This is a compelling real photo postcard (RPPC) capturing a French industrial laborer hard at work, likely in the 1910s. The image shows a mustachioed workman standing in a workshop doorway, dressed in heavy, worn work clothes, holding an early electric drill or industrial boring tool. His direct gaze toward the camera gives the photograph an unusually intimate and documentary quality. The workshop interior behind him contains benches and machinery, giving insight into early 20th-century industrial life in France. This postcard offers an excellent example of occupational photography. A French 5-centimes stamp (Sower type) remains attached on the front, postmarked. The reverse of the postcard includes a brief handwritten message and a neatly addressed recipient, along with publication information printed by the maker. the handwritten message on the reverse translates to ““Friendship to all.”. The publisher of this postcard is “Societe Lumiere (Lyon, France)”. The firm was a well known photographic and film company. Based on the stamp type, the style of industrial clothing, and the Lumière company’s postcard production, this RPPC dates to circa 1905–1915. (SOLD)
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
Leave a comment