Anon - G

Printed in Germany, these cards are characterised by the capital letter G enclosed in a diamond lozenge.    Nothing is known as to the name of the publisher of these two cards, although Gale & Polden, the well known national publisher of military cards (see below) is a prime contender.

Gale & Polden Ltd

Given the presence of no fewer than three army establishments in Chelsea, it must come as no surprise to find that several military postcards published by Gale & Polden are known to exist:

Gibbs & Co., 454 Kingsland Road, E.8

Gibbs & Co were employed as photographers by St Mark�s College and, apart from numerous group photographs of the sporting teams, they also did a series of photographic views of the college buildings.    L.E. Muller later joined the firm and took over the business completely in 1910.

Goodhews Limited

Produced a map card of The Pier Hotel, Cheyne Walk, promoting its Charcoal Grill.

The Good Intent

This popular restaurant at 64 Cheyne Walk, on the corner of Church Street, opened on Monday 1 June 1908.    Miss Marion Dawson, who lived upstairs until the building was bombed in 1941 by the same landmine that destroyed Chelsea Old Church, produced two charming drawings set within a chequerboard border; the first in 1908 shewing the exterior view, the second in 1909 shewing the interior.   Marion Dawson produced another view of the exterior, but without the chequered border, entitled: Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.   By 1924 the restaurant had moved to 316-318 King�s Road and 64 Cheyne Walk became a �dolls hospital� under the name Pomona Toys; the Good Intent was still flourishing after the second world war.

A. Gooding, 149 Fulham Road, S W

This newsagent commissioned a handful of local coloured views of the South Kensington area under the printers imprint D. 492/1084.

The Graphic Colour Printing Works

A seemingly anonymous set of ten cards illustrating the Chelsea Historical Pageant of 1908 is now known, from details on the original envelope, to have been published by The Graphic Colour Printing Works, Reading and London.

E. Hammond, 173 Brompton Road, SW

Apart from a few early collotypes, similar to those published by Wrench, Hammond are noted best for their real photographic cards, most of which are identical (*) to those published by E. Brown of 7 Walton Street.

Hans Crescent Hotel, Knightsbridge, London, S.W.1.

A view of the hotel photographed by Stuart. An earlier version has the postal district incorrectly as W.1.

George G Harrap & Co., Ltd., �London� Series

Only a single Chelsea card from this series is so far known.   It is artist drawn by Ellis Silas (born 1883) and appears to be No.19 in the series:

The Hart Publishing Co. Ltd., London, E.C.

A solitary real photograph:

�Herriot� Series - Dickens

Hill, Chelsea

Hill seems to have been a photographer; a solitary card of his is a real photograph of a Chelsea Pensioner:

Russell Hiron, 46 Dacre House, Beaufort Street, S.W.

Nothing is known for sure about Russell Hiron, although I believe him to have been born in 1853 in Bordesley, Worcestershire, and to have married Catherine Sarah Bowyer in 1880 at Uttoxeter.   Three superb real photographic cards of his are known, his name on each marked with a mauve rubber stamp:

H.M.&S.  L.

The true name of this real photographic publisher is not now known; two Chelsea cards have, however, been noted:

Holiday Inn International

Printed by Ordnance Survey, Southampton for Holiday Inn:

Inglis, Chelsea

Images and Editions Ltd, Stamford, Lincs

Photographed by Andrew Lawson:

Insight Cards, Tisbury, Wiltshire

Photographed by Mark Fiennes and featuring the erstwhile colourful sandwich-board man, who used to stand prominently outside the Chelsea Antique Galleries:

Inter-Art Co., Barnes, London, S.W.

Published in their �Comique� Series, one card of a Chelsea theme comprises a drawing of a white-bearded Chelsea Pensioner with an arm around the neck of a young cherubic boy:

Ja-Ja Heraldic Series

No place in the British Isles would be complete without its Ja-Ja coloured coat of arms; Chelsea is no exception.

Jarrold & Sons, Ltd. Norwich - Cotman Color

A post-war set of six coloured postcards:

Anon - M

These real photographic cards were issued from 1925 by Richard Frederick Maycock, successor to Johns and are listed under that name immediately below.

Johns - 177 Longley Road, Tooting

The most prolific publisher of Chelsea views - all as real photographs - Richard Joseph Johns, born in Cornwall in 1849, came late to postcards and acquired in 1912 some of Albert Broom�s plates from his widow.   He went on to publish over 200 of his own views of Chelsea before he sold out in 1930 to his partner Richard Frederick Maycock; cards from the later years carry the anonymous imprint M.    Johns himself died in 1931, aged 81, and many of the original glass negative plates still survive.

John Jones (Chelsea) Ltd., London S.W.

Under the advertising slogan �Ideal� Sanitary Fittings are right up-to-date, the manufacturers John Jones in 1909 commissioned Jack Walker to draw a set of six pen and ink cartoons, featuring both ancient and modern in the plumbing world.

