Antique & Vintage Postcards

A dapper Edwardian couple steers an open red motorcar straight toward the viewer, wind in their scarves, on a country lane flanked by thatched cottages — the very picture of modernity circa 1905. Attached to the car's bonnet is a small embossed black leatherette wallet embossed "A TOUR ROUND / MELBOURNE," which opens to reveal a concertina-fold strip of miniature colour views: The Yarra, Princes Bridge, Flinders Street Railway Yards and River Yarra, Custom House, and Government House. These "pull-out" souvenir novelties were enormously popular during the Golden Age of postcards; a traveller — perhaps someone named Beatrice or Albert making the long voyage from Britain to Victoria — could slip this card into an envelope and send the whole city home in one charming package.