As long-time followers may remember, I'm an avid collector of a certain genre of postcards most readily defined as "French romantic fantasy postcards of the 1920s and 30s" (though admittedly not most catchily). I've devoted a
couple of posts to these, as well as, last year, starting them their own blog. Eventually I decided the blog format wasn't doing what I wanted to, and set out to create a more online collection-like
site to share the postcards and the research I've done with them (there is currently no source that discusses them at any length, at least in English). I have many more ambitions for the site than are currently realized, but I feel it's reached the point of being meaningful to launch, with the caveat (or bonus) that much, much more is still to come.
The new site, like the old blog, is named
Mille Baisers, which is a French term of endearment often written at the ends of letters and postcards. It means "a thousand kisses."
The site currently features about 150 of these postcards, front and back, with relevant tags and cataloging information; I have somewhere over 300 in my collection which shall be added on an ongoing basis. Here are a few favourites.
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To see many more, along with the (usually written) backs, and to learn more about the ways these cards were created, do pay the site a visit!
2 comments:
What a great collection!
Last summer, I bought a few cards of this type at a local antiques market because I thought they were both interesting and charming.
I meant to do some research about them and maybe turn that into a blog post but I haven't yet.
It should make for a real story because four of these were written by the same young Flemish soldier to his girlfriend (I had noticed two cards from the same series with the same handwriting when buying them and then went through the box looking for more of his messages).
That's wonderful! I am always excited to hear about other folks who have these kinds of cards too. It's so special when you find multiple cards from the same sender. I've been fortunate enough to end up with multiple cards from five different couples (3 all from the man, the other 2 with cards from both) and I treasure them so deeply-- they are these incredibly touching fragments of a real life romance. I will feature all of those eventually on the site (I've done a post here on one of them: http://www.formerdays.com/2013/05/the-romance-of-robert-and-raymonde.html)
When you get that post done, do send me a link, I'd love to see it!
Thanks for your interest and comments, I am always so glad to know people enjoy all this!
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