Joining Tom Jackson to discuss the postcards from their pasts are writer SUSIE BOYT (My Judy Garland Life, Love and Missed) and the man behind the Shed of the Year, ANDREW WILCOX. We visit a model village, attempt a lock-in with Clint Mansell, suffer to entertain with Jean Barrault, and benefit from a nurse’s healing smile. Plus hippies on the Mall, bedlam superimposed on bedlam in the stalls, and we spot the Queen seven times and the Duke six. Wish you were here?
Bramall Hall, Bramhall, Cheshire, 22 June 1974: “Having a wonderful holiday enjoying every minute. My husband phoned me last-night, the decorator is coming in next Monday. He tells me he has only burnt the toast twice so far.”
Life Guards Sentry – Whitehall Place, London, 10 November, 1969: “WE’VE WALKED HERE – WE’VE WALKED THERE; WE’VE WALKED EVERY DARN WHERE; & WE’VE ONLY SAT DOWN FOR AN ‘EAT’; HAVING A GREAT TIME & LOVING EVERY MINUTE. SEEN ALL KINDS OF SIGHTS – FROM TRADITIONAL TO HIPPIES!”
Andrew’s postcard of Babbacombe Model Village. A bit smaller than a shed, but intriguing to a small boy on his holiday to Torquay.
Susie’s postcard of the French actor, Jean-Louis Barrault, sent to her by her friend Lulu. This black and white portrait holds memories of Les Enfants Du Paradis , childhood trips to the circus in Paris, muddled romantic relationships, a St John’s Wood lingerie shop, and her father.
Multiview of Edinburgh, A Wee Bit Scotch, 30 June 1953: “My Dear Sheila, Just to let you know that I am having a lovely holiday. I have seen the Queen six times and the Duke eight times, they were really lovely, but I will give you all the news when I get home.”
Andrew’s signed souvenir postcard card from a Clint Mansell concert at the Birmingham Philharmonic.
Henry James – originally Susie’s choice for the podcast, but ousted at the last minute by the following card…
Susie’s enigmatic cornershop Get Well postcard, purchased as a teenager in Finsbury Park, North London. Profound? Trite? Poetic? Decide for yourself. (And listen to the podcast for the elaborate caption on the back of the card.)
A musical postcard: a hotel in Kecskemét, central Hungary.