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.”

An afternoon stroll

Today we’ll take a trip in our time capsule and stroll down Avenue de la Gare, stopping for a drink outside the Café de la Poste (on the left) on the way. Although the edges of the postcard are faded, details like the moustache on the man on the right can easily be seen with a strong magnifying glass. The card was sent in 1927.

This is what I call Paris

An original view of the Eiffel tower around 1907

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.

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?

Emile Loubet

Emile Loubet was president of France from 1899 to 1906. It wasn’t until I scanned this postcard, sent in 1905, that I realised that the lines were in fact writing which tell us something of his life. Click on the images to get a better view..

Happy days

These postcards were sold in 1939, just before the war. They were sold for 1 franc each in aid of the National Committee for Summer Camps in France. From what I can find out there were guest illustrators every year who produced a set of cards. These were painted by Georges Redon. He seems to have illustrated quite a few postcards and various posters etc., but there doesn’t seem to be anything written about his life.

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.

The silk merchant

I love the colours of this postcard. When I first saw it I wondered how I could describe it. I don’t read Armenian. I imagine this is a merchant selling silks to a well to do lady. The card is dated 1900. There are a few marks on it and the bottom left hand corner is slightly bent. If I live to be 109 years old I hope that I stay in as good condition as this card!

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

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.

Dear Daddy

Thursday 22nd March
Dear Papa,

I am being good but I never pull the chain when I go to the toilet. I’m making a….. for baby. I do three rows at the front and back. I’m still enjoying myself and thank you for the pictures.

A big kiss,

Jacqueline

I received your letter – no I didn’t win, yes she’s well, no I don’t let Sabine use the racquet, yes I say them every evening, yes she is good , yes she has some hair.

Smile!

I think that I’ve probably said this before. Looking at the postcards that pass through my hands I’m always pleased to see the children. All posing for the man with the camera. It must have been a special occasion for them which they probably remembered for the rest of their lives. We take so much for granted. Imagine how they would have laughed if we told them photographs would one day taken with a telephone!

We acquired a new album from an (real) auction. I’m already piecing together the story of the family that owned it. I’ve concluded that the couple were married not long after the First World War. Madame X could have been a widow with a daughter called Alice as Alice has a different family name. Perhaps Alice’s father was killed during WW1?

The master of the house worked for an insurance company and was later promoted to a post in Paris as head of department. Most of their postcard sending friends had the annoying habit of sending the postcards in envelopes and not marking the year if they dated the cards at all. The family however, carefully collected their postcards and put them into an album so that they are still in very good condition.

The bridge you see on this postcard was built by the Romans and is still there today

The Water Mill

Who could resist dreaming of this magical place? Your dream could become reality because today the water mill is open as restaurant. Hillary Clinton has dined there, but don’t be put off, the prices are very reasonable.

It was a real pleasure to find the website of the restaurant with even more beautiful views. There is more, it’s not too far from Monet’s garden!

As always, click on the image for a better view.

BlogExplosion: very Important!!

"There are some invitations you can't refuse"

A letter has been composed for everyone to send out to the company that owns Blogexplosion on 20th February, you can copy the letter from here.

If you prefer, go here for more instructions and access to a rich text format of the letter. I think anyone outside the US would probably like to send their letters a little earlier. The addresses are supplied. Just pick who you would like to address your letter to.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t compose your own letter if you want to. Please be polite. A lot of effort has gone into this project by people who care about the blogging community. If you belong to BlogExplosion, please help.

And yes, you will be seeing this post on all of my blogs

Thanks to; thewatchlist, MJTaylor Spicybugz, bokonon, kelson, SelinaKimsey, sightlydrunk, bluegrassBloggo, McSpazz, lando411 and others I have surely missed for keeping the forums looking like forums. A special thanks to thewatchlist and MJTaylor who have put in all of the work for the letter.

