Happy Easter!

I wish you a very Happy Easter with lots of chocolate. It’s been a long winter so let’s hope that this weekend is a turning point for the weather.

Embroiderer of headdresses

I think that this is a peaceful postcard. She’s working quietly away at a headdress. Notice the lace on her sleeves and her own bonnet.

The Angelus

This is one of a set of postcards depicting the life of a family in their garden full of roses. If only all families could lead such a pleasant life…

Three more postcards from Alsace

A woman's work is never done...

The heart of Alsace

Alsace is a region next to the German border and for many years passed between Germany and France. The history of Alsace is very complicated, so you can imagine how strongly the people must have felt being passed back and forth. These cards were posted in 1907. The young woman is wearing the traditional bow which became a symbol of the region. Colours and patterns varied from place to place within Alsace.

The three postcards are ‘Pray for France’, ‘God protect France’ and ‘The voices of France’

Easter and April 1st

It seems that in 1907 Easter and April 1st fell together, hence the fish and the egg.  Happy Easter and I hope that you don't get caught out tomorrow on April Fool's Day.

Shrimps for sale

A busy scene as the shrimp catchers sell their wares by the beach.

If a picture could speak

This one would be able to tell us some stories I am sure. “Le banc des Vieux Loups de Mer” - The Bench of the Old Sea Dogs . Old Breton fishermen meeting up in the sunshine.

Wedding Lace

If you’ve read this blog for a while I think you’ll know that I like lace costume postcards. This is a local traditional wedding outfit. As always with most of the older photographs the details are really in focus and clear.

I imagine that mothers, grandmothers, aunts and big sisters probably started making lace for the future ‘big day’ as soon as a baby girl was born.

Baby in a basket

In the 1920s a working mother had to take the baby with her to the fields. It doesn’t look too comfortable, but Ré island is small so there wouldn’t have been far to go.

For newcomers to this blog, the donkey is wearing pyjamas to protect its legs from mosquito bites.

Making up

I love this costume card. The colours are just right and I like to see the costumes that people wore in the different regions of France a hundred years ago. This one is entitled “Peace is made”. Well, the husband looks pleased with himself at least…

The rest I can’t translate as it is in ‘patois’ – the ‘dialect’ of the region.

A real donkey in Pyjamas

In June I wrote about Donkeys wearing Pyjamas on Ré Island. well here is the real thing!. In the background you can see windmills - they’ve all gone now.

Donkeys in pyjamas

A little bit of local culture. Across the way on the Ile de Ré, the donkeys have always worn pyjamas! Even today you can find them if you know where to look. This might seem to be a strange idea, but in the past the working donkeys were troubled by mosquitoes biting their legs. This card shows a donkey with his mistress and the caption reads: “Around here everyone wears the trousers… even the mistress.”

Traditional costume

Here is a young lady in Breton costume taken at the turn of the 20th century. You can see more detail if you click on the image. The daffodils on the skirt caught my eye, was her skirt black or dark green? As well as the lace on her ‘coiffe’(bonnet), the edge of her shawl is interesting. This card makes me think of peace and tranquillity.

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.

1st April!

It’s come around quickly, hasn’t it? I do hope they didn’t use real fish when they took the photographs. The way she’s holding this one so carefully it could be real. These are cards from past years.

The bride

I was really hoping to find out a little about the lace on this costume. It was traditional where I live and the young lady wearing it so proudly is to be married. I don’t know whether she and her female relatives would have made the lace or bought it for the occasion.

Click on the image to get a better view of the lace.

The sacred stone

Somewhere in Brittany is a sacred stone said to come to the aid of sterile women. The instructions on the postcard say all you need to do is sit on the stone and hope - just like this lady.

Saint Catherine

I couldn’t understand why we’d collected so many Saint Catherine cards. They were addressed to girls with lots of different names, but not Catherine!. My favourite English student who is a retired history and geography teacher (history and geography are taught together in France) was able to explain the tradition. There are several St. Catherines on the French calendar, but one in particular in the autumn is the patron Saint of unmarried maidens. This is why lots of young girls used to send cards to each other on the celebrated day. Today, I think it would be hard to find a St Catherine card to send.

This one is a ‘semi modern’ card sent between friends.

Poisson d'avril!

In France the 1st of April is April fish day. The same idea as April fools day and if you’ve got children young enough, you’re likely to have the drawing of a fish pinned to your back. I think that one of the scenes in the film ‘ The French Connection’ showed the police sorting though a load of smelly fish looking for drugs, the gangster's idea of a poisson d’avril joke.

Henry sent this card to his nephew in 1916, it was written in pencil and must have been sent in an envelope. He was looking forward to seeing his nephew the following Sunday, perhaps he had some leave coming up?