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Rare and Interesting Postcards of The Salvation Army
Talk given by Glenn K Horridge at York, 30 October 1999
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There is a great delight in finding Salvation Army postcards but with many thousands in existence, it is difficult to know where to begin with the above title. The Horridge Collection has upwards of 3,000 picture postcards and I have selected about 150 for a display here at York.
Booth Cards: Sheet 1 is of coloured cards showing William in a variety of poses. Number 403 in the International Series shows the Founder after having his
honorary degree of D.C.L. Oxford conferred on him in 1907. Underneath his red silk gown one can clearly see his Blood and Fire Jersey. On the same page is a Tuck's
Oilette, picked up quite cheaply but rare because it is signed by the Founder. Yet another card shows one of many cards featuring William's birthplace in Nottingham, this time with him inset at the top right hand corner.
Sheet 2, mainly black and white, shows William and Catherine Booth's final resting place; the birthplace of the Army; Mrs General Booth and an unusual one entitled Mrs Booth (the mother of our General).
Sheet 3 contains only four cards. The first is from a set taken during William Booth's tour of Japan. During the tour he was presented with a rickshaw which remained in the Army's possession well into the 1950s. The second card is a clear shot of Booth surrounded by hundreds of people during a visit to Denby Dale in 1907. 1 well remember an old lady telling me that she and her school mates were allowed to stand in the playground to watch the famous
William Booth drive past on one of his tours. Another person has shown me a very detailed list of how the old General was to be looked after on a visit. The third card shows Booth's last visit to Hove in 1910 and was produced on his Promotion to Glory. The final card shows the Army's birthplace in the Mile End. The message on the back reads "Have seen the Founder lying in State and the Funeral".
Sheets 4 to 7 show details from William Booth's funeral in 1912. 1 have never seen a complete set but it is certainly interesting to see so many together. Note the white ribbon on the flags, the white arm bands and the variety of bands as well as the many thousands lining the street.
Humour: Sheet 8 lightens the mood with a variety of humorous cards. I rather like the Salvation Lass asking "Are you saved?"' and the reply "No, I am a reporter". Or, if you prefer, "Do you save women as well as men?" "Oh, yes brother" comes the reply - and you can no doubt guess the rest!
Silks Sheet 9 is an equally colourful display of silk cards. Six variations are on show although it should be noted that the patterns are broadly similar. There are portrait cards, with or without flowers decorating them, and landscape cards with either crossed flags in the top background or colourful flowers.
Training Home: Sheets 10 and 11 show the Training Home and include vast numbers of cadets at lecture, dinner or on the march. All the cards were produced by the Salvation Army, were printed in Saxony and show great detail. Of particular interest are the banners and pictures. Note the
`Women's Correspondence Room' where the large writing on the wall is a Biblical quotation referring to "Handmaids ... (upon which) ... I pour out my Spirit".
Portrait Cards: (Sheet 12) A few months ago I was sent a card showing one of William Booth's down and cuts' of the type so much was written about in In Darkest
England and the Way Out. Bearing in mind that the book was published in 1890, this card is interesting for its caption and date - "D. McGregor as found by
the Men's Social Work of the Salvation Army February, 1891". A more colourful but very rare card was mentioned by Harry in his journal of June 1999. It shows the Pope with Commissioner Eva Burrows in June 1982. The remaining two cards look a little nondescript at first glance but are interesting for the messages. Bandmaster Brand's card has been sent to a bandsman (whose name is spelt differently twice on the card). It is addressed to Mr Metcalf and states "'Dear Bro.
Metcaffe, I will take the band at the funeral tomorrow. Please be at the Citadel at 2
o'c. Yours sincerely W Brand." The final card is of the Bandmaster of Coventry Band before the split of 1929 when 19 bandsmen left the Band. On an historical note several Corps split over the question of whether of not General Bramwell Booth should be removed from office. Cambridge Corps, for instance, became two Corps - `the Salvation Army' and the pro-Booth 'free Salvation Army'.
