I’ve often wondered if Edward Bailey and his wife Ines were people who enjoyed the Katoomba area, as quite a few postcards in Grandad’s collection are from that area. My own family holidayed in Katoomba a number of years ago so that our boys could see the beauty of this place for themselves. The postcard of Bridal Veil Falls is a favourite of mine though, as there is a photograph of my mother Madeleine Di Salvia nee: Bailey as a young child with her family, which is taken in front of the falls. Mum would have been about three years old by the look of her. It is interesting to note that Grandad is wearing a good suit, Grandma had a satchel/handbag with her and is wearing good boots and everyone is wearing a hat! It would seem that this was a planned family portrait.
There are numerous black and white postcards which are classed as “real photo postcards” in my grandfathers postcard collection. Apparently this type of postcard came into used around 1898. Real Photo Postcards were made in black and white, however some were hand painted whilst in production. Upon researching the topic of black and white postcards it has become obvious that my grandad’s postcards were made between 1901 and 1907. I base this on the fact that starting roughly from 1901/1902, publishers were allowed to use the word POSTCARD on the back of the card with no dividing line. At this point no writing was allowed on the non picture side of the card, except for an address. Grandad’s cards are amongst the earliest examples of Real Photo Postcards, and are roughly 108 years old. Almost two thirds of Grandad’s collection are made up of black and white or coloured cards of this type.
Three other postcards in the collection are of Fairy Dell at Leura, Wall Caves at Blackheath and Nellie’s Glen at Katoomba. I actually can’t wait to go back for another holiday to do a bit of walking and see these beautiful places for myself.
The Keeper of Stories 
You must be logged in to post a comment.