The Postcard
A Comique Series postcard that was published by the Inter-Art Co. of Florence House, Barnes, London S.W. The artwork was by Dudley Buxton.
The card was posted in Putney, London SW using a 1d. stamp on Saturday the 10th. July 1920 to:
Miss B. James,
c/o Mrs. Hole,
19 Rutland Road,
Hove,
Nr. Brighton.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"My Darling Babs,
Have you been down to
the sea lots?
I expect you are sorry
that it has been raining
so much. I hope it will
be finer next week so
that you can have some
real fun.
Auntie Madge would
like to be with you.
Give my love to Mummie,
and lots for you.
Auntie Madge
xxxxxxxxxx"
The Ford Motor Company
So what else happened on the day that Auntie Madge posted the card?
Well, on the 10th. July 1920, the Ford Motor Company announced its purchase of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad and of 400,000 acres of forest land for use in its automobiles.
The following week, Ford purchased his own coal mines, the Banner Fork Coal Company, in Harlan County, Kentucky.
Owen Chamberlain
The day also marked the birth in San Francisco of the American physicist Owen Chamberlain.
Owen joined the Manhattan Project in 1942, where he worked with Emilio Segrè, both at Berkeley and in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Owen was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1959 along with Emilio Segrè for his discovery of the antiproton.
Chamberlain was politically active on issues of peace and social justice, and outspoken against the Vietnam War. He was a member of Scientists for Sakharov, Orlov, and Shcharansky, three physicists of the former Soviet Union imprisoned for their political beliefs.
In the 1980's, he helped found the nuclear freeze movement. In 2003 he was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
Owen died of complications from Parkinson's disease on the 28th. February 2006 in Berkeley, California at the age of 85.
Lord Fisher
The 10th. July 1920 also marked the death at the age of 79 of Lord Fisher, British Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy during the Great War.
John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, who was born on the 25th. January 1841, was commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher.
With more than sixty years in the Royal Navy, his efforts to reform the service helped to usher in an era of modernisation which saw the replacement of wooden sailing ships armed with muzzle-loading cannon with steel-hulled battlecruisers, submarines and the first aircraft carriers.
Fisher has a reputation as an innovator, strategist and developer of the navy rather than as a seagoing admiral involved in major battles, although in his career he experienced all these things.
When appointed First Sea Lord in 1904 he removed 150 ships that were then on active service and set about constructing modern replacements, developing a modern fleet prepared to meet Germany during the First World War.
Fisher saw the need to improve the range, accuracy and rate-of-fire of naval gunnery, and became an early proponent of the use of the torpedo, which he believed would supersede big guns for use against ships.
He introduced torpedo-boat destroyers as a class of ship intended for defence against attack from torpedo boats or from submarines.
As First Sea Lord he drove the construction of HMS Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun battleship, but he also believed that submarines would become increasingly important, and urged their development.
Fisher became involved with the introduction of turbine engines to replace reciprocating engines, and with the introduction of oil fuelling to replace coal.
He also introduced daily baked bread on board ships, whereas when he entered the service it was customary to eat hard biscuits, frequently infested with biscuit beetles.
Fisher officially retired from the Admiralty in 1910 on his 69th. birthday, but became First Sea Lord again in November 1914. He resigned seven months later in frustration over Churchill's Gallipoli campaign, and then served as chairman of the Government's Board of Invention and Research until the end of the Great War.
Fisher was five feet seven inches tall and stocky with a round face. In later years, some suggested that Fisher, born in Ceylon of British parents, had Asian ancestry due to his features and the yellow cast of his skin. However, his colour resulted from dysentery and malaria in middle life, which nearly caused his death.
He had a fixed and compelling gaze when addressing someone, which gave little clue to his feelings. Fisher was energetic, ambitious, enthusiastic and clever. A shipmate described him as:
"Easily the most interesting
midshipman I ever met".
When addressing someone he could become carried away with the point he was seeking to make, and on one occasion, the King asked him to stop shaking his fist in his face.