Landscape Cards: Sheets 13 to 16 show a variety of Salvation Army cards including a great favourite of mine, the Salvation Army Barracks at Lowestoft after being bombed in 1916. Other rare cards include the First World War '1ncident in connection with the War Graves Visitation" when a Salvationist, mourning the death of her only brother, had a sparrow alight on her * hand and this was captured on camera; a card from the Senghenydd Pit Disaster of 1913 showing a Salvation Army pitman's funeral; a Salvation Army open-air amongst troops in the desert; a card showing "Captain Mac" the first Australian Military Salvation Army Chaplain (Chaplain-Major William Mackenzie,
M.C.); an S.P. and S. Photographic Postcard advertising card; a coloured card of the
ill fated Empress of Ireland (which sank on 29 May 1914 with the loss of 930 lives, including the majority of the Canadian Staff Band); and finally here some hand produced postcards (for example Stokesley Corps, 1923).
Birthday Cards: Sheets 17 and 18 are a small selection of the fairly common cradle-roll birthday cards produced by the Salvation Army. These come in sepia and coloured format and the earliest I have is 1916. The latest is 1948. 1 particularly like to collect either a run of several years to the same child or cards from long defunct Corps.
Foreign: Sheet 19 and the first card on 20 contains a set of views of "Le Palais de la Femme" and are dated 1929. Foreign Salvation Army cards are more difficult to find and I have few Armee du Salut cards. It was nice therefore to purchase this set earlier this year. Amongst other things, these cards show the gym, the
rooms and the large entrance hall. The remainder on Sheet 20 show a very rare turn of the century South African card picturing an open-air in Johannesburg (with a crowd of mainly black onlookers); a card showing the staff and cadets of the Central America and West Indies Territory with, on the back, an
S.A. stamp and Kingston postmark for August 23 1965, thus marking the first day of issue; a coloured card showing "The Salvation Army Peoples Palace, Boston, Mass"; a very colourful Public Record Office Card showing the jubilee Address by the Salvation Army of Australasia to Queen Victoria on her Golden jubilee, 1887"; and finally the Museum of London card number 136 showing the falling of the front of the old 101
(I.H.Q.)
War Cards: One of my favourites is a Second World War Red Shield pre-printed card dated May 1945 announcing the safe return of (in this case) "Charles". The address, start and finish of the card are the only things required to be filled in by the sender. I particularly like the Victory Bells incorporated as part of the postmark. Also on the same page are two noteworthy cards. The first is of Major T. Otter showing him as a First World War Chaplain in 1918, again in 1930s and in the
centre, a rather peculiar five angle picture of the Major. The second is of the King and Queen with General Carpenter inspecting Salvation Army Canteens. Others on sheets 21 to 27 show a mixture of First and Second World War Cards including hostels for soldiers in Cologne, Featherston (New Zealand) and Cairo.
Final Favourites: These last six include an interesting shot of the Salvation Army's first bandmaster's (Charles William Fry) gravestone; a couple of the very colourful Flag Series; a nice `Articles of War' card with insets of William Booth and also Clapton Congress Hall; a pre-printed New Year's Motto Card, with space at the bottom for the Officers to write their names; and a very attractive Mother's Day Card. |
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| Editorial |
| Salvation
Army Philatelic Circle |
| Regal
78 Association |
| The
Christmas Kettles |
| The S.A. and The Third Reich |
| Thomas
Giles - Cornet Soloist |
| Weston-super-Mare
and the S.A. |
| Interesting
Publications |
| Salvation
Army Heritage Centres |
| The
Booth Family Tree |
| Ridgway
Portrait Plates & Plaques |
| Rare
and Interesting S.A. Postcards |
| Introduction
to S.A. Orders & Medals |
| The
Story of The Horridge Museum |
| In
Memory of Ernest Titmus |
