Postcard History

I take pride in telling you, I just solved a 31-year-old mystery.

In the spring of 1994, a British postcard fair promoter advertised that a show in August of that year would celebrate the centennial of the British postcard. It was an opportunity I would never have again, unless I live to be 151.

Since that ain’t gonna happen … here’s the story of a postcard I bought that day, for which I paid ₤1.50 to a dealer with an international reputation: Dr. Richard Moulton. One of Dr. Moulton’s sidekicks in the postcard business was a gentleman named Alphie Harris. Alphie was a walking, talking encyclopedia of postcard history. On that day, I asked Alphie if I could look at Dr. Moulton’s inventory of “men in uniform.”

I looked at more than a dozen cards before I found this one. It has no publisher’s name although it is a very high-quality lithograph. The PC apparatus is a very neat P O S T   C A R D in what I think is Windsor font. If it is, it would be timely to 1905 when “Windsor” was invented by Elisha Pechey as a headline font, rather than one designed for text. The font was introduced by the Stephenson Blake Company, a type-foundry of Sheffield, England.

I bought the card despite not knowing its subject. I was confident enough to think that the gentleman’s identity would be easy to discover.

[Aside: on the top shelf of the credenza on my desk is a box with a detachable lid that many years ago was called a marble file box. On the front panel of the box there is a holder with a homemade label on which I wrote, “To Be Researched.” The label has yellowed over the years, and the lid is dusty, but once every two or three years, I thumb-through the contents to see if I have learned anything new that might identify the unknown images. The card here has been in that box since 1994.]

About a month ago, I finished an errand and found myself with two hours to kill before another appointment at a Buick dealership for an oil change. I found myself near one of my favorite places – a bookstore.

Barnes & Noble has a fabulous inventory of magazines, mostly American but some foreign. I have what may be called a FMF (yes, I invented the term) it means Foreign Magazine Fetish. I am fascinated by them if they are published in English, and on the day in question I found a real treasure. It is published by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) and is entitled, BBC History Magazine.

After my oil change, I headed home and literally devoured my new magazine.

I enjoyed every article, then when I got to the last page, I discovered a feature article entitled “My History Hero” by a BBC contributor named Michael Buerk. Mr. Buerk had entitled his character study with his subject’s name and dates: Robert FitzRoy, 1805-1865.

I studied the picture of a man sitting at a desk. No bells rang, but I had a vague sense of recognition. I read the article; still nothing. Then, I remembered my box of cards to be researched.

The card I wanted was half-way down the pile. The card I bought 31-years-ago in London.  I knew it! It’s the same person.

I learned that FitzRoy was the youngest ever ship captain in the Royal Navy. He sailed the HMS Beagle. He was the most famous Christian advocate to question Charles Darwin.

He was the theoretical scientist who founded the British Meteorological Office.

He was the governor of New Zealand who was recalled to London for protecting the Maori.

He had an explosive temper and was the father of five children who grew into their adulthoods and became college professors, a Royal Navy admiral, an infectious disease researcher, and a world class meteorologist.

If I asked, I’m sure you would have told me that it was Robert FitzRoy. I guess I never thought to ask.  The same Robert FitzRoy whose story I found on Page 90 of the BBC World History magazine.