Un Petit Voyage à Paris Pendant la Pandémie

If you are feeling the isolation of the pandemic and the inability to travel or, like some of us, the inability to get out and dig into boxes of antique postcards, here’s a few short escapes to Paris just before and just after the turn of the 20th century which may offer a bit of relief:

To begin, here's a postcard written at the top of the Eiffel Tower in 1899. 

It was part of the first large-scale, world-wide, production of souvenir postcards.

The picture postcard gradually evolved from an advertising vehicle into a correspondence device, keepsake, and souvenir late in the 19th century. There were a few souvenir postal cards created for expositions such as the 1874 Fifth Cincinnati Exposition in 1874, but the first large-scale production of a postcard as a souvenir and travel memento was for the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The Eiffel Tower was built to celebrate this anniversary and it opened to the public on March 15, 1899.  Illustrated with several simple variations of the Eiffel Tower, these postcards could be postmarked at the tower, and “Top of the Tower, Paris, Aug 31, 89,” is the way Perry Williams captioned the card he addressed to his mother in “Gettysburg, Dak (Dakota Territory), U.S.A.”

 

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 A few years later, Paris exploded with a huge exposition to honor the new century. Here’s a card from the Exposition De 1900:

1900 Exposition in Paris. Mailed Aug. 6, 1900.

This card was written to Mrs. von der Heydt in Chicago, and the message is translated from German:

    Today, I’m going on an excursion to Versailles and visiting the sites in Paris. The exhibition is packed with rural people on Sundays. The food here is bad and expensive. Today, there is a summer festival – the thunder of drums and music woke me very early.   Paris, August 5, 1900 at 8 a.m.   

L.M. sends warm greetings. Yours, Herman

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In 1901 and 1902, America’s Barnum and Bailey Circus was welcomed to Paris by admiring crowds:

Barnum and Bailey Circus in Paris 1902.

This card was written to Mr. Albert Raymond at his parents' home in Lörrach, Germany.  The message has been translated from French:

   Dear Albert,  If you had gone to the circus, you would have been amazed. I went 6 more times before my train left the station and thought it was really interesting. I think you and your family must be enjoying Germany a lot.      Heinsey

Another event, recorded on many Paris souvenir postcards in 1910, was a devastating Paris flood as the Seine overflowed its banks after heavy winter rains. The Seine water level rose 26 feet above its normal level. Here’s a terrific real photo postcard from January of that year, showing fashionably dressed Parisians moving about their daily excursions as best they can.

Paris –– La Grande Crue De La Seine

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 And, finally, here is an image of a young Parisian woman selling postcards at the fancy kiosk of L. Lippens (photographer?) about 1904-5. Today, this address, 25 Rue du Rambouillet, would be near the brown rock wall in the center of this Google Map photo, at the intersection of Rue du Rambouillet and Ave. Daumesnil in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, east of Notre Dame and the Bastille.

Au revoir. Voyager en toute sécurité.

Everyday is a journey, and the journey itself is home.     

   –– Matsuo Basho

Ken Wilson
ken-wilson.com

Translations by Cathy Lara: cathylara.com