At my last visit to a postcard fair, I bought a small bundle of twenty-two postcards dating from 1910-15. Individually they weren’t expensive, just 50p each (the seller sold them for £10) and I hoped to be able to share a snippet or two from the collection.
The address of one of the cards initially attracted me to them, ‘Mr Cyril Smith, Post Office, Sudbury, Suffolk – Staff’, I eventually bought 2 bearing this address. I thought it was a tangential link to my interest in postal history, but as I looked further, I realised that many of the postcards on sale were addressed to the same man, even when he resided at different addresses, another being 311 Norwich Road, Ipswich, and these postcards offered us a glimpse into his early twentieth century life. The postcard box I was searching through were part of a personal collection.
Postcard dated 13 May 1913
‘Dear C.
How do you like Sudbury and the Sudbury Flappers? Have not returned to the office yet, in fact have only been able to get up two days since leaving Ipswich. Getting on towards recovery now. Hope you will have a good time. Con sends regards. Yours Olive.’
Postcard dated 19 May 1913
‘Dear Cyril
Thanks muchly for PC [postcard] of yesterday. Yes, am progressing favourably now. Won’t think I shall be in IH [Ipswich?] for a little time. Do you think you will be coming to C&S [Clacton-on-Sea] for the season? Great excitement locally re bandstand. Glad to hear you have found a “little bit of stuff”. Kindest regards. Yours Olive.’
The cards make me want to search further – however census paywalls have scuppered that, I will have to wait until I can visit the local archives to explore that avenue for free.
Who were the Sudbury Flappers? And who is the ‘little bit of stuff’?
There is a card sent to ‘Miss Pussie Smith’ indicating that she was to pass it on to Cyril as it completed his set. It’s a nice set, date-stamped between 1913-14, a pretty dark-haired woman in a white blouse is posed in front of a light background wearing a turban-style hat (or indeed a scarf). On one card Olive remarks ‘rather saucy this one, eh?’ At a glance, you could possibly think they are duplicates, but there are subtle differences in composition and colour. Olive says to Cyril in one missive, ‘love to Mum and Puss’ – were Olive, Puss and Cyril siblings? It seems that Pussie and Cyril shared a hobby of collecting postcards as Olive promised to send Pussie some ‘pretty ones later’.
The name ‘Pussie’ is intriguing – these days, of course, it is used as a slang term for female genitalia and a derogatory term for a coward, but previously it was a term of endearment. Indeed, Agatha Christie uses it to describe older ladies and there are examples of it being used for young girls. Examples of its use in literature can be found here. I’ve not located, as yet, a first name that it is a diminutive of, however, it does spring to mind a certain Bond girl.
I bought these cards before reading them and I wish now I had bought more – to find out more about Cyril and his correspondents and to complete the sets of cards! I bought three examples of another set, all posted in 1914. These are dark in composition and again have a beautiful woman gazing at the camera. Her dress and headband change colour with each postcard and I’d love the set to frame. These cards were sent to Cyril after the outbreak of World War One when he was serving in the 6th Suffolk Regiment. Olive remarks in one, ‘sorry you are having such a stiff time but *cheer oh*’ and in another, ‘what do you think of this beauty?’
Cyril’s other correspondents include Pussie, Trissie, Katie and ‘Mother’, I’ll examine their postcards in another post.
Photos author’s own unless stated.
HistorianRuby: An Historian's Miscellany 
That’s a lot of fun!
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Always love reading the postcards. Fun trying to connect the dots.
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Yes! I’m frustrated that I didn’t buy more – and that I don’t know the seller’s name. Sometimes they use personalised paper bags, but not in this instance. Hopefully, he’ll be in the same spot next time and I can try to buy a few more. I can then find out a little more of the puzzle.
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How interesting the legacies we leave. Can you imagine people reviewing these blog posts in a hundred years!? These post cards are beautiful. Thanks for sharing them!
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You’re welcome. It’s always fascinating for me taking a peek into the past.
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Very interesting! A lot of detective work involved.
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I adore old PCs and follow another (U.S.) blog that gives the history behind sites featured in them. Such fun–such a treasure trove of historical interest.
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Very interesting……I wonder if he survived the war?
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When I’ve settled in my new job I’ll restart some of my searchable databases and hopefully find out although with the surname Smith it probably won’t be easy. I’m busy the next few weekends, otherwise, I’d head to my local archives to make use of their Ancestry account.
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It’s good to know about varied interests of people like you. I got to learn a lot from your post. It was interesting.
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So glad you liked it! 🙂
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Hi. I think I may have found him on the 1911 census living with his widowed mum and siblings. He was 19 and a post office sorting clerk and telegrapher.
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Brilliant! Thank you so much for looking. What details have you found? Would it be easier to email via my contact?
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No problem. I’m now curious to know more! I can send screenshots via email if you let me know the details.
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You can email via my contact page it’ll come straight to me. If you’d prefer to message me I can send you my email details in reply. But it’s the same account.
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What a fun collection and project. I hope we’ll all learn more about him in a future post. Don’t despair at the Smith name. That’s one of my family names. A little more challenging, to be sure, but doable.
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I wonder if someone somewhere is reading my postcards. But then again, I think mine were mostly burned.
Were photograph PCs popular back in the day? I always think of landscapes when I think of them.
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Beautiful and intriguing!
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I’ve this post! It’s like taking a peak at somebody’s life! So intrigues by Cyril and ‘his ladies’!
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That makes me wonder whether future generations will scourge the web for our blog posts to try and piece together tell-tale fragments of our society like you do. Great post!
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Thank you! And our social media . . . Yikes! Off to delete stuff! 😉
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What a little treasure you bought.!
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Yes! thrilled to bits, I wish I’d bought more!
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The contrast between the WWI trenches and the notes on the postcards must have been surreal. Possibly cheering, but surreal all the same.
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That whole collection would have been amazing. I’m glad you grabbed a few though. I wonder if any of my postcards will end up in a collection haha. I’m not sure that my scribble would be quite so intriguing?
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One seller at a postcard sale told me a story – said that one old gent DID find a postcard he had written. Seems a little farfetched but he was sincere. 🙂
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I suppose if the gent had stayed in the same area all his life, sent the postcard to an address also in that same area, and the seller had purchased and was selling in the same area it’s almost plausible!
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Almost! But they travel for miles to go to the trade fairs and and they are sorted by geography, themes etc., but I didn’t disbelieve him at the time.
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