As the text on the back of this real photographic postcard states, the army family pictured on the front visited the studio of ‘T. H. Head & Co., 265 Fratton Rd., Portsmouth.’ in order to be photographed. ‘Extra Copies & Enlargements can also be had’ and ‘British Made’ have also been printed on the reverse. Depicted with his parents, the boy in the photograph is holding a toy train. Sitting next to him is his mother, her wedding ring prominently displayed. His soldier–father holds a swagger stick, which he has tucked under his left armpit; his cap lies on the table next to the boy, the cap badge may be that of the Royal Engineers. || A real photographic postcard || || Photograph || A British soldier and his family photographed in Portsmouth.

A few clues give us a little extra insight into this photograph. The single stripe on the soldier–father’s sleeves tells us that he is a corporal. And an embossed stamp across the mother’s feet on this photograph informs us that it was taken in the studio of ‘N GRUT / GUERNSEY’. The ‘N’ stands for ‘Norman’, who was the son of noted photographer Thomas Alfred Grut; by the time of the First World War, the Grut studio was located in St Peter Port, Guernsey. || A real photographic postcard

A photographic postcard. || The soldier in this photograph has placed a supportive hand on his child’s right-hand shoulder. The cap on the chair next to him appears to bear the badge of the Gloucester Regiment. The child’s bespectacled mother wears a cross around her neck, another visible piece of jewellery being her wedding ring. Printed on the reverse of the photographic postcard is the name and address of the photographer whose studio the family of three visited in order to pose for this snapshot in time: ‘W. Franklin, Photographer, 55 Twinnell Rd., Bristol’.