14.00 USD
We love it! Beautifully garish couples romance image by Fotocelere of Paris. Both hand-tinted, and making use of the "pochoir" or stencil technique of layering colors and detail.
The postcard craze of the early 1900s slowed down with the devastating onrush of WWI in the mid 1910s, wearing on into 1918. One factor contributing to this slowdown was the inaccessibility for much of Europe and the Americas to the industrial center of postcard printing, which prior to the Great War was in Germany. Following the war, the postcard industry badly needed a shot in the arm, and in order to regain consumer interest, publishers went to great lengths, one of which was to print cards in very bright, eye-catching colors. This card is certainly a fine example of that trend.
The text at the top of the card can be loosely translated into English as, "Let's exchange sweet promises, and sealed tender caresses."
Okay then! :) On the back of the card is written, "Vive Sainte Catherine."
We deduce that this card was sent to an unmarried woman by a well-wishing female friend or relative. How do we arrive at this conclusion? By subtracting every single impossibility and thereby arriving at the truth? Don't we wish, but no, sadly, Red is not Sherlock Holmes.
Actually, the conclusion is an easy one to draw. Saint Catharine is the patron saint of unmarried women, and on her feast day, in addition to donning really fun, and often silly looking, hats and bonnets, unmarried French women would offer up prayers to Saint Catherine for a good mate! They would also receive Saint Catherine's Day cards from
female friends and relatives (probably a bit of an unwelcome reminder for some women!).
Usually these cards pictured a woman in a wonderful hat, and bore the text, "Vive Sainte Catherine," but our sender choosing a card picturing a loving couple, is less typical, and a gentle bit of sympathetic magic! Great fun.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for fully insured, first class, shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!