18.00 USD
The American style walze, or Valse Americaine, was a popular late 19th/early 20th century version of the walze in which there was a fair amount of freestyle separation between dancers as we can see a bit of in this charming RPPC.
In the upper left of the image we see how at the edge of the bandstand a placard was placed facing the dancers supplying them with the name of the dance.
Further back along the wall there is a signboard identifying the ballroom as "La Glycine," etc. We found a Hotel La Glycine in Benouville, Normandy and wonder if this "happening" (stuck in the sixties :) might have taken place there. It really does look like a lot of fun though, doesn't it?
Incidentally, Benouville was the site of the first battle fought on D-Day on the 6th of June, in 1944, some 35 or so years after this photograph was made.
According to Wikipedia, "On D Day M and Mme Gondrée who lived in the café were woken up by the landing of the gliders. M Gondrée looked out of a window of the café and saw black masked troops running over the bridge which he later learned were British, and in celebration dug up some 99 bottles of champagne which he had hidden in the garden and celebrated his liberation with some of the men from the gliders." Ah, the French, huh? Really...you have to love them :)
A very nice RPPC with minor wear to edges and corners. Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. 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 not charge for 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!