I love this image, from the horse and cart in the background to the man eyeing the photographer as he smokes his pipe and survey’s the street. White’s Hotel has been a fixture in Wexford town for over two hundred years and this image shows the original building that fronted the main street.
Eason and Son first opened in 1886. Their business was wide-reaching, including news, books and stationery wholesaling, retail, the running of railway bookstalls and advertising, stationery manufacturing, printing and publishing, and the running of circulating libraries.
In 1889 Charles Eason Senior and his son Charles Eason Junior opened their first factory on Lower Gloucester Street. Printing and stationery manufacturing were undertaken there, including the manufacturing of postcards. Snapshots of Irish life from around the country between 1900-1940 were printed in that factory, including the image of Whites hotel (still a prominent fixture on the Main St.) seen above.
Easons is still a well-known retailer in Ireland today but this contribution to Irish history and culture is rarely mentioned. The entire archive of images can be found in the National Library of Ireland. They recently digitised the collection and there are some beautiful images to be seen there, it’s well worth taking the time to look through.
Do you have any old postcards of Wexford? If you do, feel free to send them in!
Image Credit: Eason & Son, Eason Photo Graphic Collection, National Library of Ireland, http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000559409
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