22.00 USD
"Apres vous, Mesdames et Messieurs." :)
Wonderful details in this great time machine card. The clean white cloth for brushing the crumbs off of the patron's chair before seating them is held under the arm, just so! Note the creases running across the abdominal area in the jacket of the head bellman and his assistant. Would this be from bending at the waist to lift the guests luggage and setting it down in their rooms? Perhaps a fair amount of polite bowing, as well.
If you have ever seen, up close, clothing manufactured in this period, you will possibly remember how heavy was the cloth from which it was made. Not all, of course. Fine gowns could be as sheer and light as anything, but everyday working clothes were certainly made to withstand heavy use.
We have recently altered the specifications of our time traveling device so that the scanning apparatus which reads the "connecting element" in order to properly set the date and location, which we initially constructed so that it could accommodate coins and stamps, but nothing larger than that, (it is one of the most expensive parts in the entire machine!) can now scan a postcard.
This is a great improvement, particularly when using an RPPC such as this one. Since most RPPCs were produced in smaller, local, studios, and in limited runs, their use allows us to pinpoint, with relative accuracy, our destination period and location. Of course there is the difficulty presented by what we have termed the rule of "tandem origin," the fact that sometimes we travel to within thirty meters, or so, of the photographer, at the very moment he (or she) is taking the picture (the ideal result), while at other times, we arrive near the darkroom wherein, and at the time, the photograph was actually developed! We haven't yet been able to isolate this variable!
If you travel as we do, please DO use actual postcards produced in the appropriate period and location! family photographs are a very "iffy" proposition. Just a few months ago we made a journey (ostensibly) to Chicago Illinois, Summer of 1909, making use of a family photograph. It would have been so wonderful! Clear day, city park, bandstand, picnics and parasols. Of course we dressed carefully for the part, and then we arrive where? Dawson City, Canada, 1979, in the middle of a snowstorm, with two hours to wait before automatic return. Brrr. We were not dressed for the trip! You see, the photograph we used, was one developed from the negative by a descendant of one of the photograph's subjects, who at three in the morning, in the middle of a snowstorm, took it into his head to play in his darkroom.
The story got pretty complicated, as you might imagine, Lots of questions, the old "got lost on the way home from the costume party" excuse, etc. But he did put a generous shot of whiskey in that herbal tea. Anyway...be careful!
A very nice card for traveling, or just staying at home. 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!