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

The black cat

We went to another auction last week and bought some new stock which we are really pleased with. I’m already starting to pick up the story of another family who moved around France because the man of the house was a bank manager.

I was charmed by this handmade card. I imagine that the little girl was staying with her grandparents when she received this card from her favourite Uncle! The stamp is real, but he’s painted a false postmark over it.

So that’s how it was done!

In 1900 this is how childless parents acquired their offspring. Babies cost 20 marks!

Swings

An hundred years ago children were enjoying the same things as they do today. When were you last on a swing?

There goes the train!

You will have to click on this card so that you can see the train going over the viaduct. I’ve also scanned the back so that you can see the beautiful handwriting. This postcard was sent in 1903 or before. Any messages had to be written on the front of the card up until that year.





Also, what a simple address for a large city, the name of the street and ‘Paris’; I don’t think it would be delivered today. I googled the address, 45 Rue Alexandre Dumas, and discovered that Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers) used to live at 45 Rue du Mont Blanc!

Hot sand between my toes

This postcard appealed to me because of the energy the girls are putting into their digging. It reminded me of days at the seaside with my sisters. Look how warmly wrapped up the women are who were watching. The card says ‘Les enfants au travail’ – Children at work. Judging by the stamp, the postcard was sent in the early 1920’s.

Our shop!

Anyone who reads any of my four blogs on Blogspot for the next day or so will see this identical post. After humming and ha-ing for several months Rob and I have decided to open an eBay Shop for our postcards. A lot of people have asked why we haven’t done it before. The simple reason is that we sell small price items and a shop isn’t always viable in that case. As there have been recent changes to charging on ebay accounts for professionals in France we thought we’d give it a go.

If you have a moment could you please have a look and tell me what you think of the colour scheme etc. I know it’s in French, that’s our main market, although we do sell all over the world. Please leave a comment if you have anything to say or a question on any of the cards.

Thanks