In 1982 I spent much of my time making postcards, which I sold for a pittance to eager punters from what would now be called a pop-up stall in Norwich. Below is an example of the sort of thing I was doing.
The source material for both words and images was a huge pile of National Geographic magazines from the 1950s and 1960s acquired from various second-hand bookshops. To create the captions I employed a cut-up technique akin to that used by William S Burroughs and David Bowie, but far more amusingly than either of them ever did, particularly the former, a tedious gun-toting drug-addled uxoricide.
Younger readers may find it difficult to fathom, but in Norwich in 1982 it was well nigh impossible to find an affordable colour photocopying facility. I thus sent my originals to my friend Peter Ross in London, and Peter organised the copying and sent me the results by post. I then employed scissors and glue to mount the hysterically funny images on to card, ready for sale to East Anglians.
I think Peter is still in possession of most of the original artwork, but this one came to light the other day. The captions read as follows:
Undimmed by Death
Who were they?
In this convivial land, trendy youngsters like Walter And Jorg searched the ground for clues.
Walter and Jorg are each identified by separate name captions.
I’ve still got my copy somewhere of this Walter & Jorg postcard which you gave me at the time. I seem to recall each in the series had the words “Frank Key – Xerox For Iceland” written on the back, because you were planning to use the money from sales to finance a trip there (to the country, not the supermarket).
>a tedious gun-toting drug-addled uxoricide
Is there any other kind?