In the early decades of the last century, the majority of shops were run as a family affair by people who knew their customers and were proud of their businesses. They often lived at or near their shops and the enterprise was at the centre of their lives.These cards show that professional photographers gained work and money by persuading shopkeepers to commission pictures of themselves before their windows as a form of advertising. Using daylight dispersed with the need for expensive lighting – and the postcard photos could also serve as a form of correspondence between relations and friends. Using daylight also meant that reflections might be registered on the large glass windows and these reflections certainly charmed me when buying these postcards in France and the USA – the countries where I found more beautiful examples than elsewhere. Often, indeed, I bought the cards because of the rich and mysterious nature of the reflected world.

£12.99