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

Welcome home Worldman

This little boat is boldly setting off across Lac Léman towards Montreaux. If you look closely you might just be able to make out our globetrotting friend, Peter, on his way home from Sudan to his wife and family. I hope that you’ve had a good trip home, Peter and that you can have a well deserved break and get on with your retirement!

Perhaps you might even run into Bill Gates, Barbara Hendricks or Shania Twain?

Poor Dodo

I wanted to share this postcard of a Dodo with you. Weren’t they sweet? If they were alive today would they be;

1. served up for Christmas dinner
2. in a zoo
3. sold as pets?

If you read the Wikipedia entry, there doesn’t appear to be a stuffed Dodo that they know of. Well, you saw it here first! The postcard received a bid very quickly after being put up for sale on eBay.

Charming

There is only word that I can think of to describe this postcard; « charming ». The colours are subtle and the girls are naturally pretty. I imagine that they were really pleased to be allowed to wear those lovely hats.

A postcard in Braille

This postcard is very topical at the moment. Louis Braille was born on January 4th 1909. He developed the system by which millions read today at the age of 13!!

I managed to translate the Braille into French “Un cordial souvenir de mes petite souris blanches” - A friendly souvenir of my little white mice. A child’s hand has written searched and found, so I assume that the game was to translate the message.

The front of the postcard shows the King of Belgium presenting the 7th Infantry Regiment with the Legion of Honour during the First World War. Click on the image to get a better view

Vals-les-Bains

Happy new year everyone

I thought I’d start the year with a closer look at the costumes on this postcard from Vals-les-Bains famous for it’s water cures since the 17th century. In the past only the well to do would frequent places such as these. Today Doctors can prescribe a ‘cure’ if they think that their patients would benefit. Patients are sent to Vals-les-Bains for problems relating to nutrition, obesity and diabetes. Ordinary Visitors and tourists also benefit from the usual Jacuzzi, massage, well-being and beauty treatments associated with such places.

I couldn’t believe how clear the details on this postcard are! The people you can see would almost certainly not have posed for the photographer. Unfortunately the lady on the stairs is victim of a crease through the middle of the postcard.

Click on the images for a better view

A very old postcard and a joke

I couldn’t resist putting this one up for you to see. It was posted in November 1898. You can just see that even 110 years ago children enjoyed digging holes in the sand! Royan is still a popular seaside town, rebuilt after the second world war and today there is concern that the ‘new’ concrete cathedral is crumbling.

What is written on the front? A joke :

« Pourquoi le Rossignol ne chante-t’il plus lorsqu’il est en cage?
C’est qu’il a perdu la clé des champs (des chants) »

“Why doesn’t the nightingale sing when he’s inside a cage?
Because he has lost the key of the fields (songs)". Doesn’t really work in English, does it?

Anyone for ice?

I think it’s important to show the glaciers of France before they all disappear. These tourists were visiting the ice grotto of ‘ice for drinks’(?) around 1908. Perhaps people needed carrying out more than in.

Unfortunately, the glacier is shrinking by 70 meters a year, but a grotto is still opened up for visitors today

Who is this man?

A family group taken on the beach at Biarritz in April 1914. Who is the man? His face seems familiar to me. Any ideas?

Click on the image to see a better view.

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.

Armistice

"United against the Barbers" and "Sainted Alliance". These two cards were sent during the first world war. I’m guessing, but I think that the soldiers are supposed to represent the US, Belgium and the UK. The young lady, ‘Marianne’ represents the French republic.

Recently I read on the backs of two postcards sent during the first World War…

March 1915
Cher Papa,
….. Everything is starting to grow here which reminds me, you mustn’t try to do everything yourself. Try to wait for my return. All of this will be finishing soon and I’ll be home to help…


…Cousin X came to visit me in my trench, it was good to see him. Between us we managed to account for all of the cousins, everyone is alive and well…

On all of the postcards sent by soldiers the first thing written was 'I'm in good health'. With all of their problems and discomfort their first concern was always to reassure their families.

