Identity Statement
| Title | Humour Collection: Bamforth & Co. Ltd. Postcards |
| Archive Reference | IE BL/VC/H/B |
| Web Link to this Entry | https://iar.ie/archive/humour-collection-bamforth-co-ltd-postcards |
| Creation Dates | 1954 - 1985 |
| Level of Description | Item (The smallest intellectually indivisible archival unit, e.g., a letter, memorandum, report, photograph, sound recording). |
| Extent Medium | 293 items |
Context
Creator(s): Bamforth & Co. Ltd.
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Administrative History ↴
Bamforth & Co Ltd was a publishing, film and illustration company based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England. It was started in 1870 by James Bamforth, a portrait photographer in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. Bamforth published comic postcards, depicting situations with captions or speech-bubbles often with double-entendre / pun-like meanings of a type of humour. -
Archival History ↴
This collection is part of the Humour Collection, an on-going deposit of humour-related printed materials by Emeritus Professor Des MacHale, School of Mathematical Sciences, University College Cork to UCC Library. These postcards were transferred from UCC Library's Cataloguing Section to UCC Library's Archives Service in 2021. -
Immediate Source Acquisition ↴
Donation
Content & Structure
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Scope & Content: Bamforth & Co. Ltd. ↴
The postcards were published by Bamforth & Co. Ltd., Yorkshire as the “COMIC” Series, with each card having a specific number within this series.
Certain cards in this collection do have names, addresses and television licence numbers for member of the public from [1980s] Ireland, posted to a competition held by the national broadcaster RTÉ “Murphy’s Micro Quiz”.
There is also a series of postcards for other printers. These are described after the last of the “COMIC” series postcards.
Disclaimer: the humour portrayed in these postcards is of its time but now dated and might be regarded as offensive in modern society but it does reflect a style and type of humour of its day. University College Cork in no way endorses the depictions of race and gender in the postcards.
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Appraisal Destruction ↴
Permanent Retention -
Accruals ↴
No Further Additions Expected -
Arrangement ↴
The arrangement is in numerical order of the postcard’s number within the “COMIC” series.
There is also a series of postcards for other printers. These are described after the last of the “COMIC” series postcards and arranged by date order, when known.
Conditions of Access & Use
| Access Conditions | Available by request with the Special Collections & Archives, UCC Library. Request should be made at least one week (5 working days) in advance so that the material can be prepared. Next-day requests will not be possible. You can request material via the online request form at: https://libguides.ucc.ie/specialcollections/requestitems |
| Conditions Governing Reproduction | Subject to University College Cork Special Collections and Archives’ Reading Room terms of membership and in accordance with copyright legislation. |
| Creation Dates | 1954 - 1985 |
| Level of Description | Item (The smallest intellectually indivisible archival unit, e.g., a letter, memorandum, report, photograph, sound recording). |
| Extent Medium | 293 items |
| Material Language Script | English |
| Finding Aids | Collection List Archive Web Link → |
Allied Materials
| Related Material | Bamforth & Co. Ltd., University of Huddersfield, Archives Hub UK |
Descriptive Control Area
| Archivist Note | Emer Twomey |
| Rules/Conventions | ISADG |
| Date of Descriptions | December 2023 |