January 2012

Major-General J.C.T.Willis - 1900-1969. Artist for four postcards in Jack Whittaker's Catalogue.

He was born in a house in Weymouth on 14th May 1900. He was named John Christopher Temple Willis and always known as Christopher. His parents were George and Adela Willis and his father was a Paymaster in the Royal Navy and later rose to the rank of Paymaster-in-Chief.

Christopher was educated at Uppingham; at the age of 18 he went from school to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich on 12th June 1918 and left on 16th July 1919. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers as a 2nd Lieutenant on 17.7.1919 so we can assume he didn't go to Art College as the Army became his career. His promotions went through the officer ranks until 21.8.1953 when he became Major General. It seems to me a little strange that there is no sign he received temporary or accelerated promotion during WWII. Perhaps he spent too much time painting!

In 1957 he became Director general of Ordnance Survey. Apparently during the 1930s someone had seen his paintings and some of his designs were used as map covers. According to auction results shown on the internet it appears Major-General Willis painted throughout his life, some of which pictures were views while he was in the Far East.


No.4369 - A corner of the Harbour, Brixham	No.4370 - The Harbour, Brixham


No.4371 - The Strand, Brixham	No.4372 - The Inner Harbour, Brixham

These last two are in the popular Salmon Recipe Books. The first, Sutton Valence Windmill, Kent, is on the front cover of Favourite Biscuit Recipes; the second is Blakeney Quay by J.C.T.Willis and is inside Favourite Norfolk Recipes. I have not seen the windmill on a modern postcard, but the seaside view can be found as a postcardof Norfolk.

Do any of you collect postcards of your pets - cats, dogs, fish, birds, etc. etc? In the early 1950s we lived in a small village about 5 miles south of Devizes. The couple who lived opposite us had about eight Burmese cats and I fell for them straight away. But with a husband in the Army it was not easy to have pets when you might be suddenly posted elsewhere. We used to have some small pets for the children, but I shall never forget that a small guinea pig was killed by a weasel in the garage. Tears everywhere! So I waited a very long time before I got my first Burmese kitten. She was brown, but Burmese cats had changed a lot in forty years. There were blue ones, tortie ones; others were cream, and a number of other varieties. In her first litter there were two blue kittens and we kept one of them. So here are some of my collection of Burmese cats - and other cats too.

These three postcards are all Modern. You would have to look at American cards to find any earlier ones of Burmese cats and kittens. The first postcard could be a photograph of one of my Burmese cat's first litter. The reverse reads the name of Caroline and was published by Dastumadenn ar Chazh Hag al Logodenn. The second card was painted by Margaret Merry and published by her. The cat was named "Sam". The third card shows two Burmese kittens up a tree. It reads "All paws pad to Brenda Goodwin for the best cat postcards worldwide".

The first two above are my favourite series at the moment. The first postcard reads on the reverse "Feline" Shakespeare Post Card Series and the second card is taken on the stage of a theatre with the actors in reverse positions of the cats card. The bottom of the card reads F.R. Benson's Co. in HAMLET. I have a number of the Cat cards but no more, so far, showing the actors. Does anyone recognise any of the actors?

The next pair of cards show a painting by Louis Wain on the front and advertises Mazawattee on the reverse.

The third group start with a painting by Arth.Thiele, but no idea of publisher. The middle card is a silk embroidered cat with publisher J.J. Saint-Omer, Paris on the reverse. The last card shows a Ship's Cat. The ship is H.M.S. Barham. I do not know the name of the publisher but I understand a lot of ships have their own photographer and he prints photos for the sailors who want to send photos to their families and friends.

I think it is interesting to see how many foreign countries Salmon printed postcards for and sometimes other items too. This next lot are entirely from Turkey. If the numbers are anything to go by there are more than 500 of these cards. Then you realise that there are several series with the same pictures and some of the postcards show that perhaps a man's head has been cut out. Most seem to be artist-drawn. Then there is a final shorter series named on the reverse - Henry's Postcard. Still the same pictures on the cards and sometimes small alterations. So here are a few of mine for you to see.

The first two cards are street scenes numbered 528 and 533. The first has a title Cafe Turc on the reverse and the second has Constantinople - Carrefour a Stamboul on the reverse. The card showing its reverse is no.530. You may be able to read more with a magnifying glass but I will enlarge it anyway. The last three cards are numbered 524, 537 and 526. Their titles are Musulmans en priere; Constantinople - au coucher de soleil, and La Priere de muezzin

JANUARY 2012

SALMON POSTCARDS AND THEIR ARTISTS

and other publishers