POSTCARD 4 (SOLD)
These vintage real photo postcards feature English actress, singer, and dancer, Gaynor Rowlands (1883-1906). She carried the nickname of “The Nightingale of Wales”. She started her career in Empire Theatres’s Ballet. Upon graduation, she joined the company chorus line of George Edwarde’s Gaiety Theatre. She toured India in 1901/02. She quickly became a star and she became the most photographed of the “Gaiety Girls”. She was a popular subject of photo postcards and theatre magazine articles. Rowland’s life was cut short when she died of heart failure at the age of twenty-three after surgery for appendicitis. Eight portraits of Gaynor are in England’s National Portrait Gallery. The IMDb reports that she has one film in her filmography. lt was released in 1905.
Postcard 1 is a pretty portrait of Miss Rowlands that was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons as part of the Glosso Postcard Series (No. 5709) and the “Celebrities of the Stage Series”. The writer of this postcard used only one word to describe Gaynor. That word is “Lovely”. There is no doubt about the date that this postcard was written and sent. Not only does the postmark reveal that this card was mailed in 1905, but the writer wrote the same date on the front of the postcard. The card was mailed from Hounslow, a borough of London. This postcard is in good condition (see scans).
Postcard 2 is a portrait postcard that was published by Rotary Photo as part of a series (No. 1615U). Note Miss Rowland’s necklace and earrings. The message on this card offers Christmas greetings. The postcard was postmarked on Christmas day in 1908. This postcard is in very good condition (see scans). (SOLD)
Postcard 3 was published by Rotary Photo as part of a series (No.1887 T). Embedded in the image is the logo for “Play Pictorial”. The postcard was posted with a British stamp and a postmark from 1906. The card is in very good condition (see scans).
Postcard 4 was published by Davidson Bros. as part of the “Glossyphoto” series (No.1417). The card was postmarked in 1907. (SOLD) .
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #3549
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$17.49
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) 3549
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$26.49
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #3924
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$21.64
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) #3924
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
$30.89
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).
Miss Agnes Delaporte is looking quite beautiful as she poses in her role as Mercedes in “Monte Cristo Jr”. The production first appeared at the Gaiety Theatre in December, 1886. The Cabinet Card was photographed by the Stereoscopic Company in England. The London Stereoscopic Co. billed itself as “Photographers to the Royal Family”. To view other photographics by the London Stereoscopic Company, click on the category “Photographer: London Stereoscopic Company”.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 