18.00 USD
She can wear this creation to market, and then carry her eggs and vegetables home in it!
"The Hat Girl," or just "Hat Girl," as we affectionately call this model, might have been one of the busiest postcard models of the early 1900s.
She appears as a child on cards from about 1905 and earlier we think, as a young girl still in her teens as pictured here circa 1909 or '10, and as an elegant young lady as late as 1914, when the German postcard industry began its collapse due to the war.
Most often when we see her she is wearing a beautiful hat. Many, many beautiful hats. Though she seems to have specialised in variations of the Merry Widow, sometimes, as in this image, she would model the "Non plus ultra," or "you can't go further than this" variety.
She wore dressed up milk pails, bundt cake pans, huge taxidermized wildfowl, as well as woven baskets as you can see here and what's more....her freshness and innocence (at least that's how it translates for us today) made them all look great!
She's a bit of a mystery too. With a huge flock of collectors scrambling for her scarcer images, no one seems to know anything about this gal.
Almost certainly born in the 1890s, she was probably German, though that isn't certain. Germany was the hub of the postcard printing industry at the time...she could have been Belgian, French, or even American, but we'd lay odds she was German.
This image is not a particularly scarce one, but it is in such fine condition, with only the lovely silvering around the edge to remind us that it's over a century old.
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!