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Wood (Portslade)

postcard

Worcester Road, Portslade, looking north (badly faded card, 1906 postmark)

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This publisher's identity is uncertain. He or she issued some real photographic cards of Portslade (and also Hangleton Farm at Hove and even the Devils Dyke) that have sepia- or grey-toned photographs marked (with some variations in punctuation):
             .Wood.
             .Photo.
The cards have no label on the back and include no initial (unlike William Wood's cards of Kingston, which are always marked "W. Wood") and make no reference to the publisher's place of residence. Some have borders but others do not. The captions, which in a few cases are quite large, are often written in capitals, mostly of plain design, but occasionally embellished with short descenders. Other cards are known with somewhat fancy lettering and capitals limited to the start of words. Portslade subjects include the Recreation Ground, the Brewery (several cards), Boundary Road Parade, and Carlton Terrace. 1905 and 1906 postmarks have been seen.

The possibility that William Wood of Kingston produced these cards cannot be ruled out, but the differences in design (including the idiosyncratic punctuation) make this unlikely. A photographer called James William Wood is known to have operated in the Portslade area from 1899 to 1907. He lived at 35 Carlton Terrace, where he ran the "Portslade Art Studio". Further investigation is needed to establish whether it was he or a namesake who published the ".Wood. .Photo." cards of Portslade and elsewhere.

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