Saturday 14 January 2012

To market, to market



A feathered hat, what the well dressed lady wears when going to market in the early 1900s

She may have been the only one, she certainly seems to have drawn some looks from one or two people.  I never wore a feathered hat, or any hat at all, when I used to go to the market in St Germain, in the same market place getting on for 100 years later.  The styles may have changed but the market place remains the same.

St Germain en Laye is a town to the west of Paris, commuter land to some extent because it lies at the end of the RER (Réseau Express Régional) line into La Défense, the centre of Paris and right out the other side to Disneyland.  It is apparently one of the busiest lines in the world.  The RER line dates from 1969 but before that, and around the time of this postcard, there was a tram running from the centre of Paris to the château in Saint Germain.

Louis XIV was born in the château and later lived there for some 20 years.  He handed it over to James VII  of Scotland and & II of England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.  James VII & II is buried in a nearby church.

A post for Sepia Saturday.  A click on the button will take you to the blog.


I'm going to be away from computers most of this weekend so I'll be doing  my commenting during the week.

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13 comments:

  1. There is something magnificent about these large hats, though a PBS special I watched on how the feathers were collected has sort of ruined the appeal. I wonder what it must feel like to balance such a large thing on one's head.

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  2. I look at it and somehow am glad times have changed.

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  3. The hat connection aside, I find the information about the market then and now to be quite interesting.

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  4. What a wonderful postcard, a lot is happening!

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  5. What a very busy scene with lots to study. That lady certainly stood out from the crowd, but I Iike the stallholder with his hat at a jaunty angle.

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  6. The lady with the feather hat must have attracted the photographer's attention.

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  7. I was in that square in the 1960s but only remember berets (I was wearing one as a National Service soldier). Memories!

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  8. The woman in the hat has a story waiting to be told.

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  9. That really is a wonderful postcard, so full of activity. And it is made even more fascinating by your personal knowledge of the scene.

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  10. I love the way your cards remind me of episodes in my life. I went to a wedding reception at St Germain en Laye. It's not far from Paris's only (I think) English church where the wedding was held. It has many memorials to English who lost their lives working with the French Resistance in the war. We stayed the night and walked around St Germain and the chateau grounds. There's a lengthy terrace with a fantastic view over the city. I really want to spend some more time there and visit the chateau which was German HQ in WW2 and was where the armistice was signed.

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  11. What an interesting postcard. Perhaps they were staring and wondering why a posh lady like that was carrying her own parcels?

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  12. The market place looks very interesting. I have heard it said that people who dress up to go shopping, even at open air markets, get better service and better bargains. Did the lady with the hat find that to be true? She looks loaded down.

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  13. A great occupational scene, I almost expect to "Find Waldo". French cards of this era have an interesting style compared to those from other countries.

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