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!

The story of a little girl and her teddy bear

I was preparing this card for eBay the other day when something about the little girl’s knitted dress reminded me of perhaps another postcard...



I went through my ‘children’s section’ and was pleased to see that my memory had served me well. Two more cards from the same set!



I think that she was told to wait before she picked teddy up.

Don't move!

I’m always intrigued when I see children on the old postcards. I’m sure that the three on the steps would have been pleased to obey the instructions given by the photographer. They would have been so excited to see a man arrive with his camera and to be part of a postcard.

Restful place

As usual I was reading the backs of my postcards when I came across this one which struck me as interesting. The house is lovely too. Here is the story behind it:

In 1914 a soldier was injured on the front and was fortunate enough to be sent here to convalesce. The owners arranged for him to be picked up from the station somewhere in Brittany and taken to the house. He indicated his room with a little cross – ground floor on the right. The owner and his wife are the couple standing on the left side of the picture. (Click on the image for a better view)

The young man also wrote that he was looking forward to meeting up with his friends on the front again….

The Somme

The 1st July was the 92nd anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme which lasted for several months. Albert was a town which suffered a lot of damage. I came across this folding postcard by coincidence and thought it appropriate. The Basilica was bombarded on the 17th January 1915, several months before the battle. This must have appeared to be a miracle – a sign of better times to come when the people of Albert saw this:



If you click on the image you will see that the Virgin and Child remained intact