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Monday 17 November 2014

Does Every Picture Tell A Story?

Bridge St, Port Sunlight.
'Every picture tells a story', as the old saying goes  - but is it really the story that you think it is? I was intrigued by this old postcard (left), which I bought recently. The caption reads 'Colleens Dancing, Ballymaclinton (McClinton's Town, erected by the makers of McClinton's Soap)'. I hadn't heard of Ballymaclinton, but surmised that it might be a town built for factory workers by their employer, like  Saltaire, New Lanark or Port Sunlight. However, after a little research online, I found that Ballymaclinton was an advertising gimmick for a soap firm! This fake village was one of the star attractions of the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908. I thought that the 'colleens dancing' looked very posed - and the houses were amazingly white and clean. But it's still a fun postcard for my collection!

 Photo © Sue Wilkes.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting, postcards are such a great source for social history.

Unknown said...

Hi Sue,
What a wonderful postcard! I agree that it looks a little "staged," but it does not detract from its charm and appeal. It almost looks like a Lowry painting. Like you, I love old postcards; I use them as bookmarks. They are little snapshots in time. Thank you for sharing this one.
Sarah��

Sue Wilkes said...

Thank you both! When time permits I'll be sharing some more postcards from my collection.