Postcards from Past Lives: From Jan to Glynis 1969

Postcards can be windows into past lives - I'm interested in them as an illustration of female friendships in the 20th century.

This postcard of Tower Bridge was sent from Jan in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire to Glynis in Sudbury, Suffolk. It was written on 29th January 1969. I bet Tower Bridge looked a lot greyer then than on this Photographic Greeting Card Company production.


Here's the message:


This pair are obviously established penfriends - a lost art. I have had many penfriends in my time but one-by-one they fall away as modern life takes over and makes too many demands. It's so easy - too easy - to send quick online messages. Factor in the price of stamps these days and the effort and cost of writing a letter is making this artform almost obsolete. Except among those of us who persevere. It's a shame because it is an art to write an engaging letter- one that makes the recipient want to reciprocate. I love to read collections of letters between well known correspondents and one of my favourites is a collection of letters sent by Joyce Grenfell to her close friends Virginia Graham. Oh to have been her penfriend! Jan obviously looked forward to hearing from Glynis as she worried about the postman's strike. Unfortunately the postcard doesn't lend itself to secrets, so there is little about their lives revealed here.





Click here to download short stories based on the life of Joyce Grenfell

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