The lost 1950’s collection ....... No1 catching the tram in Brussels

Now like all good things the lost 1950’s collection was not really lost just misplaced.

The collection was passed onto me by a friend and in the midst of redecorating the house last Christmas were carefully stored away in the cellar and came to light this week when the said cellar was also going through a makeover.

There are about 30 picture postcards from the 1950s which are part of a bigger collection ranging from Edwardian birthday cards to a vast selection of seaside scenes from Britain, France and Belgium with a few of the Swiss Alps.

But it is the 1950s group that has caught my eye which I suppose is partly because that was the decade when I was growing up and because they have a quaintness about them which makes them look almost like today but not quite.

And to start the series, this is of the Stock Exchange in Brussels, chosen because of that tram.
Trams first came to the city in 1869 and the first electric one 25 years later.

Over time the livery of the trams has changed but in the 1920s they were given a primrose colour which lasted till the mid 1990s.

Location; Brussels

Picture; the Stock Exchange, Brussels, circa 1950 from the collection of  Ron Stubley

The lost 1950’s collection ....... No 5 Hastings

Now as you would expect the Queens’ Hotel in Hastings has been written about, and never one to trespass on other’ labours I will let the curious follow the link and discover more.*

Suffice to say that when our picture postcard was produced the hotel was a little off its hundredth birthday.

That said if I had access to the Judge catalogue and armed with the code I would be able to offer up a more accurate date for when our holiday makers wandered past the Queen’s.

Hastings is a seaside resort I have yet to visit and might well be minded to call in at the hotel which appears still to be in business.

Location; Hastings

Picture; Hastings circa 1950 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Queens Hotel rises from site of America Ground,  Ion Castro
Friday 21 October 2016, http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/queens-hotel-rises-from-site-of-america-ground-1-7633794

The lost 1950’s collection ....... No 4 Le Touquet

Now when I was growing up in the 1950s, we didn’t have seaside holidays, and while my friends went off to any one of a number of holiday camps I took the long trip by train to Derby to spend August with my grandparents.

I don’t say this out of any sense of loss ..... having never been to the seaside I didn’t miss it.

But I rather think that if I had been sent to Le Torquet I would have enjoyed myself.

It is a resort in northern France and has a reputation as one of those elegant holiday destinations for rich Parisians.

And that is all I have to say.

Except to say that looking at the picture in detail I would venture to say that the sun worshippers captured in the image fared better than those who chose Eastbourne for their holiday destination.

Of course I am being a tad unfair given that I have no idea when during the year the Eastbourne photograph was taken but  have to say I know which I would have preferred.

Although I could at least get the year by finding out if the Lansdown Publishing Company produced a catalogue which would allow me to match the year to the code.
We shall see.



Location; Le Touquet







Picture; Le Touquet, circa 1950 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The lost 1950’s collection ....... No 3 Eastbourne “wishing I was somewhere else"

Now this is not a sideswipe at Eastbourne and its attractions, just an observation that for many of us growing up in the 1950s, the seaside may have been magic as a child but was never guaranteed to deliver hours of constant sunshine.

And judging by the overcoats and that strong wind the day this picture was taken was one of those moments which were less about glorious summer and more “when do the pubs open?

I may be wrong and for that I apologies to Eastbourne and all those who had a good time by the sea in the 1950s.

Location; Eastbourne












Picture; Eastbourne, circa 1950 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The lost 1950’s collection ....... No 2 eating tapas in London

The second in a series taken from a selection postcards produced in the 1950s.

I like this one, it is of the Ronda Room in Martinez Spanish Restaurant on Swallow Street off Piccadilly in London.

The restaurant opened in 1923, survived the death of its owner in 1951 and continued for another three decades.

I was drawn to it by the unabashed claims for its warmth and brightness, but know I would never have been able to afford to eat there, which is all to the good because as it was a haunt of the Spanish dictator Franco I rather think I would have avoided it.

That said there is a fascinating article on the place well worth a read.*

Location; London

Picture; the Martinez Spanish Restaurant, London, circa 1950 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

















*Interesting bits and bobs from my research into the connections between Britain and Spain during the long nineteenth century

OF COCKTAIL SAUCE AND KINGS, OR, LONDON’S FIRST SPANISH RESTAURANT (PROBABLY)
April 25, 2014 · by Kirsty, in Anglo-Spanish. ·
https://hispanicbritain.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/martinez-spanish-restaurant/