Judges Ltd - London Series

Judges Ltd produced over 800 postcard views of London in their L Series; the following relate to Chelsea:

Kardorama Ltd

One from the sixties by this national publisher:

F. Kehrhahn & Co., Bexley, Kent

Although Kehrhahn are justifiably noted for their extensive range of real photographic London street views, they also produced high quality collotype versions of many as well:

K.F.A.S. Ltd., 26 Alfred Place West, S.W.7.

Alfred Place West has now changed its name to Thurloe Street and lies adjacent to South Kensington Station.    Apart from a large number of etchings by Whistler and others, K.F.A.S. published other sepia views under the name The Renshaw Series:

The Knight Series

Just one card from this national publisher has a Chelsea theme

D. Knights-Whittome, Sutton, Surrey

A solitary card from this source:

Lansdowne Production Co., London

Published about 1955, a solitary card:

The Laverock Press, Gillingham, Kent

Published in 1970 a single card from a set of military uniforms is:

C. & A.G. Lewis, Limited, Nottingham

The output from this publisher will be found at C. Degen, London

LL

Only a few cards from this national publisher lie in Chelsea:

Locomotive Publishing Co.

As L P Co., the Locomotive Publishing Company produced several cards for the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway including a few cards of Lots Road Power Station which had recently been built to provide power for their trains.   The numbers below do not appear on the cards themselves, but are those given in John Alsop�s seminal reference work �The Official Railway Postcard Book�.

London Photographic Co., 12 Baker Street, W

The London Shoe Company, 21 & 22 Sloane Street, SW

London Transport Museum

Anon - Lofthouse, Crosbie & Co.

This set of cards of �Views of Chelsea Polytechnic� is, like the Faulkner set above, strictly anonymous, except that we know from the cover of an original envelope that they were published by Lofthouse, Crosbie & Co., of Hampton Hill, Middlesex.   The numbering would appear to suggest that the set should contain about 30 cards; but the envelope contains only 18 and no collector is known to have seen the �missing� numbers.

The next three cards are placed here for convenience; although of a similar style, there is nothing to say that they are by Lofthouse, Crosbie & Co.   They are identified simply by a printer�s numbers on the back.

Lofthouse, Crosbie & Co., Tower House, Trinity Square, London, E.C. - [later] Hampton, Middx.

Although noted as the �publisher� of several sets of postcards, Lofthouse, Crosbie & Co., in fact acted as agents for various private institutions through which the cards were retailed.   Before the war printing was carried out by Trenkler of Leipzig [the distinctive printer�s numbers being the give-away]; after the outbreak of war they were printed at their own �works� at Hampton Hill.   The cards for the Chelsea Polytechnic bore no imprint and are listed above.

Lovering & Co., 24 Yeoman�s Row, S.W.

Miss Ida R Lovering was born in Greenwich in 1853; based just outside the Chelsea border, she is noted for her sets of artist drawn cards.   Of special interest is the set of twelve front doors of houses of famous people in London; I only list below those in Chelsea:

Simon McBride Prints

Produce a night time coloured view of an illuminated:-

Malin & Cooper, 303 Fulham Road

Situated just on the Chelsea side of Fulham Road, this publisher (as might be expected) included views on both sides of the border.   For the sake of completeness all his known views, both in Chelsea and in Kensington are listed.

Marshall, Keene & Co., Hove, Sussex

This company published postcards for any number of private individuals and organisations, including:

Martin

These nice real photographic cards published about 1925 are recognisable from the hand written titles bearing the name Martin in a cursive script:

Charles Martin, 39 Aldermanbury, London E.C.

Major local publisher.   Like Gordon Smith, Charles Martin produced a prolific output of postcard titles of local London views.   There was some overlapping of areas between them - notably Chelsea - else they appear to have come to an amicable arrangement as to which areas each would cover.

J. Maxwell & Son, Dumfries

H. B. Moody, 345-7 Fulham Road, S.W.

A local newsagent, who published his own small selection of postcards.

Anon - Blessed Thomas More

This set of artist drawn cards bears a monogram comprising the letters EMCB closely entwined:

F. C. Morgan & Co., Ltd., London E.C.

Another national publisher of local cards.   As with other such series, some of the views are identical to those of other publishers, notably Alwin & Vedy.   A printer�s number appears in red at the bottom right on the address side of the earlier coloured cards.

L. E. Muller, 454 Kingsland Road, E.8

Successor to Gibbs & Co. above from 1910, as college photographer to the newly combined College of St Mark and St John in 1926 he advertised that he �can supply books of 19 views of the College, with cover decorated with the College Arms in colour at 4s., post free.    He can also supply copies of any group taken at St Mark�s from 1897 onwards, and at St John�s, Battersea, from 1913.