The Mail Room

During the war Vaughan served in the non-combatant corps. He and his fellow conscripts endured long periods of separation from family and friends. The only way they could maintain much-needed contact with home was through the medium of the handwritten word. To receive a parcel with much-needed goods, or a letter with longed-for news, both lifted the spirits and boosted moral. The mail room therefore held a special significance for the servicemen. It should be remembered that during the war all personal letters were subject to censorship. It was not uncommon for letters to arrive with line after line obliterated by dense black ink, rendering them illegible. It was important, therefore, that letters were carefully worded and phrased with caution. Vaughan, being highly literate, was in demand in his barracks and was called upon to compose letters for his comrades, phrasing them to get round the censor. The importance of the written wartime word is what Vaughan is celebrating in the present work.
The central figure, with his hands sunk despondently in his pockets, walks away from his luckier companions; unlike them, there is no post for him today. The sepia ink and wash conveys something of his cheerlessness. It also reminds us that Vaughan’s picture-making materials were sparse and basic, due to rationing and army restrictions.

We are grateful to Gerard Hastings for compiling the note for this lot; his new book, Behind the Locked Door: Keith Vaughan's Erotic Work, is to be published in the Spring of 2017, by Pagham Press (www.thekeithvaughansociety.com).