The postcard became a widely popular item during the Universal Exhibition of 1889 when a card representing the Eiffel Tower was sold at 300,000 copies.
A postcard shop near the Louvre
The first postcard made its official appearance in 1869 Austria. The French adopted the idea as an emergency measure one year later, during the Siege of Paris, when mail was sent and received via air balloons and the weight of the envelopes became an issue. In 1872, a law validated the use of the postcard as a permissible means of postal communication. This was not yet the case in some other countries and the French cards contained a warning.
Until 1875, the postcard remained a monopoly of the postal administration. After this date, national or private cards were published with a free side which could contain pictures.
While artistic pictures of Paris monuments and impressive boulevards were among the bestsellers, others were bought and sent: the pictures of Paris without makeup. The one below, titled Rue Mouffetard on a Sunday Morning offers the sight of working-class Parisians enjoying the fresh air that had been denied to them during the weekdays. Sunday in Paris was not, as the Anglo-Saxons tourists expected, spent in church and prayers. The people of Paris were out for fun.
These are not elegant Parisians taking air in open carriages on the Champs Elyseés as you would expect on a postcard from Paris
Someone had found this picture of a lounging middle-class couple of enough interest to purchase it and stick a stamp on it
Curios sold too: At 55-inch width, this was the smallest house in Paris
Shops with character were liked as well
A rag lady was mailed by someone interested in the small entrepreneurs of Paris
But it was no surprise to anyone that seductive ladies figured on les cartes postales de Paris
Even the top courtesans of the Belle Epoque found themselves in the mailbag. Here is the dancer Otéro whose breasts inspired the cupolas of the famous Hotel Negresco in Nice
The postman himself had his purchasers. It seems that everything, even the most ordinary, was of interest to our ancestors
Related posts:
Paris Mail: Look for the Blue Light
The Pilgrims and the Sinners: The Sunday in Paris
