Image: Fred C Palmer 020

Description: Hand-tinted postcard photo of the smithy (forge) at Minster, Thanet, Kent, England. The photographer was Fred C. Palmer of Tower Studio, Herne Bay, Kent, who is believed to have died 1936-1939. The postcard is believed to be dated 1903-1904 because Palmer moved to Herne Bay in 1903, and because it's printed in Saxony it must be dated before 1914. Also, another card by him in the same style is postmarked 1904. File:Fred C Palmer 008.jpg and File:Fred C Palmer Minster 128.jpg are similarly coloured postcards of Minster by Fred C. Palmer; the three are possibly part of a set. This scene is tidily arranged and posed to show off the smithy's trade. You can just make out the front of a heavy horse, for shoeing, between the two blacksmiths. The trees have darkened with age, but in front of them, along the side of the roadway, you can just make out the iron machinery and implements waiting for repair. A lot of the work involved fitting the iron tyres round the cartwheels, hence the neat display of a cart on the right. Border The remaining border of this image is important for researchers of this photographer. Some photographers trimmed their images more than others, and Palmer has a reputation for producing smaller postcards than other early 20th century UK photographers. He took his own photos, developed them in-house onto postcard-backed photographic paper and trimmed them himself. It is worth adding that during hand-developing the border is actively masked with equipment which both crops the picture and causes the white frame or border to appear on the paper. This frame is part of the design and is one of the reasons why the quality of Palmer's work is so interesting, and why there is an article and category for him on English Wiki. Researchers need to see exactly where the edge of the postcard is, even though in this case there is no white frame. The edge of the card is the edge of the composition. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Title: Fred C Palmer 020
Credit: Scan of original postcard in my possession
Author: Fred C. Palmer (died 1936-1939)
Permission: out of copyright
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No