Is your name Joly?

This card was sent to Mrs. Joly in the USA in 1918, from Orléans, by her nephew Raymond. He was on his way to camp, his hand writing is difficult but it looks as if the card was sent in December, which meant he survived the war.

If anyone comes across this and knows anything about the family please leave a comment. The big mystery for me is, how did the card get back to France?

Cabaret du Néant

The Cabaret du Néant was founded in 1892 by Dorville. It seems there was a taste for weird entertainment in Paris at this time. The top image is of the Intoxication room. A good time was had by all!

More pictures here

Avenue Coligny

When we first came to live in France, 22 years ago, we lived in a flat/apartment at the top of one of the houses in this street. The street hasn’t changed much at all since this postcard was printed, except that the house we lived in had been rebuilt because a plane crashed into it during World War II. The trees are not the same ones, a few days before I arrived the trees had been cut down because of disease. They are fully grown again today.

Jean-François Millet

This is a postcard of the house that JF Millet lived in. Perfect for an artist I think. If you’re thinking ‘I know that name’ you can read about him and his paintings on Wikipedia.

For Willow...

While I was sorting through some more cards I was really pleased to come acoss this one. Does the one with the white hair remind you of someone? Now we know why his hair was flat.

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.

Charabanc

I love this postcard of the bus. Who were they and where were they going? We know it was an organised trip from what was written on the card. Rob sold the card a while ago so I can’t give you any dates. I bet it was really uncomfortable inside.

When we visited Bordeaux we went on a tour of the town in a “Belle epoch” bus and the seats were really hard and upright. I can’t remember how old the bus was, but it was from Paris and had been used to transport the Jews to the trains to the death camps. It was lovely to visit the town of Bordeaux in style but not to be recommended if you have small children, The windows were higher up than modern buses they couldn’t see out.

(I’ve been wanting to post this picture for ages, I’ve only just learnt how to reduce the size of an image – all by myself)

Where did you get that hat?

I really like the costume cards. These two came from Charente which is the next department to the right. It’s impossible to say which year this was sent as the postmark is unreadable.

I’m not sure how the women coped in the wind with those headdresses. The words at the side comment on the ‘chic’ warm bonnet that he is wearing. I can’t translate properly, as some of the words are local to Charente and I don’t know them.

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that everything you wish for in the new year comes to you. I chose this postcard not only because it is charming, but because It happens to have a coded message on the back. I’m pretty sure that it was written about a hundred years ago by the same person as this card here.

Here’s the message :
7 1 9 g 5 2 9 3 t 2

H 5 2 t

La Faction

These three rebels are from the resistance in Brittany. Some one wrote to tell us that there was an uprising when the Breton language was forbidden in schools and in churches in 1902. Today, school children in Brittany have Breton taught to them as part of the curriculum.

The card was sent early in January 1925 to wish the receiver a Happy New Year.

Bonjour from Belgium

This is a card from Belgium. Apparently cards of these carts pulled by dogs are very popular. I wonder what she was selling, water or milk?

Did they have parking tickets in those days?

A concert

This is a postcard of a concert in Blois which is another beautiful French town. I was really attracted to this card because of the way it’s coloured. Some colouring wasn’t so good, very basic and bright, blue sky, green grass, red lips etc. Please click on the card to see it in more detail.

Armistice

Here are three postcards from the first world war.

The first group are the King and Queen of England visiting the barracks for the colonial soldiers who had come to France to fight for the ‘Motherland’

Next is a postcard of the ruins in a town called Thann.

Last but not least, a group of French soldiers, can you spot Henri? Olivier told me yesterday that most of the French soldiers were drunk a lot of the time, they were given alcohol to help them cope with the horrors of what was happening around them.

Vichy

Vichy is a spa town in France and people still go to ‘take the waters’; The card was posted in 1906. I’m fond of it because of the costumes, especially the women. Here they are drinking the water which would have been beneficial simply because people didn’t drink much water in those days. Today you can buy bottles of Vichy water in any supermarket.

Looking through Google I find that the waters from Source Lucas have anti-inflammatory properties and that there is a horse race is named after it! In another report the source is named after the Baron Lucas who bought the spring where the water comes from and that the water is particularly good for skin problems. I found someone else who likes pictures of Vichy too!

As with all of the postcards on this site click on them to make them bigger

Hampton Ferry

In the early 70s I was a student at Evesham College in the UK. At that time there was an annex at Hampton, and also classrooms in a house nearby. It’s hard to believe now if you look at the college today. On the days that we were at Hampton we sometimes needed to go into town at lunch times, rather than walk down the road and over the bridge, which took ages,we would take the ferry to cross the river. You had to ring a bell and a man would come out and for a penny would pull the ferry across. It was an amazing form of transport even then. I wonder if the ferry is still there?

A couple of weeks ago, Rob was looking at cards for sale and called me over to see this card, he asked me if I’d ever heard of the ferry. It was lovely to remember those college days again.

The little devil

Little devil

Adieu toys, adieu drum,

Here comes the end of the day.

Sleep, the Sandman is passing

Dear little devil!

Henri's nephew

This card was sent 100 years ago on 27th October 1906. Henri sent it to his nephew who was 7 years old. Perhaps for his birthday? He tells his nephew that he’s always known him to be a good boy and hopes that he is continuing to be so. The poem roughly translated says.

In Autumn! Goodbye the bells
The swallows are leaving
Friend, you can marry me
When the faithful birds return

When I see cards like this one, I can’t help thinking about how easy it was in those days to please someone. Henri’s nephew would have been so happy with his postcard. I don’t think today’s nephews would be content with just a postcard for their birthday.

Imagine

Imagine going off skiing dressed like this! This postcard was sent in 1913 and I think that the piste would probably be much busier nowadays. Some modern climbers actually went off climbing in old fashioned clothes and they weren’t as uncomfortable as you think they might have been. I remember hearing a radio interview and the climber said that the old fashioned clothes weren’t as bulky as modern ones.

Help!!

I'd like to post another postcard but I can't because I have a new computer and all I get is a picture of the postcard onto one side. To make matters worse, it's all in French so I don't really know what is what when I try to get help. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Thank you.

Henri

Rob bought up a load of cards at an auction. When I was sorting them into some sort of order I started to notice that the handwriting was the same on the back of some of them. It seems that some photographers would take photos and turn them into postcards. That’s how I came across Henri. I would say that he was a reluctant subject and couldn’t wait to get away from the scrutiny of the camera. There is a photo of him with has comrades too, so I presume they all got photographed on that day. I get the impression that, although he fought in the first world war, Henri was a career soldier and was serving well before. He wrote home regularly even though he was a man of deeds rather than words. His family must have been so grateful for that at the time.