The Postcard
A postcard that was published by W. B. Note the bathing machine in the background.
The card was posted in Chelsea, London SW on Saturday the 26th. September 1925. The postmark printed over the 1d. stamp states:
'British Goods Are Best'
The card was posted to:
Miss J. Martin,
10 Lennox Road,
Worthing.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Auntie Jenny,
Hoping you are having
nice weather and a nice
time.
I am getting to be a big
boy now.
Love Dicky."
Bobby Shantz
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 26th. September 1925 marked the birth in Pottstown, Pennsylvania of the baseball player Bobby Shantz. Bobby was still alive in 2021.
Sylvia Peters
Also on that day, Sylvia Lucia Petronzio was born.
Better known as Sylvia Peters, she was an English actress, and from 1947 to 1958 a continuity announcer and presenter for BBC Television.
She introduced the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and and later advised the Queen as she prepared for her first televised Christmas Message in 1957.
Sylvia Peters - The Early Years
Sylvia was born in Highgate, north London, to Romolo Petronzio, an Italian who owned a clock-making business, and Ethel Edwards, an English ballet lover. The family later moved to Finchley, north London.
Sylvia began dancing lessons at the age of three, and later performed in musicals at the Coliseum Theatre in London.
Sylvia Peters' BBC Career
On reading a newspaper advertisement in June 1947 for a continuity announcer for BBC Television, Peters' mother encouraged her to apply because she didn't like Peters being on the stage.
Peters completed the audition tasks, which included testing in foreign languages and pronunciation, and screen tests in reading and interviewing. Sylvia was chosen from hundreds of applicants.
She became one of a team of three continuity announcers with Mary Malcolm and McDonald Hobley. Peters first appeared on screen the same month, in June 1947. Television broadcasts then only occurred in the evening, and the announcers had to broadcast live, without an autocue and without rehearsals.
On the 2nd. June 1953, Peters was chosen to introduce the live television broadcast of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, an event which she considered the highlight of her career. Sylvia later stated that she thought she was chosen because she was the same age as the Queen and because she had an excellent memory – the script was provided to her only the night before the event.
On the day, Peters provided linking material from 10 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. to an estimated audience of 20 million viewers in Britain and 227 million globally.
She later became involved in teaching the Queen the broadcasting skills necessary for her Royal Christmas Message broadcasts, by recording a training film for the monarch. The film demonstrated various techniques such as reading a script and using an autocue, the latter of which the Queen chose for her broadcasts.
Peters was chosen in 1954 to host Come Dancing, and in 1956, she presented the children's programme For Deaf Children. Sylvia was also a compere for Television Dancing Club, which featured the bandleader Victor Silvester.
In December 1957, the BBC replaced the evening women announcers with the team of Kenneth Kendall, Richard Baker and Robert Dougall. Peters left the BBC the following year.
She became a freelance broadcaster, and covered such events as Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot, and made less frequent appearances on screen. She fronted Jim's Inn, an advertisement magazine for ITV.
Sylvia Peters - The Later Years
Peters opened a children's clothing shop in Wimbledon, London, in 1963, and a women's clothes shop in 1977. She returned to television work on a number of occasions, such as the Sykes 1977 Christmas special, and for special shows such as the BBC Television Service's 50th. and 75th. birthday specials.
In the early 1980's she appeared on the magazine programme Afternoon Plus for Thames Television where she appeared with her former colleagues McDonald Hobley and Mary Malcolm.
Later in the same decade she joined Robert (Bob) Dougall, Brian Johnston and other hosts in presenting the Channel 4 magazine programme for the over sixties, Years Ahead.
In 2013 she introduced the digitally restored film recording of the Queen's Coronation when it was screened by the BBC.
The Personal Life and Death of Sylvia Peters
In 1950, Sylvia married Kenneth Milne-Buckley, who had been her first studio director at the BBC. She remained married to him until his death in 1982. They had one daughter, Carmella.
Sylvia died on the 26th. July 2016 at the age of 90.
