The Museum of Ryde is in Ryde, in the Isle of Wight. I've also seen it referred to as The Underground Museum of Ryde, as it sits beneath a small shopping centre called the Royal Victoria Arcade (opened in 1836, and named after the then Princess Victoria, who would become Queen a year later.)
The museum claims to contain "Anything and Everything about Ryde- well, almost everything!" It is quite recent, in that it was opened in 2011, is run by volunteers and costs £5 to enter (£1 for accompanied 8-16s).
But I was drawn in by the fact that this place contains "The Museum of Rude!"
Within its walls is a section entirely devoted to saucy seaside postcards and, as British postcard humour is exactly my kind of salacious humour (think bums; tits; willies; sex and ooh-err missus!) visiting here was imperative.
This is the vibrant world of Donald McGill (1875-1962) who was a British graphic designer. He was a naval draughtsman until his career began accidentally in 1904, after a relative saw a get well card he'd made for a sick nephew and encouraged him. He then studied a correspondence course in art and went on to design postcards for D. Constance Ltd.
McGill was known as the King of the British Postcard, and created over 12,000 works. This van was used by D. Constance Ltd, for the delivery of postcards during the 1940s and 50s.
McGill hailed form Blackheath, South East London, and anti-German propaganda formed part of his work; taking into account the views of the men and women serving, and the people left to cope back at home. Here was a man who lived through two world wars, and issues such as slackers, spy scares, rationing and racketeering were covered.
The entrance board offers postcards for sale, but it is also behind a curtain warning you that were once banned by the Government, so if you're easily offended then don't pull the cord! 21 of these cards were banned in 1954, when Donald McGill and D. Constance Ltd were prosecuted. The museum has printed three additional cards to add to the pack.
Suffragettes were immortalised as a collective figure of fun as well...
...As were the Scots. There were many jokes regarding Scottish soldiers and their kilts, and these jokes were all tongue in cheek as opposed to downright offensive. That's the beauty of this kind of humour- it's designed to laugh with people, rather than at, and to encourage others to take a light-hearted look at often serious situations.
This is a copy of the blue plaque dedicated to Donald McGill. The original sits on the wall of his Blackheath home, and was erected in 1977.
This was considered remarkable, as less than 30 years earlier he had been prosecuted for designing postcards considered unfit to be seen by the public!
The ceiling, and you are reminded by the volunteers to look up as there are many postcards mounted up there. It does give you a stiff neck and googly eyes trying to read them, though!
The police van with the "FILTH" numberplate is full of postcards, and represents when police raided five local Ryde shops, in 1953, confiscating more than 5,000 postcards deemed "unsuitable."
This followed early 1950s clashes between McGill's fun sense of humour and the strict sensibilities of the time. Postcards often had to be vetted by censorship committees before being allowed to go on sale in places such as Blackpool and the Isle of Man.
Apparently, the blue velvet curtains used for the unveiling were replaced by a pair of Edwardian bloomers!
McGill was often hailed as being the "King of the Seaside Postcard."
I personally find these ribald memes hilarious- I would!😄
McGill was prosecuted under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act. Donald McGill utilised the double entendre, which passed right over the heads of those who couldn't see the alternative meaning. Ironically, the Act was about corrupting a "minor," and these were the very people not worldly enough to understand the meaning of the postcards.
McGill was found guilty, and fined £50 with £25 costs. This was a devastating blow to the seaside postcard industry, as retailers cancelled orders and postcards were destroyed, resulting in the bankruptcy of some companies who worked to very tight margins.
The SuperDean, looking crazy and sampling this end-of-pier delight, designed for you to take your own saucy picture!😄
These cabinets contain reams of memorabilia, and you'd have to spend some considerable time here to go over all of it...
Lovers are also made fun of, and this tongue is suitably gross!
The strategically placed postcard pokes fun at Suffragettes...
This weighing scale gives you a pictorial guide to how fat you are, and warns you that your pride may be damaged...
I came up as "curvy totty," so it was pretty accurate there!😄
Seaside rock, displaying slapstick rock-related postcards...
As you leave the exhibition you are reminded that no visit to Ryde is complete without a visit to Donald McGill's Saucy Seaside Postcard Museum.
This is a "Spot the Difference" section, as popular postcards would be reprinted, and worn plates and lost artwork meant that Donald McGill would have to paint another version.
The purpose of the museum is to pay homage to Donald McGill and his work, and it certainly does that...
