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| TGWU Centre at Eastbourne. Bedroom |
I have long had a fondness for postcards like this, even before Martin Parr published his excellent book of Boring Postcards. There is something extraordinary about the notion that someone, somewhere thought this bedroom was worth a postcard.
I like the way they decided to include a view of the toilet. Is the colour of the bathroom suite pampas or savannah? Or maybe just 1970s beige?
Obviously the Transport and General Workers Union were rather proud of their snazzy new conference centre, as I have found three different postcards..
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| TGWU Centre at Eastbourne |
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| TGWU Centre at Eastbourne. Dining Room |
Postcards of empty rooms always look a bit odd. I guess they were proud of their fancy new dining room, and wanted to break free of the 'beer and sandwiches' union stereotype. I think that's part of the appeal of postcards like this. The scenes that made someone so proud at the time, now seem so banal to us. I'm just so glad they preserved them on postcards.
Marvellous. I love Martin Parr, but I also almost resent him for becoming 'Mr Boring Postcards' -- because evidently you (and me and no doubt quite a lot of other people) also appreciate the special charm of cards like these beauties.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. Hence my need to explain that I liked this stuff before I'd ever heard of Martin Parr! His book also creates this category of 'boring' postcards, whereas I have just collected any postcards that I thought were odd or weird or funny.
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