Antique & Vintage Postcards

Stone and timber glow under a dramatic Cotswold sky in this superb real-photograph postcard of the Elizabethan Cottages along the main street of Broadway, Worcestershire — one of the most painted and photographed villages in all of England, and for good reason. The image, number 3598 in the Photo-Precision series, captures the characterful roofline of a half-timbered gabled cottage standing proud against a row of honey-coloured Cotswold limestone neighbours, their chimneys stepping back toward the wooded escarpment of the Broadway Hill. A period motor car is just visible at the far right, grounding the timeless streetscape in mid-20th-century reality. Broadway had been a magnet for artists, writers and Arts and Crafts movement figures since the 1880s — William Morris himself admired the village — and by the time this photograph was made, it had become one of England's premier tourist destinations. Published by Photo-Precision Ltd. of St. Albans under their "English Series" imprint with the Tudor rose device, the card is a genuine photographic print of striking clarity. Unposted, with a water stain to the upper right of the reverse only; front is clean.