We spent about an hour here, honing in on all the bits we favoured. The exhibition is designed to look deeper than the saucy reputation, and at the true artistic skill represented by these postcards.
The displays also highlight historical censorship and artistic freedom, and looks at the way that has evolved over time.
By the late 1950s the level of censorship eased off and the market recovered. McGill gave evidence before a select House of Commons committee designed to amend the 1857 act.
Sauce, by British actor, writer and comedian Ronnie Barker (1929-2005) is a celebration of British seaside postcards, Victorian music hall jokes and risqué humour. This is exactly how I remember Ronnie, when he used to star in his sketch show, The Two Ronnies, with his sidekick Ronnie Corbett, in the 1970s and 1980s.
The floorboards underneath my feet in the Donald McGill section once lived on Ryde Pier, and these recycled pier planks were acquired after the pier was refurbished; between 2022-2025.
Do be quick, though- there is talk that the exhibition may be moving after December 2026, although nothing has, as yet, been confirmed.
The indoor Ice Well dates from the 19th century, and was discovered in 2012. It had spent many years hidden behind the building's facade. It is 17ft by 11 ft in size.
Apparently, a Georgian confectionary shop once operated here, and this is also a work in progress- the plan is to recreate the shop into an immersive historical experience...
For some odd reason, ice houses always fascinate me. Large blocks of ice would have been imported from Norway and North America. It was the way to keep drinks and confectionary cold before modern refrigeration came into being.
This rustic tap was nearby, and I daresay it was part of the confectionary shop...
Next to Jeffreys Respirator (a common Victorian device used to help individuals with conditions like asthma or tuberculosis) is a teddy bear, and I took this photo simply because I found him cute!💛
The Rotunda is a central glass painted dome upstairs in the shopping centre and, in 2011, 12 local artists were asked to create artworks representing the months of the year to decorate the ceiling.
There is a vast array of goodies to see at the museum, commemorating Ryde's history. There are sections dedicated to schooling; transport; the military; Ryde Pier; Ryde Airport and Ryde's musical history. Although I walked through and saw everything I've only honed in on a couple of interesting things- to do otherwise would have meant an entirely new blog (but that's something for me to look forward to in the future!)
This Victorian Brick-lined Oven was discovered during renovations in 2023. This part of preserving history is considered a work in progress.
This is a prototype for October; entitled Miss Plenty. It's by Lynne Gregory Phillips.
We then went for a walk over to the Isle of Wight Bus and Coach Museum, which is free to enter (although donations are always welcome).
The museum was established in 1997, and has a display of around 20 historic vehicles plus artefacts, photographs, uniforms and displays...
Ryde beach, and I have been known to have a paddle in the sea here before. Unfortunately the tide was too far out to make that possible on this day.
This building is an original bus garage, which was operational as such until 2011. The museum was moved here in 2016, after it outgrew its Newport Quay former home, and this building dates from 1937-8.
Some of the buses you can climb aboard, although the smell immediately made me think of my childhood, and the terrible travel sickness I suffered from. Funnily enough, it was only whilst in a car or bus/ coach, and never whilst on a train or aeroplane. But a visit to the seaside meant sitting with my bucket and spade in my hand (the bucket was for puking purposes!)
I did enjoy flicking through this book. It was on sale at the museum for £12 and I have to say, I was tempted to buy it! This day definitely was a 100% real "ooh-err missus" kind of day!
A selection of buses /coaches in the car park...
I adore this mural, which leads you into the museum. They have a shop and a little cafe, and it's certainly worth around an hour of your time...
Outside we have a Reliant Regal Supervan...
I didn't know that Del Boy was visiting!😆😆😆😆
The inside was suitably tacky (I have to say, I love leopard print!) and it looked like a seagull had shown his disapproval all down the window!
We headed back to the railway station, and past Ryde Hoverport. We have taken the hovercraft over from the mainland before, although for this trip we took the ferry.
If you peer closely you can see the Spinnaker Tower, over in Portsmouth.
Ryde Pier dates back to 1814, and consists of three parallel piers accommodating walkers and cyclists; motorists and the Island Line Railway. The Ferry Terminal is at the end, and the Wightlink FastCat (which we used) takes only 22 minutes to get to Portsmouth Harbour.
Could I live on the Isle of Wight? Maybe not, as it's a bit too isolated. But I'd certainly come here again as a visitor.
I will return.
Until then,
TTFN
Miss Elaineous
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