Many of the photos in our collection were printed by the photographer as postcards, a common feature in the days before computers and image sharing on the internet. What's more, when the photograph is examined there often is handwritten information, whether to send to a loved one, or just as a note. This is an added bonus to the historian because the text may provide much more about the time the image was taken, as we will see below.
In this postcard of Kirkton House the text is a bit of a mystery. See if you can decipher the writing.
A reader has deciphered the words to read "This is a pretty view which normally I can see every day. Even Ben likes it. Will be in your collection a long time." Maybe Ben is a dog.
We know a bit more about the next postcard, simply because it's one belonging to my family.
When my mother first came to Carluke to marry my father in 1948, she sent this postcard back to Birmingham. At that time after their marriage they lived at 4 Kirkton St above the County Bar which is on the left in the photo. That's the building with the conical roof. At that time, the building across the street which is No. 3 Kirkton Street was in use by The National Commercial Bank and the cross street is Clyde St named in the phote. It's a busy day here with a number of folk waiting to cross the road.