These vintage real photo postcards feature actress Miss Mabel Russell (1886-1951). She was also known as Mrs Hilton Philipson when off the stage. Russell was a British actor and politician. She was a gaiety girl and starred in many London plays. She left acting to marry politician, Hilton Philipson, in 1917. Mabel caught the political bug and became the third woman to take a seat in the House of Commons. She was quiet on the floor of the house but was active behind the scenes. One of her bills led to the 1927 Nursing Home Registration Act. After retiring in 1929, she returned to acting for a brief period by left the theatre to focus on her family.
Postcard 1 was published by Tucks as part of the “Celebrities of the Stage” series (No.T 718). Miss Russell’s photo portrait was taken by Dover Street Studios. This postcard was postmarked in 1907. (SOLD)
Postcard 2 captures Miss Russell playing “Forbidden Fruit” in the Chinese Comic Opera “See See” (1906). The production ran in London’s Prince of Wales Theatre for 330 performances. This postcard was published by Tucks as part of the “Celebrities of the Stage” series (No.T 713). Miss Russell’s photo portrait was taken by Dover Street Studios. This postcard was postmarked in 1908. (SOLD)
Postcard 3 captures Miss Russell in her role in “Jack and Jill”. The “Bystander” magazine reported her appearance in that production in 1907, the same year as the card is postmarked. The actress was about 21 years old when this postcard photo was taken. The postcard was published by Rotary Photo as part of a series (No.4839R). (SOLD)
The pretty woman featured in this real photo postcard is Mable Woods. She was a theater actress. I could find little biographical information about her. I did discover that sometimes her name appeared as “Mabel” Woods rather than “Mable” Woods. I stumbled across a couple of real photo postcards in which Miss Woods made an appearance. Two of these cards were individual portraits of the actress but another postcard paired her with an actress name Rose de Vella. Mable Woods and Miss de Vella toured India together, performing in the chorus line for one of the “Gaiety Girls” touring companies. Irish born, George Edwards (1852-1915) was the theater manage of London’s Gaiety Theater. At one point he had sixteen touring companies. He had a propensity for hiring pretty young women to work as “Gaiety Girls”. These women were the chorus girls appearing in Edwardian musical comedies that began in the 1890’s. These women were an important ingredient for staging a successful musical production. They danced and appeared on stage in bathing attire and in the latest fashionable clothing. Unlike the corseted actresses from earlier musical burlesque shows, Gaiety Girls were viewed as respectable and refined. One writer reports that Gaiety girls “were polite, well-behaved young women”. Many Gaiety girls progressed to very successful acting careers. The list of former Gaiety girls reads like a hall of fame of celebrated actresses. Gaiety girls that catapulted to major roles include Marie Studholme, Mabel Love, Ellaline Terriss, Lily Elsie, Gladys Cooper, Phyllis Dare, and Gabrielle Ray. These and other starring alumni of the chorus, kept the moniker “Gaiety Girls”. The young women performing in Edward’s shows peaked the interest of wealthy gentlemen who became known as “Stage Door Johnnies”. They would wait outside the stage door and invite the actresses to dinner at fine restaurants. A number of women accepted the invitation. Sometimes the women would eventually marry one of these dates. A number of these women married noblemen, while others became the wives of professionals. In the book, “The Gaiety Years”, author Alan Hyman refers to the chorus as becoming “a matrimonial agency for girls with ambitions” to marry titled men. This postcard is in very good condition (see scans).
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 