Poulbot's children

Three postcards illustrated by Francisque Poulbot for the “Ligue National contre le Taudis” (League against squalor) which came into being in 1927.

Here you see children discussing the size of fleas, a pig in the larder, and two children talking about the dreadful smell in an apartment being two dead rats under the mattress. They are beautiful but heart breaking postcards.

Later ‘Poulbot’ became the name for the poor children of Montmartre; descendants of the original children that inspired his paintings.

Catskill Mountains

This card was posted to France in 1935. A lovely sunset in the Catskill Mountains in New York State. Apparently it was a popular destination for New Yorkers in the mid twentieth century and is popular with painters writers and musicians even today. The mountains are no stranger to the film industry featuring in Woodstock, Tootsie, Dirty Dancing, Casper Meets Wendy,  to name a few.
Information taken from Wikipedia

To the roots of the wondrous

This postcard was published in 2001 to publicise an exhibition of the work of Aristide Caillaud who died in 1990 at the age of 88. He started to draw as a prisoner of war in a camp near Dresden in the early 1940s.

The painting here: “Aux raciness du merveilleux” which I translate as, “To the roots of the wondrous” is typical of his work. If you search for his name using Google images you’ll find a wealth of incredibly colourful images.

Vichy

Two postcards from Vichy. Vichy is a spa town and the baths have been a popular destination since the 17th century. These two could almost be landscape paintings.

Deux Châteaux

I recently put these two postcards into our store. I like slightly different views, especially with people included:

Château de la Tour is a Hotel nowadays so if you find yourself in Cannes looking for a hotel….

Château des Neuf Clefs. Nine Keys: what a lovely name! I looked online to see if I could see what it looks like today. Unfortunately it is no longer there, although there is still a part of the town known as Neuf Clefs.