James Gardiner Collection: romantic fantasy and comic postcards, and photographs on gender and masculinity.

Previous title: Blue Album

The album contains a mixture of 275 photographs, prints and postcards beginning with European hand coloured romantic fantasy postcards, mostly French c.1920-1930, depicting men and women in classically romantic poses. The second section depicts actors, writers, dancers, musicians and other celebrities in the first half of the 20th century who subverted traditional masculine gender ideals or were known or rumoured to have engaged in gay relationships. The third section includes British and American comic postcards satirizing behaviour regarded as 'unmasculine', c.1900s-1950s. The final section includes private photographs taken c.1900-1920s of soldiers and actors demonstrating different forms of masculine affection.

Some of the records contain a description provided by James Gardiner which may include his own interpretation or further contextual information on the image and its subjects. Many of the postcards contain messages on the reverse.

[between 1900 and 1960?]

1 album : photographic prints, process prints

Wellcome Collection 2921429i