The invention of panoramic postcards was a nice but impractical idea. Much effort went into producing often genuinely startling wide angle views but the cards themselves, being twice the width of every other postcard, were exceptionally vulnerable and few arrived at their destination without sustaining some damage. Despite this the hunger for novelty drove their production and most surviving examples were retained as souvenirs. Many were then folded for convenience in storage which often, as in this example from the prosperous Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate, led to division into two sections. Urban scenes like this are relatively unusual but at their best can record a vast amount of period detail. The back of this card identifies it as a “Panoramicard” printed and sold by the foremost High Street newsagent of the day, WH Smith, whose Harrogate shop dominates the left side. Opposite is the Exchange Public House and Billiard Rooms adorned with hand painted signage promoting itself equally to adherents of Temperance and consumers of Malt whisky and Guinness stout. WH Smith still exists in much reduced form having retreated in 2025 to train stations, airports and motorway services after selling off its High Street stores to private equity. They now operate under the undistinguished name of TGJones.
