22.00 USD
We do love Downton Abbey, and so many of those wonderful BBC, Edwardian setting dramas. I mean we REALLY love 'em! (Seen Anzac Girls yet? Great Australian WWI 6 parter!) But I have to say, that after fervently watching decades of the stuff, if there is one little thing that gets kind of old, it is when (at a point in the story nearing the year 1914) one of the "upstairs" or "downstairs" characters slips into the " Woe is me, my way of life is changing, and soon there will be no place for me at the manor, and I'll have to move to London and become a pastry chef," or "Woe is me, soon there will be no one left to answer the ringing of this little silver bell, and I shall have to boil the water for my own tea," monologue. Certainly it was a dramatic cultural shift for that percentage of society whose lives were changed by it, and for each new generation of viewers, it is possibly a fresh idea that offers historical insight, but I guess I'm getting old and crabby :)
Anyway, we have a fantastic image here, of a well to do family and their servants, and wow, what a lot of servants! Of course, already, the skies over Europe darken prophetically. Political and social upheaval are on the horizon! Soon the lives of these good people will be changed unalterably...thrown into chaos! The social barriers will crumble...commoner will wed aristo...and their mingling will produce a new class of people!!! They will dance strangely...the jazz age approaches!!! Nice girls will trim their locks and don cloche hats!!! Anarchy threatens the status quo!!! And did we mention boudoir dolls? How "uncanny valley" can you get???
We had you going, huh :)
In the foreground, on the right, is the little princess (how cute is she!) with her governess, and on the left, the "pretty maids, all in a row," possibly the cook is the woman in the less frilly uniform towards the back, or she may be head of the household staff. Perhaps that is the chauffeur, further back on the left, and in shadow, stand Mother and Father, king and queen of all they survey. It isn't often we come across an image offering such a fine example of this sort of "old world" household. Wonderful stuff.
Note that the card had a stamp fixed to it, but there is no writing on the back, and no apparent cancellation. It was never posted. Why was it never posted? Of course we know why this is....the chauffeur at the back left, is actually no chauffeur at all, but a crazed lunatic who in 1974, accompanied by his wife, a loving, simple, and vulnerable woman, and his odd, psychically sensitive child, accepted the position of caretaker at the old house....he was trying to finish a novel, you see...the deepening shadow of a bitter winter crept across the land, a darkening chill, like an endless night, and...
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, 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 sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
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!