The Collection: Postcards – Charlton Athletic Museum

The Instagram and Whatsapp of their day, postcards were a quick and cheap way to send messages and to show others where you had been.

They featured every sort of subject matter and that included Charlton Athletic. Cards from the “Golden era” of the postcard are now much collected but they are still produced now, often as promotional tools.

Please contact the museum if you have any postcards not shown.

Signed early 1920s postcard of Arthur Whalley.
Part of a series of cards showing Charlton players. Whalley had won the league with Manchester United in 1911 but was banned from football for life after a match fixing scandal in 1915. His bravery in World War One earned him a reprieve and he captained the Addicks during the famous 1923 FA Cup giant killing run. He played 98 games for the Addicks scoring nine goals.
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1921-1922 portraits . Charlton’s first season in the football league.
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1921-1922 Charlton team and officials in a “charabanc” open coach. (front)
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1921-1922 Charlton team and officials in a “charabanc” open coach. (reverse)
Signed by players and officials
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Early 1920s signed postcard of Eric Bacon. Part of series featuring Charlton players. Used mainly as a reserve the Leicester born midfielder/defender made just five first team appearances over two seasons for Charlton between 1921 to 1923.
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Early 1920s signed postcard of John Mitchell. Part of series featuring Charlton players. A founder member of Charlton Athletic in June 1905 he played 16 games in the football league, including our first ever league game v Exeter City on 27 August 1921, after a long career in the club’s non-league era. He was later the Valley groundsman.
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Early 1920s signed postcard of Frank Burton. Part of series featuring Charlton players. Possibly born in Luapango. Mexico in 1891, Bronco Burton played 107 games for Charlton over four season, making his debut away to Exeter in September 1921. He was part of the famous 1922/23 FA Cup giant killing side that first brough Charlton Athletic on the national attention

He served on the Western Front in the first world war with the 1st Royal Fusilliers and was wounded six times winning the French decorations Medallie Militaire and Croix de Guerre
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Early 1920s signed postcard of Billy Cox. Part of series featuring Charlton players. Cox joined Charlton in their first season in the football league and went on to play 102 games, scoring 19 games over the next five seasons.

The club’s first utility player as, despite being mainly a forward, he played in a number of different positions. Born in Watford in 1899, Cox had served in modern day Iraq during the first world war with the Herts Yeomanry having joined up when only 16.

Early 1920s signed postcard of Albert Green. Part of series featuring Charlton players.
Green has the distinction of scoring Charlton’s first ever away league goal at Bristol Rovers on 10 September 1921 but was never a regular and left after only one season having played just 17 games, scoring three goals.

Early 1920s signed postcard of Alex Steele. Part of series featuring Charlton players. Belfast boy Steele was the first Charlton player to win a full Irish Cap.
Over five seasons from 1921/2 to 1925/6 the midfielder played 146 games and scored 26 goals.

http://nifootball.blogspot.com/2008/01/alex-steele.html

1938 Swedish postcard team photo (Front)
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1938 Swedish postcard team photo (reverse)
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Early 1920s signed postcard of Fred Jewhurst. Part of a series of Charlton Players. Jewhurst was a boy solider and was invalided out of the army in 1917 but still went on to play for Charlton in the Southern and Football Leagues. He only made 9 league appearances (1921 to 1923) for the Addicks before joining Southend.
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Early 1920s signed postcard of Edwin “Eddie” Marshall. One of the boys who formed the club in 1905 he was also the first Charlton played to be sent off in a game. He was still involved with the club when it joined the league in 1921.
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Promotional postcard for “One Foot in the Grave” autobiography by Garry Nelson (Front)
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Promotional postcard for “One Foot in the Grave” autobiography by Garry Nelson (Reverse). Garry was a fans favourite at the Valley. As well as a very good footballer he was a more than decent writer and both this and his previous book “Left Foot Forward” are interesting and funny reads.
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“Who says girls can’t play football?” Eni Aluko Charlton and England striker promotional postcard for women’s football 2008 (front)
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“Who says girls can’t play football?” Eni Aluko Charlton and England striker promotional postcard for women’s football 2008 (reverse)
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Bogota hotel postcard sent by Sam Bartram 1950s (front)
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Bogota hotel postcard sent by Sam Bartram 1950s (reverse)
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One of a series of postcards issued by the museum featuring billboard posters from the 1990 Valley Party campaign in the Greenwich Council local elections. The campaign won a marketing award and, more importantly, helped convince the Council to grant planning permission for the Valley. Image shows Charlton captain holding the FA Cup at Wembley after the Addicks win in 1947. CAM Collection

Reverse of Valley Party poster postcards
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Valley Party Postcard. Charlton were playing “home” games at Selhurst Park in Croydon at the time of the campaign.
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Valley Party poster postcard. Sam Bartram had often saved Charlton during his over 600 games for the Club.
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Valley Party Poster Postcard. The young boy in the photo has never been identified.
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Valley Party Poster Postcard. Charlton players parade the FA Cup through the streets of Greenwich in 1947
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A postcard promoting the Charlton Athletic Museum
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Business reply postcard for debenture scheme. Probably 1990s (Front)
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Business reply postcard for debenture scheme. Probably 1990s (reverse)
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Postcard of the Valley with map of area. Late 1990s (Front)
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Postcard of the Valley with map of area. Late 1990s (Reverse)
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Postcard of the Valley. Part of a series showing English League grounds. 2000s (Front)
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Postcard of the Valley. Part of a series showing English League grounds. 2000s (Reverse)
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A modern postcard of an older image. The Siemens factory on the boundary of Charlton and Woolwich 100 years ago. The cable and telephone manufacturer employed many early Charlton players and fans. A rough grass less patch area known as Siemens’ Meadow was the club’s first home ground from 1905
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Two postcards from the mid to late 1930s when Jimmy Seed took the club from Division Three South to Division One runners up in successive seasons. Note the club badge on the earlier postcard, the letters C, A and F inside a “club” as found on playing cards.
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Series of retro postcards produced by Taddy’s in 2012 of old team photos

Series of team squad photographs issued as postcards in 2012 by Taddy’s

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