Pomp and Pageantry and Processions

It was a Bank Holiday, a public holiday, here in the UK on Monday last.  A car boot sale was organised in our little town, and although the weather was truly awful, I went along to see what finds could be found.

The find I found was a small bundle of old, rather than vintage, postcards with the ones I'm showing you here among them.  The Queen's coronation in 1953 pictured by two different card publishers, or so I thought. 

In fact, although there certainly are two different publishers, they show two different occasions.  The black and white cards are the coronation in 1953 but the sepia ones show the coronation of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father who never expected to be king.

He didn't expect to be king because he was the second son of King George V.  His elder brother though was Edward VIII who abdicated in order to marry twice-divorced Wallis Simpson.  the stress of the sudden responsibilities, the war, and his heavy smoking took their toll and only 16 years later he died.  His daughter Elizabeth succeeded him.

Playing spot the difference using the cards shows that pomp and pageantry and processions hardly changed over those years even though the circumstances did.  (Pomp and Circumstance?) The ceremonies were virtually identical.

The publisher of the Coronation Souvenir Postcard in 1937 was Valentine.  According to the information on the back of the card, the prints were flown to Dundee by aeroplane on Coronation  Day, May 12th. Postcards were on sale in London by 11 o'clock on 13th May.  The postcard publisher who produced the Coronation Day postcards in 1953 was Raphael Tuck and Sons Ltd. 

P is for Pomp and Pageantry and Processions.  A post for ABC Wednesday.