Saturday 25 April 2015

V is for Vintage






Most of my modern cards, in fact almost all of them, have been collected through Postcrossing, but I also have a large number of vintage cards which I have bought in various places such as postcard fairs or eBay.

For a time we lived in Paris so I look out for postcards from the area. There are just so many cards of Paris that I don't often buy them but these three caught my eye for different reasons.

The top one, dated on the back August 1919, shows an aerial view of what is now called Place Charles de Gaulle but was then Place de l'Étoile.  The photo was taken from a balloon at 700 metres. I used to dread having to drive around the Arc de Triomphe.

The second also shows a view from 1919 but was written a year later because the message says "This is also a street in Paris which was flooded last January".  My sons were at a school on the banks of the Seine, and even then it did rise dangerously high from time to time.

The third caught my eye for being an attractively framed picture, something that isn't always the case with vintage cards. One of my sons had a friend who lived nearby but it looked very different by then.


5 comments:

  1. It was Place de L'Etoile when I was there during my army days but De Gaulle was still alive at the time.

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  2. I love the second one! That's a really specific moment in history. These two people navigating a flooded street in Paris... Makes you feel like you're on the journey with them maybe in the boat behind them... There's a story there.
    @Get Lost in Lit

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  3. I saw some vintage postcards earlier today while wandering around Stockholm's Gamla Stan. I wanted to buy and send to friends but I was unsure whether they would appreciate it as much as modern postcards. If you let me know your address Shiela, I'd be happy to get one for you the next time I see vintage postcards again :) My email is kristina dot maano at gmail dot com.

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  4. You drove in Paris? OMG-around that crazy Arch De Triumphe? I commend you. Love these old postacards and the one with the flooding is neat-didn't know this

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  5. Great collections. Congratulations on completing the AtoZ! :)

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Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

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