A British sentimental postcard
The faintly inscribed initials of the artist who drew the scene on the front of this postcard – ‘M S W’ – have been inscribed beneath its title, ‘The Absent One.’, which has been printed in the bottom right-hand corner. Above, a small girl is shown standing on a chair beside her mother, kissing a photograph of her soldier–father on the mantelpiece. On the back, the printed details inform us that the postcard was produced by ‘C. W. Faulkner & Co. Ltd., London, E.C.’, along with ‘British Production (Copyright). / Series 1525 E’. There is a name and address written in black ink, as well as a message to ‘Miss K. Carr / Waterstock Rectory / Wheatley S. O. / Oxon.’. The message reads, ‘I hope to have a letter from you in the morning. There is now only one post. We have had no rain since I came. Daddie said it was snowing at Keswick. Mother’. The postmark is incomplete, but the postcard may have been posted on 24 September 1916.

Postcard