History
Formed in 1977 by 10 people with an interest in postcards and collecting, the first meeting was held on 22nd November at the Crest Furniture Showrooms in the Mid Kent Shopping Centre, Allington [a mile from the centre of Maidstone] belonging to Chris Easton, who was instantly voted on as Chairman! The 10 founder members were:
Chris Easton, Eileen Easton, Eric Baldock, Kay Baldock, Irene Hales, Tom Hales, Kim Hales, Audrey Hodge, John Dann and Karen Arthurs. Irene was the first Secretary, her husband Tom the Treasurer, and Eric the News Editor.
Meetings started every third Tuesday of the month with an annual subscription of £1 to cover costs, and within 3 months the attendance had risen to 29 members. Very soon the membership had outgrown the Crest Showrooms, and the club moved to a room in the nearby Allington Castle on 16th May 1978. At the meeting, Bernard Mundel (who travelled up from Hythe to each meeting) presented a silver salver that was "to be awarded annually to the winner of a simple competition for members.
Click here for a list of the winners of the Bernard Mundel Trophy
In the early days of the club, topics for discussion and display included cards by Young and Cooper (and the first checklist was compiled by Tom Hales), publishers in the Maidstone area, Bamforth Song Cards, Hop Picking, and Salmon Artists.
By June 1978, 46 members had joined the club, and speakers from all parts of the UK came to talk on their chosen subject. A club dinner was first organised for the 14th November 1978 at the Thomas Wyatt in London Road, and 33 members assembled for "a most enjoyable dinner." After the dinner, Irene Hales was the first to be presented with the Bernard Mundel Trophy for her winning entry ' The Hop Story of Kent.' Later in the year, this same entry by Irene won 2nd prize in the Politics and Social History section of BIPEX (the forerunner of the Picture Postcard Show in London). At the end of the first year, the club had grown to 62 members, and was now urgently looking for a new home, as the rooms at the Castle were not large enough!
On 23rd April 1979, the club moved to it's current home, St Paul's Hall in Boxley Road, and meetings were moved to the third Monday of each month, where the club continued to flourish, the membership at one point reaching more than 80! Interestingly, around this time, Terry Hougham (a dealer from Canterbury) was offering to purchase Young and Copper Hop Picking cards for £2 each! I wonder what the equivalent price would be these days! Founder member Eric Baldock is still associated with the club, and at one time or another since 1977, has held most of the major posts in the club! Click here for a list of the officers since 1977.
On the formation of other clubs such as the South East Kent Postcard Club (based
in Canterbury) in 1980, some members left to join those clubs as they were closer
to their homes. Since then, membership has been fairly constant at about 45-
The Club Postcard came into being in 1988, when a view of the Archbishops Palace
and All Saints Church photographed by Arthur Monk, was converted into a postcard.
A few years ago, current Vice-
In recognition of her services to the club, Irene Hales was made an Honorary Member in 1989. Bernard Mundel was similarly recognised a few years later. Sadly, both Irene and Bernard are no longer with us, but their great deeds in helping the club to prosper are remembered. Since then other committee members have also been made Life Members, including Eric Baldock, Kay Baldock, Kim Frazer, John Dann, Karen Arthurs, Ron Kemp, Tony Davis, Janice Brunning and Rosemary Dellar.
After the 25th Anniversary in 2002, the founder members were all made life members of the club, and presented with certificates.
25th Anniversary Celebrations -
As the club was formed in November 1977 by 10 local people interested in postcards (see the History of the club for further details), it seemed appropriate to celebrate our 25th Anniversary as near as possible to that date. In the end, Monday 21st October 2002 was chosen, and here is a report of the evening's entertainment's!
What a splendid evening! The meeting was a celebration of 25 years since the formation of the club, and it was fitting that the talk was given by Chris Easton, who was the first Chairman, and one of the instigators of the club. Chris gave recognition to Tom Hales for jointly starting the first postcard club in Kent, and reminisced on the first few meetings being held in his carpet showroom. He also congratulated the club on 25 years, and the committee for continuing to organise evenings that interested the members and kept the club running.
The title of Chris’ talk was "Chris Easton Entertains", and this was achieved most successfully. He showed family PC’s including one of the family carpet business with Chris himself standing outside their shop. Also on display were items depicting the history of corsets, and some of his research into the VC’s which were awarded during WW1. He is also very keen on the then and now scenes of France, and frequently takes trips south to take more photographs. His final set of cards related to glamour around the first World War, and he described how the soldiers would have pinned up the PC’s of the models in the trenches.
The founder members of the club were made Honorary Life Members, and Chairman Tony Davis presented certificates signifying the award to (from left to right) Eric Baldock, Chris Easton, Kay Frazer, Irene Hales (previous Life Member) and John Dann.
Following Chris’ presentation, nibbles and wine were enjoyed, and a specially made iced birthday cake in the form of a postcard, was carefully divided into pieces for consumption, and distributed to other members who were not present. Many thanks to all who were involved in the organisation of the event this evening, which was well received by all.
Principle Officers of the Club since 1977
Date Chairman Secretary Treasurer
1977 Chris Easton Irene Hales Tom Hales
1978 Chris Easton Irene Hales Tom Hales
1979 Chris Easton Irene Hales Tom Hales
1980 Chris Easton Irene Hales Tom Hales
1981 Chris Easton Irene Hales Tom Hales
1982 Chris Easton Irene Hales Eric Baldock
1983 Chris Easton Irene Hales Eric Baldock
1984 Chris Easton Irene Hales Eric Baldock
1985 John Taylor Irene Hales Eric Baldock
1986 John Taylor Irene Hales Eric Baldock
1987 John Taylor Irene Hales Eric Baldock
1988 Eric Baldock Irene Hales Arthur Monk
1989 Eric Baldock Phillipa Hoad Arthur Monk
1990 Eric Baldock Phillipa Hoad Arthur Monk
1991 Eric Baldock Phillipa Hoad Arthur Monk
1992 Tony Davis Kath Knowles Arthur Monk
1993 Tony Davis Kath Knowles Derek Knowles
1994 Tony Davis Kath Knowles Derek Knowles
1995 Tony Davis Kath Knowles Derek Knowles
1996 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
1997 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
1998 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
1999 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
2000 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
2001 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
2002 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
2003 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
2004 Tony Davis Ron Kemp Derek Knowles
2005 Tony Davis Roger Vidler Derek Knowles
2006 Tony Davis Roger Vidler Derek Knowles
2007 Tony Davis Roger Vidler Mike Thompson
2008 Tony Davis Roger Vidler Janice Brunning
2009 Tony Davis K&S Hursey Janice Brunning
2010 Tony Davis K&S Hursey Janice Brunning
2011 Tony Davis Myrtle Newsom Ron Kemp
2012 Tony Davis Myrtle Newsom Ron Kemp
2013 Tony Davis Myrtle Newsom Ron Kemp
2014 Julie Lester Myrtle Newsom Ron Kemp
2015 Julie Lester Myrtle Newsom Ron Kemp
2016 Eric Baldock Myrtle Newsom Ron Kemp
2017 Eric Baldock Janice Brunning Ron Kemp
2018 Eric Baldock Janice Brunning Ron Kemp
2019 Eric Baldock Janice Brunning Ron Kemp
2020 Eric Baldock Ron Kemp Richard Wheeler
2021 Eric Baldock Ron Kemp Richard Wheeler
2022 Eric Baldock Ron Kemp Richard Wheeler
2023 Eric Baldock Ron Kemp Richard Wheeler
Maidstone Postcard Club -
MPC -
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