Vase Danse

Fabbio Fabbi (1861–1946) was an Italian painter who specialized in oriental paintings. I love the colours and movement in this postcard from Egypt. Here are some more, I especially like ‘The abduction in Cairo’…

Oops, this painting was in fact by his elder brother Alberto Fabbi, 1858-1906. I think that you'll agree, both brothers certainly knew how to paint.

Through the arch

This postcard is faded so it’s a little difficult to see the subject; lighthouses. Imagine stepping though the archway and onto the beach. The sea is blue and the sand warm between your toes…

The man who could have been King

Philippe Duke of Orleans would have been the King of France if it weren’t for the French revolution. He was very interested in wildlife and nature as well as writing.

He owned a property near to Evesham in Worcestershire (UK), Wood Norton. Which is where I come in. He had his own zoo there and when my father was asked to clear some ground there in the 70s, I remember him coming home and telling us that he’d dug up bones of the animals that must have been in the zoo. Wood Norton was also used as a training centre by the BBC at the time that I worked in the bank at Evesham. We saw students from all over the world – oh happy days.

Back to Louis Philippe Robert d'Orléans, he was born in 1869 in England and died in 1926 in Sicily. At one point he was put in prison for returning to France from where he had been exiled, but was granted his freedom after a few months. He never returned to France.

I know that there was a wedding of some importance at Wood Norton. I saw photographs at the museum in Evesham. The town was honoured on that occasion by the visit of Edward VII no less!

A lesson in focus

This postcard is possibly over 110 years old. As well as a pleasant picture which drew my eye, is the clarity of detail from the shadow of the tree on the ground to the clock on the church. (It was half past two). I wonder what the gentleman would make of being enlarged and put for everyone to see on a blog?

A Mousy Tail...

Sorry, I couldn’t resist a little play on words.

The mouse family had their little adventure back on 1906. The cards were sent to an 8 year old girl, Odette by her cousin, Ninette. The cards at entitled: The Rascal – Imprudence – Conspiracy – Evasion – Outcome, “The Cake Walk”; appropriate music for hungry mice. Debussy was yet to write his famous tune (Children’s Corner suite -1908) but “Cakewalk” music was popular in the US.

Gilbert and Gish

John Gilbert and Lillian Gish were together for the 1926 film ‘La Bohème’ directed by King Vidor.

In order to prepare for the death scene Lillian Gish ‘allowed no liquid to touch her lips’ (to change her voice I suppose), she also visited hospitals in order to learn about the effects of tuberculosis. She didn’t think much of John Gilbert who was infatuated with her and messed up the love scenes so that he could kiss her as much as possible.

Lillian Gish died in 1993, she was almost 100 years old.

A mystery house

There is no clue whatsoever as to the whereabouts of this house. Why was the photograph taken? Could it be a guesthouse in the suburbs of a tourist town? What time of day was it? What day of the week? Which year? There are roses but not too many leaves on the trees. Springtime perhaps?

We’re putting the card online for sale. Someone somewhere might have something to say and let us know….

Bragou bras

Bragou bras were working trousers which were worn throughout France at one time. By the time this postcard was made, just over a hundred years ago, the custom had just about died out. Plonévez Porzay is in Brittany.

And you thought that pollution was a new problem

This really is a wonderfully detailed card from Aix-les-Bains. The postcard dates from around 1900 and is in exceptional condition. Can you see what the man is doing in the foreground? I suppose that someone had to do it. Before the arrival of the motor car the pollution from house manure in London was such a big problem that it was discussed in parliament. You can only grow so many roses….

Click on the image to get a better view.

Ready for battle

These four young men captured my imagination. They are all very different to each other despite their uniform.

The first one on the left is younger than the others, I get the impression that he is shy, he’d rather not have his photograph taken and certainly doesn’t quite feel like one of the band yet. Next is the one you can rely on; If you met him in the street he’d be happy to talk for a while and if you needed a hand with anything, he’d be your man. He writes postcards to his wife and family regularly and looks forwards to news from home. Third in line comes the thoughtful one, he writes long letters home describing all sorts of things, from the birds he saw building a nest to the silly pranks of those around him. He won’t write about the horrors of war that he sees until the war is safely over. The man on the right is very sure of himself, he probably teases the youngster, but means him no ill; he likes to make his comrades laugh. He has managed to conquer the heart of a woman in every town that they’ve passed through. He means to write back to his wife and mother but doesn’t seem to get the chance somehow. He will always be able to tell you where you can get hold of a packet of cigarettes.

The coats that they are wearing are pretty special too; known at the Capote model Poiret. They were designed by the French couturier Paul Poiret, they used less blue-grey material than earlier designs and were single breasted with 6 buttons. The collar was also a different shape to previous collars. Not only did these coats save money and fabric they were easier and quicker to make. The first coats were issued from September 1914 onwards. Here is a link to the website page where I found out about the coats. Unfortunately it’s in French, but very well illustrated.

Another beautiful Lady

Marville was an actress who worked at the Moulin Rouge as a hippomobiliste at the beginning of the twentieth century

Life continues

Another view of the Eiffel Tower during the floods of January 1910, but the main subject is the steam train making its way through the water…

Click on the image for a better view

Paris 1910

One hundred years ago this month Paris was flooded. There were plenty of postcards depicting the event which caused a lot of damage, but what is more interesting is the back of the postcards. Ordinary people telling their friends in other parts of the country that they were safe. Can you imagine the state of the water which invaded people’s homes? The smell?

Just one of the streets that were flooded

The railway station at Orsay resembled a swimming pool.

The Navy was even called in to help

The Eiffel tower contemplating its refection

Happy new Year

We had snow for a few minutes this morning - not enough for a snowball. I hope that you are warm and safe wherever you are.

Happy Christmas!

I don't think anyone will have much time for blogging for the next week. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Lady taxi drivers

In 1906 Paris saw the first lady taxi drivers. There was a lot of interest in these brave women. They soon learnt to drive motorised taxis too. I was pleased to find an excellent history in English which explains their story in more detail. Does image number 8 look familiar? Picture number 30 is of special interest to me.

Our Première Dame

There aren’t many photographs of Madame Henriette Poincaré. She was the wife of the president of France, Raymond Poincaré, during the first world war. I was interested to see that she has Italian blood like our present First Lady. She always accompanied her husband whenever it was possible and worked hard during the war to send out parcels, not only to the soldiers, but to the families and children they had left behind as well as offer them support.

She and her husband loved to spend time in the gardens at the Elysée palace. In 1917 an Orang-utan escaped from a nearby circus, found its way into the gardens and tried to drag her up a tree. Of course this news was censored at the time. She must have been absolutely terrified.

Here you see her arriving in Limoges in 1913 accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture (her husband had already arrived).

Sapeurs Pompiers de Paris

These are examples of the different uniforms Parisian fire-fighters would have worn around 1900. In France the fire service deal with all emergencies. Though I’m still wondering about the one with the gun…

As always click on the image to get a better view.

Continuing the story of Odette :

Odette was born in 1899. I’ve discovered that her father was in the army. He sent her a postcard of the officers mess with a cross marking the window of his room, she was eight years old at the time. Her grandmother’s Chateau is not for sale, as I thought, there are two chateaux with the same name. Her Grandmother who signed her cards 'Granny' was a Countess!

In 1906 Odette went to stay with friends and afterwards they sent her these two lovely postcards. I presume that her friends were called Denise and Marguerite

Jeannic

"A travelling photographer is passing through the area. Jeannic is five years old, we must have a photograph of her… but she is terrified by the man and his machine! So daddy has to be at her side. Come on Jeannic watch the birdie…"