Roses

 I chose this postcard because we haven't had many real flowers around this year.  This is an embossed postcard.  Roughly translated the inscription reads "Sent from a friend of the heart".

Nestor Moehr, Perfumerie de Monte Carlo

 

Nestor Moehr was a creator of perfumes. The perfumes Lotus Bleu and Capucine were only two of his creations.  Looking online for information I found an empty Lotus Bleu perfume bottle and a boxed bottle of unopened perfume from the 1930s. I wonder what it would smell like today.

I also found a very interesting blog post on Nestor Moehr , Perfumerie de Monte Carlo.

Postcards from the UK

Occasionally we buy postcards when we’re in the UK. Here are a couple of birthday postcards we found last year.

The Flower Market, Nice

As well as being a popular destination for the jet set (even Queen Victoria enjoyed Nice), Nice was famous for its flower market.

This card comes from the collection of an Artist; Antoine-François Cosyns. It seems that his friends sent him the most interesting postcards they could find on their travels., including this one.

Another postcard of the market

Sweet peas

Catharina Klein was born in Prussia in 1861.  She specialized in painting flowers and fruit and many of her works were used as postcard illustrations.  Before the war of 1914 many postcards were produced in Germany.  Later she was sometimes known as Catherine and worked in Berlin until her death in 1929.  During World War II many of her original paintings were destroyed by bombing by the allies. 

Her postcards are quite common, but I’ve not been able to find another postcard online like this one, posted in 1903, of sweet peas.

Yellow Roses

I looked up the meaning of yellow roses on Wikipedia and they seem to represent a lot of negative emotions: jealousy, infidelity, a broken heart, dying love and extreme betrayal. These roses were sent in 1902. The correspondence is full of news and finishes with affectionate kisses but is not signed.

The elf and the rose

Yesterday was an auction day for us. We got soaked on the way there, frozen in the auction room and our train was delayed on the way home because of problems with an unruly passenger. The cards we bought were very good though, so it was worth it. I love this one.

In France, baby girls are found at the heart of a rose and boys at the heart of a cabbage

Flowers

I found this bouquet of flowers to cheer up an October evening

Gruss aus Feldkirch

An Austrian card for a change. From the town of Feldkirch. I love the way that this card has been decorated and coloured. It’s also in excellent condition considering it’s over 107 years old. Click on the image to see it in better detail.

Maison Rouff

A very old postcard, not at all in good condition, but with a wealth of information after a ltttle research. The ladies are standing in front of the French fashion house, Maison Rouff. Beautifully made clothes and soft furnishings from this store are now sought after collectables. César Ritz chose Rouff for table cloths etc. when he opened his first hotels.

I have no idea why the ladies were showing off their lovely parasols like that. Click on the image to get a more detailed view of their clothes.

Spring flowers

This afternoon I prepared another group of cards for auction.

First of May

Today is the day on which people offer each other little bunches of Lily-of-the-Valley in order to bring good luck. If you’ve ever been in France on the May 1st you may well have seen it being sold on the streets to passers by. I was offered my Lily-of-the-Valley by the lady who owns the bar restaurant in the village when we called in for a cup of coffee this morning.

Procrastination is not new

Here is a postcard which was written on Christmas day in 1899. However, it was not posted until the next century on January 5th

Something a little different

In order to clear our stock a little we’ve started to sell lots of 50 postcards at a time. The cards aren’t extra special but could be a good idea for a beginner. Up until yesterday I was making up lots of town, villages and views throughout France. They’ve been selling pretty well so our attention then turned to the Fantasy cards that we have. These are more greetings postcards, especially New Year. A lot of them are pretty young ladies so are also interesting from the fashion point of view too. I scan all of the postcards and try to arrange them as artistically as possible. I was really pleased with the set you can see above, flowers, which is why I put it here.

Rob was checking other lots of fantasy cards on eBay France and one seller had a picture up of 5 cards only which they were using to illustrate 3 different lots. They had put up a notice warning that the postcards in the photo were not necessarily in the lot in question. When we saw that we felt quite smug about ours.

Number 1000

This is a very special postcard. As well as being pretty to look at it was the 1000th card in our shop at eBay!

Jasmin

What a lovely job, harvesting the jasmin. The micro-climate around Grasse on the Côte d’Azur is ideal for growing flowers and you can visit the various perfumeries in the area today. These ladies were gathering the harvest around 1909.

This is my 100th card!

The Language of Perfume

One of the postcards I prepared for sale this morning was this one. The Language of Perfume. It’s not in very good condition and has a non divided back so I guess that it’s pre 1903.

If you’d like to send the right perfume at the right time, this is what to send:

Lilac: First love
Heliotrope: Love me as I love you
Clover: You bring good luck
Violets: You are virtuous
Roses: Your beauty captivates me
Iris: You posses my heart
Carnations: Believe that I am faithful
Lily of the Valley: Reborn
Mimosa: I only think of you
Honeysuckle: A gentle kiss
Cut hay: Your memory pleases me
Corn Mignonette: Don’t leave me!

Rob has just reminded me that today is Saint Angela’s day, so a postcard with flowers and perfume is appropriate for my ‘Fête’!

(If this one doesn’t sell it will find its way into my personal collection)

Flowers for August

I just had to share this one with you. I think that the colours are so lovely I’ve used it as my desk top. The card itself is winging its way to a new owner in the United States. Another satisfied customer!

Mayday

For the month of May a Mayday card. In France the tradition is to give a bunch of Lily-of-the-Valley for luck on May 1st. This year the flowers came from Germany, as the hot weather had caused the French Lily-of-the-Valley to flower too early.

This card carried bad news, the sender’s house had been burgled and she was sleeping badly because of it.

Nice Flower Market

This is a postcard of the flower market in Nice. I think that it’s a lovely photograph. Unfortunately the picture has nearly come away from it’s backing and over the years insects have nibbled it. The card has never been sent. I think I would have chosen it for myself too.

Pictures from the market today.