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".

The love Barometer

A postcard from around the time of the First World War. Especially for young lovers who are apart from their sweethearts. The barometer is marked, from the bottom to top, with ‘Timid – Joyous – Ardent – Love’. What better way to confirm the feelings of the one you love?

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.

Waiting in hope

If you love me openly, send me the green ribbon
If I don’t stir your heart, send me the red ribbon
If you sometimes dare, send me the pink ribbon
If you love me already, send me the blue ribbon
If you want to marry me, send me the white ribbon
If you want to admire me from afar, send me the mauve ribbon
If there is no hope for me, send me the black ribbon
But, if I win your heart, send me the yellow ribbon

I haven’t made any attempt to rhyme like the poem, but that is what the colours mean. The card was never sent, perhaps they didn't dare.

Who's that girl?

A little before October 1909 a photographer set out to take a picture of the ‘Grand Hôtel du Parc’. Some passers by were caught on camera including a pretty young lady. She was pretty enough to turn the head of a young man and make him smile( seen with a powerful magnifying glass).



What happened next?

Two Lovers

1. I’ll lay the world at your feet. 2. Your every wish is my command. 3. You must believe in my ‘star’



4. Close to you I am but mere man. 5. As my son resembles you…

One of the nicest parts of what I do is finding treasures like this little set of postcards. The lovers were photographed by Henri Manuel, a famous French photographer. Sent in the spring of 1911, I was disappointed to find that they weren’t love letters at all, but family correspondence.
click on the images to get a better view