Tram Tuesday - Johannesburg, South Africa

This card does not show us the ideal close-up view of the tram, but it's interesting to me because it is an open-air horse-drawn tram.

The card was sent in 1906, the very year the system was converted to electricity. Unlike this rather primitive tram, some of the electric ones were colorful double-deck models, but there were also more upscale and enclosed horse-drawn trams. If you look closely, you can see a few nicely-dressed ladies with hats sitting towards the front of the tram, but it's impossible to tell if they're black or white. Was this a lower-class tram for blacks? Early on, trams in South Africa were racially segregated along with most other facilities and services.

Here's a picture I took at a performance in South Africa during the days of Apartheid.

The sender of this card (N. Claase) saved postage by sending this card without a message, thus qualifying as printed matter.

Long Silence - Dundee, South Africa

The only message on this mysterious card is Long silence???
The view is of Victoria Street in Dundee, South Africa, a town named by Scottish settler, Peter Smith, after his home town. Peter found coal close to the surface on his farm and started selling it while continuing to farm. Dundee later became a major coal-mining area. The first battle of the Boer War was also fought nearby.

The building on the right appears to be the Jan Johnson Masonic Hotel. In the foreground, we see a man pulling a rickshaw, a common form of transportation in South Africa at the turn of the century. Another man appears to be carrying a bicycle on his back.

But for the initials, J.E.G, we don't know who the sender was. We can see that he sent the card from the Piggs Peak Development Co. Ltd in Swaziland on the 29th of September in 1905 though. The company and the town were named after William Pigg who discovered a gold reef in the area. At the time this card was sent there many thousands of miners had emigrated from Cornwall, England to South Africa bringing their mining techniques with them. You can see a great photo of Cornish miners at Piggs Peak here.

The card's recipient was Eric F. Smith, Esquire of Barbourne College in Worcester, England. Whether the recipient is related to Peter Smith, founder of Dundee, is a mystery to me.

Tram Tuesday - Durban, South Africa

Durban, South Africa had horse-drawn trams in 1880,  but converted to electricity in 1902. They had some fabulous-looking double-deck cars. In the mid-thirties, Durban started transitioning to trolleybuses, with the last electric trams running in 1949.  There is a great website with a section on the history of public transport in Durban written by Allan Jackson. In addition to a detailed history, he includes some very nice old photos of Durban's trams.

This card doesn't show a clear view of the tram itself, but it is a lively street scene. Here's a closer view of the tram.

The card was written in 1927, but the photo itself appears to be earlier, maybe 1910. At first glance I assumed the message was written in Afrikaans, but it isn't. My guess is that it's Danish, but I don't know for sure. Can anyone out there read this?

Here is a translation, courtesy of Helen in Denmark. Thanks Helen.

Septbr 4 - 1927
Dearest Gusta! 

You and the others are most welcome here for a small dinner this coming Saturday, the 8. of this month; can you be here between 6 pm and 6.30 pm, please not later; you know the way, don't you? Everything is fine with us - hope to see you, your husband, Beate and the two youngsters, I hope we can have a good time together. We have a dinner invitation today, so I will conclude with the warmest regards to you all from your [snuggling?] [a nickname referring to a child being put to bed possibly with a good night song] mother.

Durban, South Africa

Here's an early view of the beach promenade in Durban, South Africa. I spent a year in South Africa many years ago. Although I didn't live in Durban, I did visit some friends there. It didn't look a bit like this picture, much more developed.

In Durban and also in Johannesburg, I visited what we called a witch doctor's shop. I'm not sure that's an accurate description, but in both cases the proprietor sold remedies and potions made from both plant and animal products, which were supposed to cure ailments, bring you good health, good luck, break spells, etc.
Here's are a couple of snapshots I took in the Durban shop.

Note the cash register on the left. And in the photo below, the cashier is ready to ring up the purchase.  What was the purchase? Well, there were lots of exciting things we could have bought, but we were very young with little money to spend.  About the only thing we could afford was a dung ball. Yep, that's one of those cute little spherical balls of elephant dung rolled by a dung beetle. Our instructions were to pinch off part of the ball, roll it into a little wick, attach it to the top of the ball and light it for good luck.  It's hard to say if it worked or not.

