San-Malo, France, ca early 1900s
Two Lévy Fils et Cie Paris unused postcards are shared this week. They both feature photographs of the potato market in Saint Malo, located on the west coast of France. The cards both have divided backs which were authorized for use in France in 1903. The trade mark of LL was registered by Léon & Lévy in 1901. The name Lévy et Fils was used beginning in 1895 by the sons, Abraham Lucien and Gaspard Ernest Lévy sons of the original founder of the company Isaac Lévy who began the business in 1864. Both cards have the same title: SAINT-MALO – Le Marché aux Patates, -- LL [Saint-Malo, the Potato Market – LL], but different numbers. The card above is 198.
Saint-Malo, France, ca early 1900s
This second card with the number 199 at the lower left corner, shows the potato market from a slightly different angle. The large building with the white decorative window frames in this card appears to be the same building shown on the upper card at the left edge of the picture.
Vintage postcards like these provide a window into history and allow us to see what everyday life and work were like more than 100 years ago. Although carts and horses are being used instead of trucks to transport the potatoes to market, evidence of modernization can be seen in the telephone poles with their insulators and wires. Telephones were first introduced in France in 1883; regulations and laws regarding electricity did not come until 1923.
Saint-Malo is a port city in Brittany on the English Channel coast of France. Originally established in 1 BC by the Gauls, the town was known anciently by the Romans as Reginca or Aletum. Modern Saint-Malo was formed from a monastic settlement in the sixth century founded by Saint Aaron and Saint Brendan. The name comes from a man who was a follower of Brendan the Navigator. In the 1590s the town declared itself an independent republic, “not French, not Breton, but Malouin.” Today it is a French city. It became a notorious home of corsairs, French privateers, and pirates. The long history of piracy netted much wealth from extortion and overseas adventures. Today it is a popular tourist center with ferry service to the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, also to Portsmouth, Hampshire, and Poole, Dorset. The resident population is about 50,000 which increases during the tourist season to about 130,000.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Malo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_%26_L%C3%A9vy
https://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcardhistory.html
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/AUTH234269
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