Bamforth Postcards – The Commercialization of Sentimentalism

James Bamforth had long produced ‘song cards’, utilising popular songs of the time to layer the sentiment on his postcards, and the tradition continued throughout the Great War, by the end of which his company was producing some twenty million cards a year.

‘Little Grey Home in the West’ was published in 1911 by Hermann Frederic Löhr – there’s irony – and Dorothy Eardley-Wilmot, and later parodied by Australian signaller-poet Private Tom Skeyhill, while serving on Gallipoli*, as ‘My Little Wet Home in the Trench’.

*Where he was blinded, although he regained his sight in 1918 and became a well-known author & lecturer in America until he died in a plane crash in 1932.

Anyway, here are a couple of pre-war examples (above & below),…

…templates for the later Great War postcards.  It’s interesting to note that the scene of war depicted here on the first card on the left is very much a vision of wars past – the cavalry charge – than the war to come.

Many (maybe all) of these sets of cards were produced in both colour and monochrome, to suit all purses.

Bamforth was nothing if not practical.  Using popular songs of the time may have cost him copyright fees, but why hire models when your own workforce can do the job?  Thus it was Bamforth’s factory in Holmfirth near Huddersfield that provided the men and women seen in all these postcards,…

…and doubtless there was much mirth as Cyril from accounts and Daisy from the secretarial pool enacted ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’.

I wonder if they got paid extra, or if all this was seen as ‘doing your bit for King & Country’.

I’ve shown you the soldier (as opposed to the sailor, as we have here) version of this set of cards before.

And this time our hero returns safely.

‘When the Fields Are White With Daisies’ was first published in 1909,…

…while ‘When the Great Red Dawn is Shining’ is a later song, written in 1917.

‘There’s a Long, Long Trail’ was written by two Americans, Stoddard King & Alonzo ‘Zo’ Elliott, and first published in London in 1914.

Very often these types of cards seem to have been sent and received within the U.K.’s borders; soldiers knew only too well that the scenes depicted were far from the reality of the war they were experiencing, and likely regarded these cards as somewhat fatuous.

Not a true set – as we’ve already seen there would have been separate sets for soldiers & sailors.  Bamforth’s produced some six hundred different sets of ‘song cards’, so it’s a good job I’m not a completist!  The missus agrees.

An older song, comparatively, the sheet music published in 1906.

And don’t forget Mother.

‘Just before the Battle, Mother’ was a much older song, first published in 1863 by composer George Frederick Root.  It would become a popular song, particularly with Union troops, during the latter half of the American Civil War.

Never forget Mother.

‘When the War is Over, Mother Dear’ was written around 1915, I think, and self-titled as ‘England’s Greatest Soldier March Song’.

No copyright on hymns.

Saves a few quid.  I refer you to the post’s title.

Reverse of a typical Bamforth card – note the printed text on the left – Holmfirth & New York, no less.  All postcard images in this post are from my collection, and by putting ‘Bamforth’ in the Search Box, you’ll be able to find the other Bamforth cards already on this website, and more about James Bamforth’s eponymous company.