London Life Postcards are some of the most popular social history postcards for London collectors. These unique postcards formed an insight into everyday life in London and were very popular with tourists who often purchased them as a souvenir and not something they wish to put through the postal system. They treasured these postcards and took them back home to show to family and friends. This is the reason why many of the London Life postcards remain unposted.
There were many different publishers of London Life and London Types postcards with the cheaper Charles Skilton printed set from the 1950’s still selling on the online auctions albeit for only a few pounds. I have seen complete sets on Ebay only fetching £5.00? On the other hand the Edwardian Beagles Series of London Life are still very collectable and were something different due to the added text and information they provided. But for me, the premier series was published by Rotary Photo and their London Life Series which has always been high in demand and remains so 120-years later.
This numbered series from 1 to 100 still has some gaps and around 6-numbers are still to be discovered. I suppose this is part of their fascination as collectors scour the postcard fairs looking for the missing numbers. While the basic early numbers can be found from £15.00 – £25.00 the rare London Life postcards from Rotary can bring hundreds of pounds. I remember the Labour Demonstration being discovered in the late 1980’s and that was fetching £150.00 back then. The Chelsea v Aston Villa Football Match is highly sought after along with any of the three postcards dedicated to Suffragettes with No:10 ‘Votes For Women’ the most common of the three.
I have no personal connection with London being from the North of England but I collect them because I think they are fascinating. If you have any London Life Rotary Photo Series Postcards to sell then please contact me at mark@postcardsforsale.co.uk Sometimes I have duplicates that we can exchange but normally they find a new home very quickly. How far I will get collecting these postcards remains to be seen but they are an exciting series to collect. If you collect this London Life Postcard Series then please get in touch. I always like to connect with like minded collectors. I look forward to hearing from you.