![]() South Road emerged opposite Worthing Pier, so the shop – which was on the corner of an arcade – was easy for everyone to find. ![]() If you know of any more towns do get in touch.Īmongst the Worthing cards, several show the same Sunny Snaps shop in the background (see the 19 cards above), which was at the sea-side end of South Street in Pavillion Parade, a large shopping block (with apartments above) built probably in the 1920s. They may also have had a London headquarters, possibly in Hounslow (a walkie from London can be seen on the site, the street as yet not identified). Because this location is still being researched, I have added a separate page of Sunny Snaps’ London walking pictures to the site. They also operated in London (the oldest dated there so far is 1932) in a number of locations. Further afield, examples from Hunstanton and Lowestoft survive. The firm also operated in Littlehampton (the oldest is 1933 – both places are close to one another), Bognor Regis (as early as 1934, where cards could be collected at Fuller’s newsagents on Lansdowne Place, see the envelope above – though the street seems to no longer exist), and Shoreham in 1936. ![]() That year he was taken to court (along with two other photographers, Jack Thomas and Ernest Spratley – with Eustace John Canham also named in one report) for employing under age children to hand out the Sunny Snaps tickets to people who had been photographed in Chapel Road, Montague Street and Marine Parade. The firm was run there by Alfred Catford on Selden Lane close to the sea-front. In terms of location, Sunny Snaps cards were taken on the south coast in Worthing as early as 1931. There is mention of the firm being struck of the register of companies in August 1957 which normally happens when people retire and wish to formally end a business. Perhaps this contributed to their demise. In 1939 the walkies were priced at just 7d each, which was lower than many similar firms. This suggests they set up business as the walking picture craze really took off, but struggled to carry on (as did other walking picture firms) once the war began. The oldest dated card I have seen is from 1931, the latest 1949. There is also space for the hand-written negative reference number.Ī lot of the Sunny Snaps cards are very good technically too ( “The best all British walking picture postcard” according to their envelopes!) and this, together with the nostalgic look of the designs, makes them popular with collectors (and may have inspired the title of the Bradford Photography Museum – RIP – exhibition of beach photography in 2008). ![]() This features the Sunny Snaps name, often the year the photograph was taken, the location (though many just say “South Coast”) and a little pen and ink sketch, usually with a London landmark and a seaside image deckchairs, seagulls and the like. It is hard to know if they were a franchise operation or a single business which opened branches in a number of different towns, perhaps having a contract with a local processing lab.Īll Sunny Snaps cards are postcard size and very distinctive, due to an illustrated panel at the bottom (or side), unique to the company. Like Spotlight Photos, who operated all over the UK, the firm is a bit of a mystery. ![]() Sunny Snaps operated in a number of different locations in the South of England taking walking pictures. ![]()
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