Manly Harbour Pool & Promenade 1950s Vintage Postcard Printed Poster

Absolutely — here is a clean, unified rewrite that:

• keeps the same archive tone and structure as your Allcott piece

• removes repetition

• integrates the postcard origin, restoration work, size, and framing notes smoothly

• reads as one coherent, authoritative description in a single consistent voice

You can paste this straight in.

Manly Harbour Pool & Promenade, 1955

Restored from original colour postcard

This image captures Manly at mid-century, when the harbour foreshore was at its most animated — swimmers filling the tidal pool, ferries arriving at the wharf, and the promenade alive with holidaymakers drawn to the water’s edge.

Originally issued as a colour postcard in 1955, the photograph was taken during a period when Sydney — and Manly in particular — featured prominently in international travel imagery. Overseas visitors were arriving by ship and ferry in large numbers, and postcard photography played a central role in how Australia presented itself to the world: sunlit, relaxed, and confidently coastal. The photographer is believed to have been a visiting American, part of a broader wave of international visual documentation of Australia’s postwar seaside culture.

The view centres on the much-loved Manly Harbour Pool and Promenade, a social and recreational focal point for locals and visitors alike. Positioned beside Manly Wharf, the pool offered safe harbour swimming while ferries from the city arrived only metres away — a uniquely Sydney convergence of transport, leisure, and daily life. The scene reflects a time when ferry travel shaped both the rhythm of Manly and its identity as a harbour-to-ocean holiday destination.

The original postcard was sourced in very poor condition, with significant fading, colour shift, and surface damage from decades of handling and storage. This reproduction has been carefully restored using professional photographic techniques. Attention has been paid to stabilising colour balance, clarity, and tonal depth while preserving the character and proportions of the original image, allowing the scene to be read clearly once again as a historical record.

As part of the Lost Manly Archive, this poster functions as both artwork and documentation — preserving a moment when Manly’s harbour shoreline embodied postwar optimism, public leisure, and the enduring appeal of the ferry-linked seaside suburb.

Print details

• Museum-grade archival paper designed to resist yellowing over time

• Giclée printing for fine detail and stable colour

• Matte finish to minimise glare and retain a soft, period-appropriate surface

• Intended for indoor display

Size & format

• Size: 30 × 20 in (76.2 × 50.8 cm)

• Orientation: Landscape

• Format: Custom / non-A-series

This print is larger than A2 and slightly shorter than A1, with a wider landscape aspect ratio than standard ISO A-series posters.

Framing note

This is not an ISO A-series size. It can be:

• Custom framed to 76.2 × 50.8 cm, or

• Professionally matted to fit a standard A1 frame

Many Australian framers regularly mount prints of this format.

Care

If dust accumulates, gently wipe with a clean, dry cloth.