This lusciously coloured postcard, which I have bought right at the end of my Vintage Postcard phase, is an unexpected treasure. When eBay presented it to me as a possibility following previous Aberdovey-themed postcard purchases, I thought it was such fun, but I hadn’t realized that it contained a secret surprise – a fold-out section consisting of twelve miniature black and white photographs on a paper strip, hidden underneath the flap at the base of the rose.
The card was posted in July 1956. Apparently the stamp fixed to the card was not sufficient, and a “postage due” stamp and mark have been added. The message is remarkably prosaic, given the romantic theme of the card.
It was produced by James Valentine and Sons, in their “Mail Novelty” range.
Aberdovey Londoner 
Luv the card. I could have done with that yesterday ! Postage due stamps appeared in the UK in April 1914 and the same design was carried through until it was replaced in the late 60s by a much blander design. The 1d violet-blue has variations in watermark depending on date of issue but this one is not likely to boost the family coffers by any life-changing amount. Indeed having the stamp and the ‘1d to pay’ instruction ‘on piece’ (on the envelope or card) is much more interesting. It has also generated an interesting time-waster since the instruction re ‘1d to pay’ is followed by a number which I assume is probably is the sorting office. I have looked at other examples of this postage due notice and they all seem to have a number attached. Unfortunately I have been unable to find out whether they are indeed sorting office numbers or where they are. Another lost few hours coming up. dave x
On Fri, Feb 14, 2020 at 8:39 AM Aberdovey Londoner wrote:
> Andie posted: “This lusciously coloured postcard, which I have bought > right at the end of my Vintage Postcard phase, is an unexpected treasure. > When eBay presented it to me as a possibility following previous postcard > purchases, I thought it was such fun, but I hadn’t ” >
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Wow! Brilliant, thanks. I have loved what are, I suppose, the extraneous details, the aspects of postcards that are not the picture. In many ways I have enjoyed the stories on the reverse of the cards more than the pictures themselves.
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