A beautiful postcard, in the 'Hands across the Sea' series. Postcard makers in the early 1900s often published special postcards with messages for calendar events such as Christmas or New Year. The card background could be reused my the manufacturer and a new town photo inserted.This one does not have a date, but given the attempts at colourisation it fits with others of around the 1910s.
The 'Then & Now' View (right), shows the scene from Upper Albert Street. Many of the buildings remain the same, the most noticeable change is the Central (Waiokaraka) School has long gone. (full postcard view below)
At the corner of Cochrane and Campbell Streets, the school was closed and demolished following the opening of the Moanataiari School (1972). The Waiokaraka Retirement Village and Thames Museum are now on the site of the old Central School.
