Object of the Day: Changing of the Guard

Click image to enlarge.

Here we have another postcard. This one was published by Lansdowne Publishing Co., Ltd. of London who wants us to know that “THIS IS A REAL PHOTOGRAPH.”

Real photograph notwithstanding, this photo could have been taken at any point from the later reign of King George VI to the coronation of his daughter, the present Queen. I’m guessing it’s from somewhere in the middle, but it’s difficult to tell. First of all the horse-guard’s uniforms are unchanged to this day. Secondly, this was published during that odd period in British history when few publisher’s ever put a copyright date on anything.

I especially like the over-painting which was done to the “real photograph” before it was duplicated. Although a tad sloppy when viewed in the enlarged scan, it’s quite festive in that spirit of the 40s-50s.

The Horse Guards’ parade still looks like this. And, that’s why I love British History! Tradition is a grand thing sometimes.