The Postcard
A postally unused Colourmaster International postcard that was published by Photo Precision Ltd. of St. Ives, Huntingdon. The card was printed in Great Britain.
Note the sign on the right for 'Colour TV Rental'.
And is that a Hillman Minx in the foreground? Yes it is, complete with tax disc. The driver must have been in a hurry to park it.
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about 11.6 miles (19 km) north of Edinburgh and 27.6 miles (44 km) south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest settlement, and the 12th. most populous settlement in Scotland.
Kirkcaldy has long been nicknamed the Lang Toun (Long Town) in reference to the early town's 0.9-mile (1.4 km) main street, as indicated on maps from the 16th. century.
The street finally reached a length of nearly 4 miles (6.4 km), connecting the burgh to the neighbouring settlements of Linktown, Pathhead, Sinclairtown and Gallatown, which all became part of the town in 1876.
The area around Kirkcaldy has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. The first document to refer to the town is from 1075, when Malcolm III granted the settlement to the church of Dunfermline. David I later gave the burgh to Dunfermline Abbey, which had succeeded the church: a status which was officially recognised by Robert I in 1327. The town only gained its independence from Abbey rule when it was created a royal burgh by Charles I in 1644.
From the early 16th. century, the establishment of a harbour at the East Burn confirmed the town's early role as an important trading port. The town also began to develop around the salt, coal mining and nail making industries.
The production of linen which followed in 1672 was later instrumental in the introduction of floorcloth in 1847 by linen manufacturer, Michael Nairn. In 1877 this in turn contributed to linoleum, which became the town's most successful industry: Kirkcaldy was a world producer until well into the mid-1960's.
The town expanded considerably in the 1950's and 1960's, though the decline of the linoleum industry and other manufacturing restricted its growth thereafter.
Today, the town is a major service centre for the central Fife area. Public facilities include a main leisure centre, theatre, museum and art gallery, three public parks and an ice rink.
Kirkcaldy is also known as the birthplace of social philosopher and economist Adam Smith, who wrote his magnum opus The Wealth of Nations in the town.
In the early 21st. century, employment is dominated by the service sector: the biggest employer in the town is PayWizard.
Other employers include NHS Fife, Forbo (linoleum and vinyl floor coverings), Fife College, Whitworths (flour millers) and Smith Anderson (paper making).
Freeman, Hardy and Willis
Note the shopfront for Freeman, Hardy Willis.
Freeman, Hardy and Willis was a major chain of footwear retailers in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 1875, and was named after three employees of the company, one of whom was Alfred Freeman, a Russian shoe maker who resided in St. Pancras, London.
For many years, there was a branch in nearly every town in the United Kingdom.
In 1929 the company was acquired by Sears plc. Its subsidiary, the Leicester-based British Shoe Corporation, went on to own the Trueform, Curtess, Dolcis, Manfield, Saxone, and Lilley & Skinner brands.
The name was simplified to Freeman Hardy Willis in order to have bolder lettering on shopfronts. During the early 1960's the paper bags used to wrap the shoes were imprinted with the FHW letters and the legend 'For Happy Walking'.
Sale of the Company
In the early 1990's the British Shoe Corporation converted approximately half of the 540 Freeman Hardy Willis branches into Hush Puppies shops, and sold the remainder to Stephen Hinchliffe, an entrepreneur from Sheffield.
After only a year, Hinchliffe's business empire collapsed. He was subsequently jailed after it was found that he had bribed bank officials to obtain loans in order to buy the company.
After providing "Shoes For All The Family" since 1875, Freeman Hardy Willis was no more by 1996. After closure, 44 former FHW branches were sold to Stead & Simpson.
British Shoe Corporation itself closed in 1998.
In more recent years, the Freeman Hardy & Willis name has reappeared online, now owned by Gardiner Bros. & Co. (Leathers) Ltd.