Saturday, April 14, 2012

A La Belle Jardinière


Two postcards from the auction we attended at Bordeaux. These beautiful cards are amongst several that were published by La Belle Jardinière in Paris. Founded in 1824, the store was the first to sell clothing that had been mass produced. This was a revolution at the time and met the needs of the growing middle class. The stores were open until the 1970s when they were taken over.

The postcards really are in excellent condition considering their age. The first features the Opera in Paris and fashions worn around 1815. The second card is of the Belle Jardinière store and clothes worn around the time that the cards were produced 1900. The backs of the postcards are non-divided. Any correspondence would have to be written on the space at the side of the illustrations. In France, postcards were like this until the autumn of 1903.

Monday, April 09, 2012

Globe-Trotters


On the 31 March 1901 the Bulgarian journalist Pierre Bonnef set out with his wife, Georgiza, to walk around the world. The idea of the walk was to meet the people from the countries they passed through. They were armed with papers from the Bulgarian Ministry and the consulates of Great Britain, France and Austria amongst others. They funded their voyage by selling postcards like this one on the way.

 They passed through Bayonne in the South of France on the 14th May 1904. They intended their travels to last for around 15 years. I hope that they arrived home safely before the outbreak of the First World War.

We couldn’t find anything about their journey on the internet so I thought that I would create this little space in their memory. If you have any more information on them, please leave a comment.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

A patriotic Easter postcard


Oh you who my heart loves so much 
Be happy, live long!

 Using his best handwriting, sent by a nephew to his uncle (perhaps on the front?) in 1917.

Happy Easter!

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Spikehorn Bear Den


I’d be interested if anyone passing can tell me more about the Spikehorn Bear Den in Harrison Mich. From what I’ve found out so far it was a great place to visit. Can anyone date this card for me?


If you want to find something out, ask a Geocacher!