This selection is drawn from a private collection of post cards . The postcards were collected over many years and have been housed in date order in a smart album.
The vast majority of the postcards in this selection have survived the rigours of the Royal Mail and consequently cannot be classed as ‘in mint condition’. The dates superimposed on each image are those on the post mark, and not the dates when the cards were originally printed.
There were three notable stationers based in Olney over the years who were instrumental in producing postcards depicting scenes of Olney, namely Oliver Ratcliff, William Inkerman Knight and Albert H Stanley.
The heyday of the picture ‘greeting’ postcard was the early 20th century through to the start of WW1, although their popularity continued through the decades, say, until the 1950s when the humorous holiday greeting postcards became more popular. The advent of the mobile phone probably accelerated the demise of the postcard.
The selected postcards are presented as a series of five galleries covering the following sections of the town, ie: the Knoll and Olney North, the High Street, the Market Place, High Street South, and the Church and Mill.
To view a postcard as an enlarged image simply click on any image within the galleries. The preferred platform for viewing a particular postcard appears to be a tablet.
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Gallery A – The Knoll and Olney North
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Gallery B - The High Street
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Gallery C - The Market Place
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Gallery D - High Street South
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Gallery E - The Church and Mill
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