by Bethany Goodman
A collection of photographic postcards, supplemental to Tom Phillips’ primary archive, is now catalogued and available to readers at the Weston Library.
Tom Phillips (1937-2022) studied at St. Catherine’s College before undertaking a varied career, teaching art, including a stint as the Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University; creating art, including portraits, tapestries, sculptures and art books; writing operas, such as Irma (1970); and serving on several committees for cultural bodies, including the British Museum.
Another personal passion, however, was his collection of photographic postcards. Phillips collected around 50,000 of them throughout a lifetime of scouring flea markets and collectors’ fairs, which the Bodleian has now acquired.
Tom Phillips authored a book on the subject, The Postcard Century (2000), and curated a National Portrait Gallery exhibition, We are the People (2004), but perhaps his view on the legacy of the format is best seen through the postcards themselves.
The collection has been maintained in the original order and categories which Tom Phillips himself arranged them in. The scope of content ranges across the whole spectrum of human life, from ‘Babies’ to ‘Workers’ to ‘Weddings’ to ‘Family Groups’ to ‘Funeral’. It stops off at expected places in-between, such as ‘Sport’, ‘Gardens’, ‘Toys’ and ‘Animals’, as well as the unexpected, with ‘Fantasy transport’ perhaps a highlight on that front.
Ranging from the late 1890s into the 1960s, the collection presents a rich visual resource for historians and researchers, while also showcasing one of our most ubiquitous human characteristics: a desire to be remembered.
What follows are a selection of some of the department’s favourite postcards, to offer an idea of the breadth (and humour) of the collection.
Abigail Spokes –
‘When she’s out of oat milk’
Amanda Sykes –
‘Waiting for someone to say “I like your outfit” so you can say “thanks I made it myself!”’
Bethany Goodman –
‘Typical weekend plans’
Charlotte McKillop-Mash –
‘Oscar Wilde cosplay?’
Evie Morris – ‘Growing up, we didn’t have a farm but my dad wished we did and kept loads of crazy animals. I desperately wanted geese and one year we tried to hatch a dozen, and got one. I named her Sandy and loved her dearly until my parents gave her away. The look in this lady’s eye says she is suspicious that her fowl might also be taken away. She looks wise to the game, and mischievous’
Francesca Miller –
‘The life of a cat owner – once again forced to stand because your cat has stolen your chair!’
Hannah Jordan –
‘She is too small for that horse’
Marion Lowman –
‘Best foot forward’
Miranda Scarlata –
‘Nobody sent me the memo that we were wearing monochrome today! – said from the perspective of the dog’