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