I’ve also written about the Menin Gate on another blog.

Loulou

Loulou was a seal who became lost and ended up entertaining visitors at a café on the West coast of France. Today there is a restaurant “Loulou Phoque” named after the seal. I’ve been reading the reviews of the restaurant, expensive, but worth every penny!

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.

Keep them on a string

Now we know where the idea of 'stringing him along' or 'keeping him on a string' comes from. Click on the postcard for a better view.

School's out

This postcard remained in my memory ever since I first saw it. We’d put it to one side with lots of other cards to look at again at a later date. The later date has come and it’s now for sale.

This is a photograph of what was left of Boulevard des Ecoles (school boulevard) in the town of Lens in the North of France. I imagine the boy in the picture is standing on what is left of his school. Lens was first bombarded in October 1914 and the town was occupied until 1918. The population of 18,000 was reduced by half. How did those people manage? Where did they go?

The town also suffered a lot of damage during world war II

A little bird told me

One of the seagulls on this postcard is arriving in Geneva to tell everyone that Peter will soon be arriving home in Switzerland to begin his very busy retirement.

This postcard was posted in Geneva in 1902 and is in excellent condition. I have seen the same card in black and white. I prefer the colouring on this one.

The arrival of the Americans

While I was preparing this card for auction this morning I was taken on an interesting journey through the history of U.S. WW1 uniforms. I wanted to check up on two of the hats, I wondered it they were Canadian, but no, they were worn by American soldiers. I discovered that the winter uniforms were made of wool. Very good for the winter but when it was wet they became very heavy and uncomfortable.

The Americans arrived in June 1917 and this photo was taken on July 4th at Les Invalides in Paris, which is the army museum where you can also see the tomb of Napoléon Bonaparte. Of all the people passing by do you think that anyone might possibly recognise one of these soldiers? I hope they all arrived back home safely.

The Language of stamps

Did you know that you have to be careful when you place a stamp on an envelope? This postcard was produced for a philatelic exhibition in Paris in 1941. The stamps were all real, stuck on especially for the postcard.

Here is a translation for the next time you send a love letter through the post:

Straight: You don’t love me
Upside-down: I don’t dare.
To the left: Ardent love
To the right: The beginnings of love
Horizontal right: Tenderly yours
Horizontal left: Passionately yours




Click on the postcards for a better view.

Old man of the sea

I love studies of character and this is one. While I was trying to discover where he came from I came across this. It’s the same man, can you see the stairs in the background? I still don’t know much about the postcard, but I’ve found a lovely new site to visit (it is worth taking the time to scroll down). It is in French but the drawings speak all languages.

Time for a rest

I'd like to take a little pause from my busy life. it would be nice to take a stroll through here. Are you coming with me?

The (very) old house

This house was built in the 13th century, 700 years later a postcard was made of it and just over a hundred years after that the house appears on my blog! I couldn’t find any trace of the house today, although the tourist office looks as if it perhaps could have been….

It reminds me of a mushroom somehow.

A little history

It’s the little treasures that pop up unexpectedly which make postcards so enjoyable. This is a card from Sillé-le-Guillaume and was sent in 1911. It’s not an image that I would have normally chosen to put here. Recently I’ve been discovering a little more about coloured postcards which has made me more interested in the history of postcards. At the bottom of this postcard is the name of the publisher, nothing unusual except for the claim that the company produced the first illustrated French postcard in 1870.

The Château today

The Hermit and his dog

In 1878 Brother François came to Mont-Cindre in the Rhone department. For the next 30 years or so he devoted all of his time to the restoration of the Hermitage. He cleared, built and gardened as well as collecting rocks locally to create rockeries, chapels and grottos for the statues. He died in front of his chapel in the autumn of 1910.

Looking back through the archives I see that he would have been busy creating at the same time as the Abbé Fouré!

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!