18.00 USD
This card's text, "Porte Bonheur," translates as something like "carry happiness," but means colloquially, "good luck charm." Though here in the USA the black cat used to have this bad reputation as a witch's familiar and so a bringer of misfortune, in France (particularly southern France, as we understand it), the black cat is sometimes considered a bringer of good fortune rather than bad and interestingly enough for almost the same reason!
In the case of a "good luck cat," they are sometimes called a matagot, or mandagot, a spirit taking the form of an animal, not always, but often a black cat and yes, they are thought of as magician's creatures, but if you convince one to live with you and offer it the first mouthful of food from the table at mealtime, it will bring you wealth and happiness, or so the story goes. Fun, huh?
This makes us wonder about the series of artiste postcards designed by Leopold Reutlinger in which he used decorative repetitions of black cats as part of the design, and also of course we wonder about Le Chat Noir, the famous Belle Epoque night spot in Montmartre.
Also this cat resembles, just a bit, the opera diva Lina Cavalieri, don't you think?
There is a gentle diagonal bend to this card, not quite a crease, and a couple of tiny nicks on the edge. 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, the price is the same as for a single 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, due to the costs of international shipping 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!