Wootton Wawen antiques dealer collects historic postcards for future generations
AMIDST the carnage of the First World War, Sidney Sims aged 18, sent a postcard from the frontline in France to his sweetheart, Gertrude, wishing her a happy birthday.
Sidney’s grandson – Phil Sims – still has that postcard... along with 10,000 others he’s collected over the years.
“I find them fascinating,” Phil said. “I feel like I’m some sort of custodian because the postcards are historical snapshots of a time gone by.
“For me it started as a passing pleasure, but my collection has grown considerably. You could say postcards were the text messages of their time.”
Phil, 51, runs Sims Vintage Antiques Centre in Wootton Wawen so he’s in a good place to keep adding to his collection.
Many of the images on the cards are from the Victorian and Edwardian eras and typically show a village square, a group of children standing in a street or at a railway station and were taken at recognisable locations like Claverdon and Ullenhall – they are a record of village life back in the day.
Phil also has a sizeable collection of cards from the Black Country, Dudley and Walsall where his family hails from.
“I think Sidney was about 18 or 19 when he sent the postcard from the frontline to Gertrude but he hasn’t written much other than to wish her a happy birthday.
“Postcards played such an important role in people’s lives generations ago and we’ve all sent the odd postcard when we’re on holiday and I hope people still do, but I think people just text now,” said Phil.
Postcards also performed a public information role – Phil has one which records the death of King Edward VII in 1910.
Phil added: “Times have changed and so has the way we communicate, but even in Victorian and Edwardian times messages could be spread quite quickly, especially by postcard.
“A person could write a postcard and send it to a friend in a neighbouring village and get a reply the same day, or certainly the day after thanks to the speed of the post service.”
He’s proud of every single one of his postcards but he’s had to find extra space around the house to store 10,000 of them.
“I will keep collecting and adding more cards and when the time comes I’ll pass on my collection to the next generation,” Phil said.
