The Weekly Postcard No. 51

Well, am I good to you, or what? 

Based on the number of views (several thousand) and your comments, you apparently quite enjoyed the Daily Postcard series, and seeing I quite enjoyed presenting it, I suppose we could consider a weekly series, and if we did, we might well start with these two typically French cards.  ‘Frères d’Armes’ on the first card actually translates as ‘Band of Brothers’.  As for the second (below), well, I’ll leave you to look it up for yourselves.  And then you can explain the meaning to me.

Both are from Ted to Florrie, although the addresses are different, and both are early examples – those red trousers would soon be consigned to the dustbin of rubbish military uniforms (see what I did there?), although not before thousands of Frenchman had provided easy target practice for the German machine gunners.

It’s a shame the stamp has been torn, although the remains do at least show us that this card was definitely posted from France, by the looks of it in 1915.  And there is actually nothing to say that Ted was a soldier at all – no censor’s stamp, no ‘On Active Service’ – in which case one might wonder his purpose for being in France at all.

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8 Responses to The Weekly Postcard No. 51

  1. Nick Kilner says:

    Very nice. Bull thrush is the flowering plant on the card.
    Sounds like Florrie was also a deltiologist.

  2. As the card has “Le Muguet Porte Bonheur”, the plant is the Lily of the Valley (brings happiness).
    I believe Florrie is Florence Elizabeth Burnell, born 1892, Wellington, Somerset.
    She married Alfred William Gill , a soldier, in 1916.
    I wonder what happened to Ted (Edward).

  3. Tony Osler says:

    I think the equivalent of our May Day is celebrated in France with Lily of the Valley ( I’ll Thush). This is supposed to give good luck when given to another. (Ancient tracking).

    • Magicfingers says:

      Yes. Got it. Muguet means Lily of the Valley in this instance, and as you say, is given on the French equivalent of May Day. Cheers Tony.

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