The Ron Elam Collection of postcards is to go under the gavel at Toovey’s Sussex rooms on Wednesday 13th November 2024.
“It’s by far the best collection of London postcards I have seen to date” said specialist postcard auctioneer and valuer Nick Toovey, who continued “it’s like a pictorial A-Z of central and south London. It not only offers a breadth of different views but also some quality postcards that will be hard to find again”.
This remarkable collection was amassed by Wandsworth-based local historian Ron Elam. For several decades (from the early 1980s until 2012) he had a stall every Saturday on Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common trading as Local Yesterdays. There, passers-by could browse his postcard collection. Ron sold framed photographic prints which were created from the original postcards.
Local Wandsworth resident, Caroline, remembers “Ron was on his stall whatever the weather. I remember him once being there when it was snowing! I would often stop, have a chat and look at the postcards. I enjoyed imagining how the area would have looked in times gone by.”
These snapshots of an era in time make topographical postcards so appealing for the collector. The window into the past shows how life was different in the city over 100 years ago. Trams and horses and carts join charabancs and buses in the hustle and bustle of the capital. Scenes that have changed dramatically are very apparent throughout the collection, but are contrasted by views that reassuringly don’t differ very much despite the passing of time and advancements in technology.
The collection spans over 100 albums and is generally organised by area, which is how the collection will be offered at the specialist auction. The strength of the collection lies in the Boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth, but covers all other parts of London and even other parts of the UK.
“It has been fantastic having the opportunity to catalogue the collection and see so many different views of London in the past. I can’t wait to wield my gavel and see what they make on the 13th” said Nick.
The catalogue will be online at www.tooveys.com from Saturday 2nd November.
