British summer and bank holiday trips to the coast used to be synonymous with bucket and spade, ice cream stolen by seagulls, greasy fish and chips and… rain. But don’t forget another popular aspect of the golden age of seaside breaks: the saucy postcard.

A long time ago, way before music downloads came onto the scene, the latest technology involved phonographs, graphophones and gramophones. Not to mention the phonautograph, of course.

Times change. While tobacco has now assumed a Social Evil status up there with North Korea, not so long ago children would be proudly displayed in an advert clutching a bunch of fags with the words ‘Mummy’s favourite’ underneath.

If Royal Flying Corps medals are out of your price range, or you want to collect something a bit different, two recent lots show that honours are not the only option for auction purchases.

It’s already one of the most famous images in the world, and thanks to a British Museum exhibition opening this week ‘The Great Wave’ is set to thrill an even wider audience.

Certain topics or people are so popular with collectors that they virtually become a market in themselves. Take Sir Winston Churchill for instance.

Lot 1234 made it count for London auction house Dix Noonan Webb despite lurking towards the back of an extensive two-day sale.

Fancy holding ‘Ides of March’ toga parties in your luxury Jamaican villa with original Roman statues dotted around the swimming pool for the authentic touch? American couple Douglas and Diene Cooper made that fantasy reality.

Lord Ashcroft’s superb collection of medals on public display at the Imperial War Museum in London has grown even larger thanks to a George Cross bought at auction.

You would expect a comedian like Billy Connolly to buy furniture as colourful and outrageous as he can be. Now you have the opportunity to buy for yourself some of the migraine-inducing items from his Scottish holiday home.

Suffering from writer’s block? Maybe the solution is to feel inspired by those who have gone on to success. Working on your next best-seller using Muriel Spark’s table might help.

For classic car collectors, a genuine ‘barn find’ to restore is the holy grail: a cobwebbed, dust-covered vehicle which has lain undisturbed for many, many years and is calling out for a restoration project.

The First World War signals the start of ‘modern warfare’ for most military historians. It was when factors such as mass mobilisations, conscription, railways, machine guns, aeroplanes and gas attacks really came into force with devastating results.

No offence to Neil Diamond, a highly respected singer, but if you are a 12-year-old boy then memorabilia linked to him is not likely to be top of your present list. Fortunately, the other gift was a pair of boxing gloves owned by Muhammad Ali.

The uncomfortable but inescapable fact that a lot of Britain’s wealth was based on business fuelled by slavery was underlined recently by the case of Colston Hall in Bristol.