Bray from Bray Head, colour postcard sent on 11th July 1951

This postcard was sent on the 11th July 1951 and the brief message tells of simple seaside pleasures. The vibrant colours are a tad unrealistic for an Irish summer. The holiday crowd in the foreground wear typical 1950s fashions with most of the men in suits. The reds, pinks and greens of the clothing are particularly enhanced and exaggerated. It was produced by one of the largest postcard manufacturers in the world Valentine and Sons. I have featured other Irish images from their earlier ranges elsewhere in the blog and I wrote the entry on them in John Hannavy’s Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography.

Bray, County Wicklow has a long tradition as a holiday destination and a guidebook dating from 1867 pretty much describes this postcard view: “The remarkable promontory of Bray head rises boldly from the sea to a height of 807 feet and forms the most conspicuous object in the surrounding landscape from its summit, which is of easy access, an extensive view is commanded of the coast and adjacent country, of the town in its bearings, and the mountains by which it is surrounded,” from Sunny memories of Ireland’s scenic beauties: Wicklow.’ It was published in Dublin in 1867 by Browne and Nolan and included photographs by Frederick H. Mares of Grafton Street.

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Frederick H. Mares Studio Portrait, Dublin 1860s or 1870s

In the course of researching this post, I discovered that Dundrearies are long, full sideburns like those worn by the man in this photograph. They became popular in the 1860s and are named after the actor Edward A. Sothern who played the role of Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin. Piccadilly weepers were another pretty similar style of mutton-chop sideburns. Both are great descriptive terms which have fallen out of use.

This portrait was taken by Frederick H. Mares, probably in the late 1860s or early 1870s, at his studio at 79 Grafton Street, Dublin. He moved from this location in 1875 to another building called The Grafton Studio, at 118 Grafton Street (opposite Trinity College).

The smiling child and the interaction between the sitters are not usual for studio portraits of the era. There is quite a lot going on in background too. Given the small size of the original image (2⅛ × 3½ inches) the tinting is actually quite well executed. The artist who painted the backdrop has cleverly left a break in the scenery into which the sitter could be positioned.

The patterned flooring is the same as that shown on a series of portraits from the studio held by the Minnesota Historical Society which date from the early 1870s.

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