A real photographic postcard || A soldier and his daughter are pictured in front of a seaside studio backdrop. The soldier is sitting on a chair, while his daughter stands between his legs, clutching his thigh. She is wearing his bandolier and cap (the badge is that of the Royal Engineers) and is holding his riding crop. His visible shoulder title – ‘RE’ – is also that of the Royal Engineers. He is wearing spurs, and the three upward-pointing chevrons on his lower left-hand sleeve indicate twelve years’ long service and good conduct. A message has been written in black ink on the reverse: ‘To Aunty Beaty with best Birthday Wishes from Little Aggie’. The name of the studio that produced this real photographic postcard is printed alongside: ‘Brown & Co., Royal Studio, 21 Regent St., Weston-S-Mare Weston-super-Mare, in Somerset’. || || Photograph || Front || A photograph of a Royal Engineer and his daughter

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