'I'm holding my own here': vintage Edwardian Bamforth Comic Series postcard, dated 1909, number 1425
This collectable early colour printed postcard, dated 1909 and titled 'I'm holding my own here', was published in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, and was number 1425 in the Bamforth Comic Series. It is a classic Bamforth postcard of the 1901 - 1910 Edwardian period, when taboo subjects were dealt with via innuendo, puns and gentle humour. In staged scenes, with carefully-chosen props and painted backdrops, the models pose in a variety of domestic and romantic situations above humorous titles. James Bamforth set up business in Holmfirth as a portrait photographer in 1870, painting his own scenic backdrops. In the 1880s, he began creating slides for magic lanterns (early forms of slide projector), pioneering the use of outdoor sets and using friends, family and actors to pose for the slides. In 1899, he began making films. The world's first postcard was published in 1869, but Post Office rules in the UK meant that any message had to be written on the same side as the image. This rule changed in 1902 and led to a boom in the picture postcard market. The first Bamforth postcards appeared in 1903. As with the portrait photographs and lantern slides, Bamforth created special scenes with actors and used both studio sets and outside locations. Bamforth & Co became a limited company in 1910. James Bamforth died in 1911, but the company continued to be run by his descendants. During the First World War, Bamforth postcards focused on patriotism and then, in the 1920s, the company moved into saucy seaside cards. The company was bought out by ETW Dennis & Sons Ltd in the early 1980s and when Dennis folded in 2001, the Bamforth & Co Ltd name was bought by Leeds-based Ian Wallace.
Size: 4035px × 6398px
Location: Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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