A photograph of a British soldier's family of four. || The printed information on the back of this postcard tells us that the photographic studio that produced the portrait of the family pictured on the front was ‘Alan Mills, Paris St., Exeter in Devon’. There are no further clues to help us to identify the two girls and their parents, nor does the soldier–father’s uniform bear any distinguishing badges. One detail is noticeable, however: both of the girls appear to be wearing heart-shaped pendants.

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’.