Collecting Skiing Posters

November 6th, 2011

While many of us are busy getting organised for Christmas those fortunate enough to be able to afford a winter break will be starting to plan their holiday in the snow and once Christmas is over the skiing season will begin in earnest. Those of us who’s budgets are not quite up to that holiday in Switzerland or Sun Valley might visit some of the local antique shops and fairs and consider collecting skiing posters. Holiday makers often brought these back as momentos of their trip to put on the wall at home as a reminder.

Skiing posters can be had for as little as £50, but they can also fetch five figure sums and if you want to become a collector you need to be able to tell the difference between the ordinary and the special. Obviously, your own taste and preference will play a major part in your choice, but you need to be aware of the four main indicators of value – location, age, artwork and designer. Continue reading »

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Collecting McGill Comic Postcards

October 23rd, 2011

In Britain comic postcards and a holiday by the seaside are forever connected.  They were saucy and full of innuendo and they are also of a time when sexual matters were not discussed as freely as they are today.  Comic postcards are at the same level as the ‘Carry On’ films and both of them are important facets of classic British humour.  While in their hayday you could have purchased a comic postcard for a few pennies, today they are very collectable and especially the ones designed by Donald Fraser Gould McGill and collecting McGill comic postcards has become popular.

McGill was born in 1875 and trained as a naval architect.  His drawing talents were discovered by chance when someone saw a card he had made for a sick nephew.  He sold his first design to Asher Pictorial Postcards in 1910 for six shillings, it was to sell over two million copies.  McGill is a perfect example of how being around at the right time can be a huge advantage.  As we get into the late Victorian era the annual holiday had become part of British life, since the advent of the railways meant that it was easy to get to the seaside. Bournemouth opened its pier in 1880 and Blackpool illuminations and the tower were finished in 1894.  Also in 1894 the General Post Office gave permission for private companies to print their own cards for postal use and the age of the postcard had arrived.

McGill’s style was often described as ‘toilet humour’, ‘obscene’ and ‘smutty’ and his designs were based on fairly racy themes, usually depicting fat bottomed, mature ladies and curvy young women.  While the postcards were crude they were also very funny, although the jokes would nowadays probably be described as sexist and inappropriate.  You will never find nudity on a McGill postcard, he relied solely on the double entendres, in other words – it’s all in the mind of the beholder. Continue reading »

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