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.
3 comments:
Post offices are running out of stamps here because the prices are going up 30% for first class letter post and 40% for second. since stamps often now say first or second with no price on old stamps can be used.
There is no better investment on the planet at the moment so shops which sell stamps have been restricted how many they can buy to stop them making a profit while customers are buying in bulk to save on their future post costs.
Many cannot buy stamps because of the weird new supply system and the months warning of the rise, one shop reported a sale of £3000 to just one customer.
What will tis do to the postcard market? We send lots of postcards but even our numbers have decreased since the French prices shot up.
Is this the beginning of the end?
As usual you get fascinating cards.
:)
Caroline: I heard about this on 'You and Yours'. We always keep a stock if stamps as we use so many. Sometimes french collectors use old franc stamps! They have to put on quite a few stamps to make up the present cost of posting a letter.
There aren't so many postcards sold today as it is so easy to send a photo with a phone. There are lots of other postcards made to celebrate exhibitions and other events. I think that some of them are very collectable.
As we specialise more in pre 1940 cards we're still finding plenty of stock, a lot in excellent condition.
A Lady's life: These are really special, the art work is lovely.
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