Le Havre - The Harbour

Le Havre was founded in 1517. Le Havre means “the harbour or the port”. In 1793 the city changed its name to Havre de Marat and later Havre-Marat in honor of the recently deceased Jean-Paul Marat, who was seen as a martyr of the French Revolution. In 1795 Havre-Marat changed its name to Le Havre, its modern name. It was during the 19th century, that Le Havre became an industrial center.

The city was devastated during the Battle of Normandy in World War II. The city of Le Havre, on the English Channel in Normandy, was severely bombed during the Second World War. The destroyed area was rebuilt according to the plan of a team headed by Auguste Perret, from 1945 to 1964.

The devastation that Le Havre sustained is evident in the this postcard. Historically, this picture is worth a thousand words, the sheer and utter devastation is just unbelievable. It is estimated that 12,000 people lost their lives during this time. For other historical views of France, stop by http://chisumtrailmercantile.ecrater.com - we'd love to have you - Dawn

Isn't this a quaint looking street? This is another one of my favorite french postcard finds. I like the postcards and greeting cards with inscriptions on them - it makes the senders "real people". Someone you can identify with.

I attended an Estate Auction a few months back and was able to purchase a box lot of French Postcards that date back to World War II. The former owner of these postcards was a Chaplin in the Army and was able to travel to several countries during his tour of duty.
Collecting postcards is popular due to the various range of subject matter that is available. Not to mention the historical value of the postcards.
The French postcards I have are from the Divided Back Era - March 1, 1907 thru 1915 and the "White Border" Period. Most postcards produced during this era were printed in Europe, especially by the Germans. The threat of WWI brought a decline and eventually ended the supplying of postcards by the Germans. The war, influenza and a lessor quality of postcard brought an end to the postcard collecting hobby.

The next era for postcards is the White Border Period - 1915-1930. After WWI the German publishing industry was never revitalized. Some of the finest publishing houses both in England and Germany were bombed. With the higher cost of publishing brought down the quality of the postcards. "White borders" were left around the postcards to save on ink.

The "Linen Card" era was next for the postcard collector. Publishers now had the technology to print cards on a linen type paper stock. The high rag content gives the postcards a "textured" look. Most of the production of these types of cards ceased in around 1939 with the introduction of the color "chrome" postcard. With the onset of WWII the postcard industry again saw a decline, which forced many postcard companies to print older views and then only if the printing material was available.

Chisum Trail Mercantile has a large array of vintage black and white matt post cards from France, Brussels and Luxembourg. To relive these historical places stop by www.chisumtrailmercantile.ecrater.com