Postcard Art Skegness Is So Bracing

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Having received a lovely postcard recently from Gill @Gillygirl inspired me to start scanning some of the images in my old postcard collection, which is a collection I really want to relaunch now, after a few decades of not adding to it. Apart from cards received I used to visit regular monthly postcard collectors fairs in Manchester but these stopped when the venue closed down. The image here is the classic poster art, Skegness Is So Bracing, the only poster advertising a cold windy seaside town honestly as a place that is fun to visit. Skegness is a British seaside town on the East Coast and it can get very windy, though both years I visited in the mid 80's were very warm. It is the site of Britain's first purpose built holiday camp, the Butlins Camp, built from a converted WW2 prisoner Of War Camp, and the inspiration for the popular sitcom, Hi De Hi. I stayed at the Butlins camp on both my visits. The poster was originally a 1908 railway promotion for travelers bound for Skegness. The character, known as The Jolly Fisherman, skips happily over the beach, with near child-like glee. He has become a proud symbol of the town. Far from trying to falsely guarantee permanent sunshine, Skegness is proud that the weather can turn chilly but encourages its visitors, like the fisherman, not to let that bring them down. The honesty of the poster is itself refreshing, and I do like Skegness. Arthur Chappell