This vintage French postcard delivers the greeting My sincere wishes of Happiness for the New Year (Mes sincères souhaits de Bonheur pour la Nouvelle Année). The female model is impersonating a telegram messenger boy, and could be said to be acting under false pretenses (though not illegally).
The stamp was placed on the front of the postcard, a custom especially common in France. Many early postcard collectors liked to have the stamp and picture visible at the same time when cards were placed in an album. Sometimes there would be a T.C.V. note in the stamp box on the reverse. This was an abbreviation for Timbre Cote Vue, notifying postal employees that the postage stamp was applied to the other side of the card.
The orientation and position of the stamp indicates that the sender was also sending another message using the Language of Stamps. There were many variations of the Language of Stamps that were printed on postcards or other publications (see http://riowang.blogspot.com/2011/12/language-of-stamps.html). The postcard below is an example I have on an old French postcard. According to this key, a stamp in the upper left corner of the card, with the stamp upside down and its top pointing down and to the left, means "Give me your heart" (Donne moi ton cœur).
It may be a long time until the New Year, but sincere wishes of happiness are welcome at any time, even when they are delivered under false pretenses..
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Clever! And the "language of stamps" is very interesting. I think it came up in another post, maybe not yours, a long time ago but I forgot about it. Nice reminder of the practice.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I never knew there was a 'language of stamps'. How interesting. I'll have to Google it! :))
ReplyDeleteLanguage of stamps is fascinating. Love that postcard.
ReplyDeleteSpot on. A lovely lass finding Sepia Saturday fame!
ReplyDeleteFascinating, I agree, and that postcard is a very sweet variation on the mug shot theme.
ReplyDeleteGreat postcard! I also have an old English card that explains the language of stamps. It is fun trying to interpret the secret stamp messages! I haven't seen a French one like this - great find :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, we all thought the upside down stamp meant "I Love You". Boy, were we wrong! Too bad you can't really play the language of stamps these days, the PO wants all stamps placed on the upper right of the envelope.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of times the upside down stamp did mean that.
DeleteIt must have required a code book for both sender and recipient. A mistaken twist or choice of corner could make for a disastrous message! Just like Twitter!
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, this is really an interesting thing! Thanks for sharing it. I like Mike's comment- Indeed a bit like twitter!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention the jaywalking ticket! I had to laugh because in Michigan we had no jaywalking signs everywhere. Then when I moved to Minnesota not seeing any all over the place I thought, cool not a problem to jaywalk here!
ReplyDeleteMy French must be very rusty - I don't understand all those coded messages!
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to have a telegraph message on a post card, combining 2 forms of communication. Those telegrams (if any survive these days) usually would be a bit more regarding major events of life...birth, death, marriage etc. At least in my family's life...perhaps others used them to send greetings.
ReplyDeleteWhat a happy and informative story. Cheered me up no end after all the murderers and criminals in Sepia Saturday this week.
ReplyDelete