He was considered:
"A man who demanded to be heard,
and one who didn't suffer fools lightly".
Sir Leslie Porter
The 10th. July 1920 also marked the birth of Sir Leslie Porter (born Posament). He was an English businessman, and chairman and managing director of Tesco Stores. Porter was managing director of J. Porter & Co. (1955–59) before moving into management at Tesco. He was awarded an Honorary PhD in Business Management from Tel Aviv University in 1974.
Leslie Porter - The Early Years
Porter was born in London, to Henry and Jane Posament. His first job, at the age of 14, was at HR Owen Rolls-Royce dealers, where he demonstrated his ability in sales.
He joined the family-owned textile business, J. Porter & Co., in 1938, after completing his schooling at Holloway County School.
During the Second World War, Porter served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in Egypt, Greece, Crete, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Italy, rising to the rank of Quartermaster sergeant.
He re-joined the family business in 1946, and immediately reorganised the operation and structure of the company to include linens and furnishing fabrics for the home.
In 1948, Leslie Porter married Shirley Cohen (appointed DBE in 1991), daughter of Jack Cohen, founder of the Tesco supermarket chain. Jack, impressed with Leslie's success at J. Porter & Co. immediately offered him a job. However, already independently wealthy and successful, Leslie refused the offer. Leslie and Shirley Porter had two children, John and Linda.
In 1955, Leslie Porter was appointed managing director of J. Porter & Co.
Tesco
Leslie Porter joined Tesco Stores as a Director and Head of the Home 'n’ Wear department in 1959. His success in the non-foods divisions led to his appointment as Assistant managing director of Tesco in 1964.
Leslie Porter and Jack Cohen often clashed over business operations and management styles; many of their boardroom clashes becoming anecdotal stories in the business world.
Porter is credited with the successful restructuring of Tesco, and implementing a sound business strategy which has ensured the continued success of the business.
Part of the success and expansion of Tesco Stores was the physical restructuring of stores; opening bigger stores in more significant locations, and essentially the creation of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Under the leadership of Porter, Tesco expanded their range of services to customers, and the group now operates in food, non-food retail, financial services, telecommunications and property development.
In 1977, Porter oversaw the decision to stop participation in the Green Shield Stamps program which had been running since the 1960's. The move enabled Tesco to save £20 million per year, which the company was able to use for grocery price reductions.
Porter and the management team launched Operation Checkout in 1977, aimed at passing on retail savings to clients.
In 1970, Leslie was appointed Deputy chairman. He was managing director between 1972 and 1973, and chairman from 1973 until 1985. Porter was President of Tesco Stores from 1985 until his retirement in 1990.
Leslie Porter was knighted in 1983, and appointed to the Order of St. James in 1992.
Leslie Porter's Philanthropy
Sir Leslie retired with his wife Dame Shirley to Herzliya Pituah, Israel, in 1993 and was actively involved in philanthropic activities until his death in 2005.
Their involvement included among others the Porter Foundation, and a number of charitable organisations in Israel and the United Kingdom.
In 1993, Sir Leslie Porter was appointed Chancellor of Tel Aviv University. During his tenure, Porter and his wife set up several scholarship funds at the university, as well as working to expand the university premises by donating funds for the Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, Porter Institute for Semiotics and Poetics, the Cohen-Porter United Kingdom Building of Life Sciences and the Cohen-Porter Family Swimming Pool.
Care for the elderly and services to benefit the elderly formed a large part of Porter's philanthropic activities in the United Kingdom, through the Porter Foundation and in Israel, with the funding of the Porter Senior Citizen Centre in Jaffa.
Sir Leslie Porter was a supporter of the arts, with his endowment of The Porter Gallery at Britain's National Portrait Gallery, and funding for The Porter Gallery at the V&A, as well as the Royal Academy.
Sir Leslie Porter died at the age of 84 on the 20th. March 2005.
