This postcard shows a bustling Southampton streetscape where various businesses south of Bargate compete for consumer attention using a wide repertoire of typographic strategies. The Circulating Library sign at 178 High Street on the lefthand side is picked out in handpainted gold below Chapman & Weeks glass lintel, the Surgeon Dentist's lantern, and Gatti's Restaurant upper level display board. A navie scrutinises the bookish offerings or perhaps he has just turned away from the domineering presence of the two Edwardian ladies striding along the footpath. The reverse of the card was written from the S.S. Avondale Castle stating 'shall communicate from the Islands.' A fascinating picture of ilfe on the streets and on board ship.
