Tuck's postcards of Hong Kong

When I visit the UK I try to match it with the dates of a postcard fair or two, to see if I can find any Hong Kong scenes. In last month's visit I went along to a fair at Woking, and as I walked around I heard lots of buyers and sellers say this was the first event they'd attended since lockdown. I was lucky!

On one stand I found these three postcards for sale:

1. "Hongkong - A portable groceteria" - though I think he's selling snacks rather than groceries.

2. "Hongkong - Cigarettes - Perched for sale"

3. "Hongkong - The Lichee Hawker". If you zoom in, the man in the centre background appears to have gained sainthood, as he is sporting a halo. He's selling from a round, flat tray, which I guess he carried on his head - hence the cloth 'halo' as support.

The three cards all have the same printing on the back:

The text 'Hong Kong Series D' means they were taken for and sold at the British Empire Exhibition held in 1924 and 1925.

If readers have other copies of these cards, does anyone have one with a Hong Kong postmark? I'm curious to know whether the cards were only sold in the UK, or if shops in Hong Kong sold them too.

Further reading:

The publisher, Raphael Tuck & Sons, was a huge manufacturer of cards - not just postcards, they are also credited with popularising the idea of sending Christmas cards. The company was in business for almost 100 years, and amassed a wonderful collection of paintings and photographs. Sadly their office was one of the London buildings destroyed in a 1940 German bombing raid. Over 40,000 paintings and photographs went up in smoke. (Read more about the history of Raphael Tuck & Sons.)

Though the originals are gone, their printed cards had been sent around the world, and many have survived. The excellent website https://tuckdbpostcards.org/ is gathering as many as possible and making them available to view online. eg you can visit the site to see the full six-card set of Hong Kong Series D, browse over 170 of their Hong Kong postcards, or search for postcards of other places and categories.

You might also be interested to learn more about the British Empire Exhibition. I didn't realise that the famous old Wembley Stadium was actually built as part of this exhibition, and was originally named the Empire Stadium.