Postcards – The Brash and the Beautiful 2 (with commentary by Stiffy Byng)
The Brash and the Beautiful – Part Deux -By Stiffy Byng I am back with another edition of The Brash and the Beautiful for Aunt Dahlia’s Milady’s Boudoir magazine. It is so much more natural to call her Aunt Dahlia for she possesses all of the qualities of a genial, affable and generous aunt. The…
Postcard – Girls’ Day Out
There are two reasons I agreed to pen down this commentary for Aunt Dahlia’s most popular Milady’s Boudoir magazine on an article aptly titled ‘Ideas for a Girls Day out’. However, before I get into said reasons, I must admit that the old ancestor demanding that I write with the same flair with which I…
Postcards – The Drones Gang in Egypt
What the gang had to say: Chuffy – Sweat is the road to awe. Egypt is awe inspiring. Pauline – Of all the extraordinary places we have been together, this one is going to stay with me the most. Bingo – I have no idea why Rosie was carrying her notebook everywhere. Also, I believe…
Postcard – Luxor
The Queen of Crime Fiction was never short on ideas for a new story. The magnificent history of Luxor and a stay at a legendary hotel had supplied a most conducive atmosphere for the creative juices to overflow. Observations of the people at the royal breakfast buffet had provided plenty of character sketches to start…
Postcards – From The Junior Ganymede Club Book
The Junior Ganymede Club may simply be described as a club for ‘gentlemen’s gentlemen’ – valets and butlers. The Club Book, a most secretive manual, is a record of the habits, eccentricities, routines and secrets of the aristocrats who employ valets and butlers. As such, it becomes a sort of encyclopaedia of checking the credentials…
Postcard – Out of Africa (With commentary by Bertie Wooster)
It is well known in the Wooster circles that Bertie Wooster is not much of a morning person. It is also known that this is not a reality he had chosen for himself. After all, what is a chap to do when surrounded by the blokes from The Drones Club. The wee hours of the…
Postcards – An Exchange of Letters
September 19_____ Bobbie, A long time ago, on two separate occasions, I took the liberty of photographing you as we conversed on things mundane and jovial. At the time, you had wanted me to hand them over immediately. Due to the everyday tomfoolery, that I witness around me and am very much a part of,…
Postcards – Three is company
There are phases in life when the sun shines and everything is right with the world; when each new dawn brings another celebration and another memory to cherish. The people in this picture knew one another when they were very young. Even then, they travelled together, collecting memories that would last a lifetime. Looking at…
Postcards – The Brash and The Beautiful (with commentary by Stiffy Byng)
The Brash and the BeautifulBy Stiffy Byng Bertie’s Aunt Dahlia, known in the idle rich circles of England as Lady Dahlia Travers, has been kind enough to offer me a recurring column in her now exceedingly popular magazine, Milady’s Boudoir. The editorial office insists upon calling this feature “The Brash and the Beautiful.” I suggested…
Postcards – Milady’s Boudoir Magazine (with commentary by Stiffy Byng)
Bertie, I enclose my comments below. I have kept my promise of being kind. Love,Stiffy Bertie’s Aunt Dahlia, popular in the idle rich circles of England as Lady Dahlia Travers was preoccupied with a slump in the sales of her magazine Milady’s Boudoir. Bertie’s self-proclaimed ‘article of some magnificence’ on fashion named ‘What the well-dressed…
Postcard – The Drones (with commentary from the gals)
‘‘I can take a good guess at what these boys are thinking. ‘What’s for lunch?’’ -Honoria Glossop ‘Oh, isn’t that sweet? Friendship and sunshine. Young men gathered together are like sunbeams dancing upon a summer meadow. They simply cannot help being radiant.’ -Madeline Bassett ‘All these young men, these strong young men, whiling away their…
Postcards – ‘With Permission’
It was rare for reporters from The Daily Socialite and The Daily Trail to socialize. The rivalry was intense; the margins were wafer thin and the reporting staff had a clash of egos on matters of camouflage and safe hiding places while capturing candid moments of the celebrities and aristocrats they stalked. This was one…
Postcards – A touch of noir
‘It had rained all day and now it planned to rain all night. My spirits needed reviving. I went to Ruby’s for the burger and to grab a glance at the proprietor herself. One is always pleased to meet someone from across the oceans who looks like that. I must have lingered over the burger…
Postcards – Afternoon Glow – With commentary from the Drones Lads
What Bingo Little said: Fernsby of The Daily Trail, a photographer we have all come to regard with equal measures of admiration and apprehension, somehow contrived to capture this moment and permanently redefine the expression afternoon glow. One simply couldn’t use the phrase afterwards without someone producing the photograph. His reputation in Fleet Street, already…
Postcards from Italy – Jones vs Fernsby edition – Part 2
The Daily Trail did come up with an ace. Its intrepid correspondent, Fernsby, temporarily outwitted by Jones, was in the midst of a philosophical walk. Jones of The Daily Socialite had gone off for a celebratory drink and a platter of fish. He froze. He did the grin of a boy who is seeing his…
Postcards from Italy – Jones vs Fernsby edition
It was his first overseas assignment. A poker-faced Jones from The Daily Socialite was having baked beans for lunch. Out of a tin. He also wore an overcoat and a hat for some reason. This warranted suspicious looks from a happy populace used to pasta e fagioli, parmigiana, mescciüa, and salted cod. Jones knew the…
Postcards from Italy (with plenty of commentary)
The Daily Trail’s intrepid reporter had been following Lady Roberta Wickham, Bertie Wooster, Baron Marmaduke ‘Chuffy’ Chuffnell and Baroness Pauline Stoker (Chuffy’s wife) on their trip to Italy. By this point he had crossed seas, scaled terraces, hidden in shrubbery, bribed hotel staff, learned basic Italian, and developed the reflexes of a hunted fox. With…
Postcard from The Mediterranean – Lady Roberta Wickham and Baroness Pauline Stoker
At a later date, the Daily Trail reporter managed his camouflage within hilltop fauna as he captured this picture. I am reliably informed that he has since been promoted but for some reason is sticking to the older assignment instead of handing it over to a younger employee. This one resulted in comment from across…
Postcard – Lady Roberta Wickham
The Daily Trail had a lurker tailing Lady Roberta Wickham and Bertie Wooster. He was a determined yellow and neither sea nor long rail journeys would stop him in his endeavours. After several failed attempts, he produced this picture that immediately resulted in his getting notice of a raise via telegram. The Daily Trail ran…