19.00 USD
Many images of Lise Fleuron we find, like those of her sister Miaty, are a tad on the suggestive side. Mlle. Fleuron was born in the 1870s in Alsace-Lorraine. She was actually born Marguerite Rauscher. If that reads very German to you, it's because the region of Alsace-Lorraine, a border-land, was for a very long time under the control of France, and then Germany, and then back again, and so on.
However, when Prussia annexed Alsace-Lorraine in the early 1870s, Herr, or Monsieur, Rauscher, declared French, rather than German, nationality and when Lise and her sister sought fame as performers in Parisian Cafe-Concerts, they naturally adopted French names.
This card's image is one out of a series that was published in France at around the turn of the century by B.F. of Paris (Sorry, no history on this printer as yet). This particular card is a German one though, not French and it differs from what we've come to think of as the French original in the text printed to the right of the image (see our second listing image). "Willst du meine Miez?" or in English..."Do you want my (ahem) kitty?" Well, really!!
Let's not put those words into Mlle. Fleuron's mouth, okay? I mean, she was a bit of a scandal, they say, and both she and her sister were famous for the generosity of their bosoms and the plunging necklines of the costumes they wore displaying them to the best advantage, but we're going to assume the text on this card was the invention of some scurrilous publisher and had nothing to do with her :)
The name Fleuron suggests a flower-shaped jewel and it may or may not be coincidental that in 1884, the French author Georges Ohnet, a popular novelist of the period whose name, at the time, was as well known as that of his contemporary, Emile Zola, published a work of fiction titled "Lise Fleuron." That novel spun the tale of a young girl...her fall from innocence...her gradual climb to success in the theaters of Paris...romance, scandal, and according to at least one British reviewer, a lack of morality, which might be why it quickly sold through more than 100 editions! When attempting to research the Fleuron sisters, we run across page after page of references to this novel. When that book was published, the young Marguerite Rauscher would not have been more than 10 or so years old, but would it be so surprising to learn that a young actress adopted the name of a very famous fictional siren of the stage and that her sister Méaty followed suit also adopting the name Fleuron? Maybe not so much :) She would have enjoyed immediate "brand recognition," at the very least.
The two sisters were very popular stage performers (and postcard queens) of the late 1800s and very early 1900s. Their time was generally a good decade before most of the stage artistes featured on our cards, and by the beginning of WWI (1914), the end of that beautiful era (la Belle Epoque), their popularity seems to have waned.
A nice find in nice unposted condition 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.
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redpoulaine.blogspot.com
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