Live in the sunshine,

swim in the sea,

drink the wild air.

                                     Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Saucy seaside postcards by Donald Magill.

I came across these wonderful chairs outside a rather down at heel shop in Newquay, which sold everything you could possibly need for a day at the beach.

They commemorate the work of Donald Magill, which epitomised the spirit of the British seaside holiday in the inter war years.

The introduction to Magill's Wikipedia entry explains the nature of his work.

"Donald Fraser Gould McGill (28 January 1875 – 13 October 1962) was an English graphic artist whose name has become synonymous with the genre of saucy seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns. The cards feature an array of attractive young women, fat old ladies, drunken middle aged men, honeymoon couples and vicars.^[1] He has been called 'the king of the saucy postcard', and his work is collected and appreciated for his artistic skill, its power of social observation and earthy sense of humour. Even at the height of his fame he only earned three guineas a design,^[2] but today his original artwork can fetch thousands of pounds.