Anthony Byatt, The Dictionary of Picture Postcards in Britain 1894-1939 by A. W. Coysh, and Picture Postcards of the Golden Age by Tonie and Valmai Holt.

There are Separate Menus for

• Post Card Artists

• Hertfordshire Photographers and Post Card Publishers

• National Post Card Publishers of Hertfordshire Views

• Victorian Photographers

• The Search for "Karaktus" (Comic cards with a St Albans link)

History of Postcards

• Before the Post Cards - Early Envelopes

• The First Post Cards (no pictures)

• The Undivided back

• The Divided back - Inland postage only

• The Divided back - Restricted Posting Overseas

• The Divided Back acceptable worldwide

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Usage Features

• Postal Franks

• Victorian Post Town Numbers

• Postage Stamps and Postal Rates

• Postage Due

• Examination Marks

• Hidden Messages

Distinctive Features

• Advertising Cards

• Packets of Postcards

• Postcards with a Coat of Arms

• Postcards with a Distinctive Frame

• Printer's Errors [To be supplied]

The Post Card Detective at Work

• The Earliest Hertfordshire Photographers

• Posters in 1899 -  Looking at details to help dating

• The Funeral - Who was being buried?

• Dating a card of Hemel Hempstead High Street

• Territorial Training Camp, 1914.

• Rogues Gallery (pictures of unknown groups, etc)

In-depth Studies - Fredrick Downer

Frederick Downer was an important Watford photographer whose earliest work dates from 1862 and his work is used to illustrate many different aspects of the photographer's work.

Frederick Downer's Biography

Studio Portraits

Stereoscopic Views

View Post Cards

News Post Cards

The Watford Illustrated

Art Work

In-depth Studies - Crown Publishing Co

Artists

Local Post Cards Publishers

National Post Card Publishers

Victorian Photographers

Stamps & Postage rates

Post Town Numbers

Coat of Arms

The Funeral - Where, when & who?

Fred Downer of Watford

Karaktus & the Crown Publishing Company of St Albans

Postman circa 1910