This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of a very attractive young woman. She is displaying a very serious expression as she looks directly at the camera. She is well adorned with pretty flowers. The postcard is addressed to, and postmarked at Tourcoing, France. Tourcoing is a city in northern France. The postcard has a French stamp.
This Cabinet Card presents a bit of a mystery. The photograph is by famed French photographer, P. Nadar of Paris. The subject of the photograph is a mystery. The reverse of the card has the name “Ilbert” written in two places. In addition the word “Chanteuse” also appears. Is she an opera singer? Is she a nightclub singer? The woman is very stylish and is wearing a fur and interesting hair clip. Hopefully, a viewer will leave a comment with some identifying information. ADDENDUM: This photograph entered into the cabinet card gallery in 2009. Since then there have been a number of cabinet card gallery visitors that have left comments concerning the identity of the subject of this image. There has been some disagreement, but at least two visitors have identified this performer as being Yvette Guilbert (1867-1944). To follow the discussion about identification, check out the comment section below. Now back to Mlle Guilbert. Born as Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, she began singing as a child but worked at a Paris department store model when she turned sixteen. She also took acting and voice lesson and in 1886 she began working as an actress. She debuted at the Variette Theatre in 1888. She was soon singing at a number of popular clubs before starring in Montmartre at the Moulin Rouge in 1890. Over time she began to sing a lot of monologue “patter songs”. Often the lyrics were risque, even raunchy. Her song frequently featured tragedy and poverty. Guilbert was audacious and audiences ate it up. She was celebrated in France, England and the United States. She was a favorite subject of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made many portraits and caricatures of Guilbert. Later in her career, she appeared in silent movies, talkies and made recordings. She also wrote books about the Belle Epoque. It is interesting to note that Nadar, the photographer of the mystery chanteuse also photographed Yvette Guilbert. A Nadar photograph of Mlle Guilbert is part of the collection at the National Library of France. A copy of that image can be found below.
This spectacular vintage real photo postcard features a pretty young woman posed as a seller of theatrical masks. Note the detail of the facial features of each mask. The masks are absolutely beautiful, as is their purveyor. This RPPC was produced by celebrated French artist Albert Bergeret (1859-1932) and published in Nancy, France. Included in Bergeret’s body of work is his series “Women of the Future”. In 1902 he designed a series of postcards depicting women at work in traditionally male professions. Seen below are some examples of these cards. We see a journalist and a soldier. Other cards included a physician, lawyer, and a military general. Bergeret was no feminist. In fact, many of his depictions in the series involved women in skimpy clothing. The pictures were more like pin-ups than a call for equal employment rights for women. Bergeret was a successful businessman. His studio became the leading postcard producer in France. In 1900 he produced 25 million cards and by 1903 he published 75 million postcards. He knew how to grow a business.
WOMEN OF THE FUTURE 
WOMEN OF THE FUTURE
REVERSE OF THE MERCHANT OF THE MASKS POSTCARD
This post cabinet card era photograph features a very cute baby photographed by the Angelidis Studio in Paris, France. The photographer did an excellent job of posing this incredibly adorable child. The photograph measure 4″ x 5 1/2″.
It appears that the two young women seen in this portrait are dressed and ready for the French Carnival. The festival occurs after the “Feast of Fools” and has been a tradition since the sixteenth century or earlier. The girls in the photograph of this vintage real photo postcard are dressed as gypsies and holding stereotypical tambourines. The girls are about in their teenage years. They were photographed by Monsieur Henry of Chalon-Sur-Saone, France. The city is located in the south of the Burgundy region of that nation. I wonder what the fascination is with gypsies? The obsession is apparent when one looks at postcards from around the turn of the century (1800’s to the 1900’s). An observer of these postcards will see gypsies here, there, and everywhere. Perhaps visitors to the cabinet card gallery would like to hypothesize about this cultural phenomenon. I would appreciate your input. Now, back to this postcard. The previous owner of this postcard translated the message as “Remember with affection your little girlfriend. A thousand kisses, Germaine”. My guess is that the shorter woman in this image is Mlle Germaine. SOLD
This carte de visite portrait features a French foot soldier from the 18th batallion de chasseurs. Chasseur is the French word for hunter. The term was used by the French and Belgian Army to denote light infantry or light cavalry. These troops were trained and utilized for rapid action. The soldier in this image is holding a pair of white gloves. His facial expression exudes everything military. The photograph was taken by the Gabriel Studio.
SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of French stage actress and dancer Mlle. Derminy. I am unsure of her first name but she is listed in a number of sources as Marthe Derminy, who was an early film actress. The two performers may, or may not be, the same individual. Take a look at the headpiece that Mlle Derminy is wearing in this photograph. She looks like she has antennas coming out of the top of her head. It is as if she just walked out of a space ship. She is a pretty woman and is posed in relatively risque fashion. Derminy was photographed by many of the most celebrated photographers of her era. I have seen portraits of her by Reutlinger, Walery, and Stebbins. This postcard portrait was published by Societe Industrielle de Photograpie which was located in Rueil, France. SOLD
A beautiful border collie sits on a bench and cooperates wholeheartedly with a photographer. The bright eyed dog displays an “eager to please” expression. A basket of flowers sits beside the adorable pooch. This vintage real photo postcard was produced by Marque “Etoile” (Star Brand) of Paris, France. The postcard is marked V B C Series (N. 3746).
This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of an adorable little girl posing with her cute dog. The dog is captured by the photographer in a loving pose with the canine’s paws atop the little girl’s shoulders. The postcard was published in France but has a Belgian stamp and postmark (La Louviere). The postmark and the message from the sender indicates that the postcard was written and sent in 1913. .
This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of French aviator Roger Somner (1877-1965) sitting in the pilot seat of his 1910 biplane. Somner was an aviation pioneer. The Washington Herald (1909) reported that he broke a world record in a Farman Biplane by flying one hour and fifty minutes at the height of 80 feet. This was a record due to the length of time logged in the air. The Oregon News (1909) described an international aviation contest involving at least five nations competing for about 401,000 dollars worth of prizes. Somner was representing France while the American competitor was Glenn Curtiss (another celebrated aviation pioneer). The Lewiston Evening Journal (1910) reported that Somner ad established a new world record by piloting a plane with three passengers for a total of five minutes. Somner was clearly a brave man. This vintage postcard has a postmark from the French city of Bordeaux in 1951.
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