Welcome to my Website.
The Panama Canal, its history and the vessels that have transited have intrigued me for over 35 years.
Where do we begin ?
I started as a collector. During the late 1980’s I started to collect postcards of WWII ships. My dad served in the RN during WWII, and so an interest in his story led me to collecting postcards of ships of the era. Then out of the blue in an old bookshop, I discovered some colourised postcard views of American warships in the Panama Canal Zone. The vivid colouring and the novelty of huge ships being in Locks, started me on a quest. Where could I get more like this ? That led onto a personal collecting hobby up till this day. It also led to friendships with fellow collectors/clubs and Canal Zone friends.
A gentleman in Charleston South Carolina Bob Karrer (Who created the wonderful Isthmian Collectors Club), became a friend and inspiration later for my own creations. Based in Panama for a number of years whilst in military service, his love for the country and its history shone through. His informative and engaging writing style, would pop though my letterbox every month in the form of the monthly ICC club newsletter. I was lucky to meet and spend time with Bob (and his lovely wife Sara) in their Charleston home and I'll never forget his generosity and kindness to my family. A great man.
Adrian (Kibby) Bouche became another good friend and guide in Panama Canal history. Kibby grew up in the Canal Zone. We corresponded by audio tape, and I still treasure his cassettes. Whist working in the Marine Traffic Control Division he rescued a large amount of original glass plate canal views created by the famous canal photographer Ernest (Red) Hallen. A feast of visual history to this day. He supplied copies of some for my own postcard creations, and would be full of stories and assistance when I needed help to create my own postcards.
Bob and Kibby are sadly no longer with us and I miss both of their voices, their knowledge and passion for the subject matter. I am honoured to have known them.
The history that led to a canal being built, and the creation of the Republic of Panama that went with it, is a fascinating story in itself, however the vessels that have transited the Isthmus, from 1914 onwards is intriguing. Warships, Merchant vessels and, liners have all left their legacy, preserved in a vast time capsule of photos and postcards taken from the earliest days of the waterway. The largest producer of early postcards on the Isthmus was the Maduro family. Producing from around 1903 with the last chrome style views in the 1950's they created thousands of different views, both pre-canal and post-canal build. Most were made with their distinctive Maduro Eagle on the reverse. After collecting as many of the Maduro cards of ships in transit as I could, I have gone on to create; my own postcard views. The beauty of this is if I found an old Black and white view of an interesting maritime subject in the canal zone, I could colour it on my computer and make a postcard in a similar style to the famous Maduro ones in my collection. The first postcard was made to accompany a talk on my collection to a local postcard club in Edinburgh back in 1998. Since that day I’ve made over 100 views. Where possible I'll try to research the view and add a narrative to the reverse. Enjoy the site and if you'd like to contact me use the form below.