august 23rd 1907 phil to alfred cruttenden
rye, sussex to St Leonards, hastings, sussex
15 miles
the message
"All right the moo!
Don't let him see anything red
Phil"
the sender
There are no clues to Phil's identity.
the recipient
Alfred Cruttenden (1870-1943) was the eldest child of Samuel Cruttenden (1838-1904) and Lydia Parsons (1846-1915). Samuel was a grocer.
Alfred was also a grocer. In 1895 he married Nelly Holman (1870-1965). They had two children, Nora Amelia (1895-1989) and Dorothy Rose (1897-1986).
More can be found out about the Cruttenden family by following the link to
the places
Rye, Sussex
St Leonards, Hastings, Sussex
what the card says to us
The picture shows "Rye Church Clock And Quarter Boys". More accurately it is the Parish Church Of St Mary's, Rye and today, this view looks almost entirely unchanged, although you probably won't see a man carrying two buckets. The Quarter Boys referred to are the two figures above the clock face who are holding little hammers to strike the chimes. The plaque between them says "For our time is a very shadow that passeth away" which is from the Old Testament Book Of Wisdom, Chapter 2 Verse 5. Tragically the resolution of the picture on the card is not sufficient for us to be able to read the notices on the notice board on the building in the foreground.
This is the fourth card in the Cruttenden Collection. The first three were all sent to 3 Upper South Road in St Leonards as are subsequent ones. This one however was sent to 68 Bohemia Road. Bohemia Road is a main road through St Leonards and Upper South Road is a side street off it. Did Alfred own more than one property? Was one commercial as he was a grocer?
The content of the message is fascinating. It is obviously referring to an incident or a joke that we are not party to. Is it to do with a cow or a bull? Is it anything to do with the figure carrying what looks like two milk pails in the picture? The reference to something red suggests that it is bull related as does the word that looks like "moo". We will never fully understand, but I bet they had a good laugh about it. Is that why the card was kept?