[PyrNet-L] postcards

["ARIEGE" <ARIEGE@xtra.co.nz>]

The original postcard from the 1800's was not divided down the middle and
had to be placed in an envelope to be posted. Towards the end of the 1800's
the postcard was divided with a place for a stamp so that is how you know
the age of a postcard. On some postcards you can read the post office stamp
so some of those Pyrenean ones date back to 1890. You can also tell the age
by the style of clothing.  One series of postcards featured "famous
actresses" and I use that term loosely.  Today we would have another word
for them! These actresses were photgraphed quite often holding toy dogs such
as spaniels, pekingese or maltese and there were usually 4 in a set.  If you
look at the first two postcards Tracy you can see that the quality is not
that good for scanning.  This was the little "Princess" series and if I
recall there were either 4 or 6 cards in that set and they possibly date to
early 1900's.  We must also remember that some of the artists/early
photographers were "dreamers" and some of the settings were "staged". For
years I have wanted to smack the bottom of the child sitting on the back of
the Pyr toward the end of the postcards!! Excuse my ramblings but I am a
dangerous "Cartopholic" (nothing to do with my drinking or smoking habits)
but a collector of cards and have one of the biggest collection of dog
postcards,cig cards and stamps in the country. I sell the excess every now
and then to enable me to buy more!! The early postcards were black and white
and then they started tinting them into the sepia and coloured tones so
looking at the postcards I have featured, the really old ones are the b/w
ones. I have also scanned Pyr cig,trade,phone cards along with Pyr stamps so
they should be on the website soon. The biggest collection of postcards I
have seen with Pyrs belongs to my dear friend Ranee Van Eck in Aust. We
enjoy finding each other new things!!
Jan
Jan Chaplin Ariege-Roussillon Pyreneans
visit PMDC Site at http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Zoo/6339/