On another occasion, a friend of mine went to a witch doctor's shop in Johannesburg to buy some 'love potion' for a friend in the United States. The doctor took one look at him and said, "Oh, love potion...for you? Extra Strong!" I guess he thought my skinny white friend needed a lot of help.  When my friend returned to the United States, he gave the potion to the woman who had requested it. The tiny bottle sat on her shelf for several years unopened, until one day she decided to dab some on before going to a party.  She didn't break out in a rash, which is what I would have expected, but she did meet the man she would later marry at that party. A coincidence, no doubt, but it made for a good story.

If you'd like to learn more about the dung beetle (and who doesn't?), you can watch them in action on this National Geographic Video.
Be sure to check out Sepia Saturday this week too...no dung at all there.

Cape Town, South Africa

This card showing Cape Town, South Africa at the foot of Table Mountain was sent in May, 1905. The short message on the front says:

Good Morning!

Alf Comstock

Here's another view of South Africa, circa 1905

Maitland Street - Bloemfontein, South Africa

This card dates from around 1910. Currently, Bloemfontein, with a population of about 370,000, is the capital and cultural center of the Free State Province (formerly the Orange Free State) in South Africa. It is also the seat of the South African Supreme Court of Appeal.


Bloemfontein is known for its flowers; it is also the birthplace of J.R.R Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was born here in 1892, but left South Africa for England when he was three years old. He and his mother and brother had actually intended to return to South Africa after visiting relatives, but Tolkien's father died in South Africa during their visit abroad, so the rest of the family ended up staying in England. Tolkien also suffered a spider bite in Bloemfontein, which gave him a lifelong fear of spiders.

Adderley Street - Cape Town, South Africa

This postcard of Cape Town, South Africa dates from around 1910.  Adderley Street is still Cape Town's main street, with banks, business centers, the American Embassy, and a convention center at the end of the street. Although some old buildings remain, you wouldn't recognize the street from this picture. However, the flower market, shown below, continues to operate in the same location. Nice double-decker trolley.

Adderley Street was named after Sir Charles Adderley in 1850 because of his success in preventing the British government from establishing a convict colony at Cape Town. The ship full of convicts was instead sent to Tasmania. In recent years, there has been a move to change the name of Adderley Street to Mandela Street, but nothing has come of it so far.

Ladysmith, South Africa

What makes this card special is that it shows recent damage to the City Hall in Ladysmith, South Africa from the Boer war.  The City Hall looks very much the same today, although the damage to the clock tower has long since been repaired. The cannons, Castor and Pollux, are still there though, the big difference being that when this picture was taken the cannons had been recently used.

Ladysmith was originally founded by Boer settlers in the mid 1800s, but taken over by the British just a few years later. The Boers, or Afrikaners, were European settlers (generally Dutch, and some German, but also including French Huguenots and other nationalities who adopted the Dutch language.) The Dutch settlers originally came to South Africa in the 1600s to supply the Dutch East India Co. with supplies when their boats came ashore. At the time, they had no intention of staying permanently. Later, they were joined by the French Huguenots, who were fleeing religious persecution. As time passed, they began to identify themselves with their new country and referred to themselves as Afrikaner. Although the Boers had been in South Africa since 1652, Great Britain assumed power over South Africa in 1795. Diamonds were discovered in 1867, causing a large number of people to move to South Africa from Britain and add to the tensions between British and Boers.

Ladysmith came under siege by the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War in 1899. The siege lasted four months and resulted in severe food and water shortages and disease for the inhabitants and soldiers. On February 28, 1900, the British troops broke through to Ladysmith and the siege ended.  This card clearly shows the damage to the clock tower caused by a Boer shell.

An interesting Note: The young Mahatma (then Mohandas) Ghandi served as a stretcher bearer during the aftermath of the siege.

Johannesburg, South Africa

This card shows a view of Pritchard Street in Johannesburg, South Africa, circa 1910. Note the street light in the middle of the road. Johannesburg was a dusty settlement until gold was discovered there in 1886, setting off a massive gold rush and fueling tensions over land ownership between the existing Boer government in Pretoria and the British.  By the turn of the century, Johannesburg had a population of 100,000. It is now one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world, with a population of over 7 million.