Today I will share with the club a picture postcard from my collection showing a native coffee house in Alexandria, Egypt mailed to Cannes, France. The stamp is Scott #20 from France - Offices in Egypt - Alexandria, with a used, 2019 catalogue value of $4.25. I found this card at the postcard show in Iowa City, Iowa, USA earlier this year. The postmark reads ALEXANDRIE EGYPTE 8 JANV 06. Not a card you normally find around Iowa where I live, and it is the first, and only one, I have from this "country."
re: France - Offices in Egypt - Alexandria - "Coffee House" Postcard
Only you, ikeyP, would notice that detail, and I am glad you did! Ha!
You never know what you will learn here. The first thought that came to my mind was my ninth-grade track team photo. Our star sprinter Benny, with his hand hanging down by his side, extended his middle finger to the camera, forever telling the world what he thought about picture day. This man in the postcard must have been doing the same thing, in 1906, in Egypt.
re: France - Offices in Egypt - Alexandria - "Coffee House" Postcard
Musee de la Poste: Part 2 Some clarifications:
The address museedelaposte.fr takes you directly to the Official French Postal Museum's website where you'll see options unrelated to specific France postage stamps. (At least I did not see anything related to stamp images by year, etc.) There are options such as: Christmas story telling, Visit different workshops--for children and for adults, Coming events, etc.
After more research, the address below is apparently a private French postage stamp cataloguing web site NOT ASSOCIATED with the official Musee de la Poste of France.
This website is like a giant French postage stamp catalog, with dates of first day of issue, image of stamps, first day of issue postmarks, commentary, descriptions, Y-T catalog numbers, Face value of stamps, etc., etc., etc.
http://www.philateliefrancaise.fr/index.php
On the website also: The Love-Hate relationship of the French with regards to the USA is thrown on its head when you discover how many French postage stamp items issued by the French Postal Authority feature American subject matter.
I calculated USA related items are featured on 185+ postal items: postage stamps, minisheets, etc. Italy follows with over 110 items. China with about 98 items. Haiti, a former colony, has only 8 items. Australia has only 8 items. Russia (and USSR) has only 34 items. Yet, tiny Switzerland has 50 items.
This is very telling, as postage stamps are official documents indicating interests of the country issuing the stamps. Do not believe for a second that the French do not like/love Les Americains.
I am sure this is an awesome website, if you speak French. I speak English only, so I cannot easily interpret this website. I use the Scott Catalogue for France, as do many American stamp collectors. The American people love France, and they have beautiful stamps.
Retired Ap. Book Mod, Pres Golden Gate Stamp Club, Hi Tech Consultant 13 Dec 2019 09:31:11pm
re: France - Offices in Egypt - Alexandria - "Coffee House" Postcard
Old postcards are such a trip... I just came across a set of 12 unused B&W cards, and one colorized card that are all numbered as you can see..from #2 to numbers in the mid #1500. Must be a part of a set or something? Are they just numbered for inventory sake?. Has anyone seen these and is there any interest here (message me privately)? I scanned posts on ebay for demand and pricing guidance, and was surprised at what people ask for some of them, but they seem common. But do they sell?
Anyone here collect them? From the subject depiction (all the horse drawn carriages), I would guess that these are all pre WWI photos.
rrr...
photo scan, 3 B&W and the 1 colored card from the stash. #2 to #148 Photo ND
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"E. Rutherford: All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
re: France - Offices in Egypt - Alexandria - "Coffee House" Postcard
'
I am particularly fond of the old monochrome French cards.
In addition to street/transport cards like yours, I avidly grab'n'pile the maritime/port views, the bridge'n'rivers, the beach/bathing/holiday scenes and, most important of all, the BDA (Bomb Damage Assessment) cards.
The French (and, to a lesser extent, the Belgians) published many cards (ofttimes in booklets) documenting the devastation that followed WW1.
An open question, for me, is the reason 'why'.
When I first came across them, my first thought had been that these cards were laying the groundwork for reparations, and that the card sets (or, at least, the photographers) might have been subsidized by the government(s).
But there was clearly a massive market for these, so it is more likely that they played the same role for the folks back home that weekly photo-journalism magazines (LIFE, LOOK, in the USA) played in WW2 ... and they are, after all, a good bit more convenient to keep than whole newspapers or scrapbooks.
The vast majority of postcard collectors ignore them and, until a recent painful exception, I've never paid more than a quarter for one of these cards.
Go figure.
More for me.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who wonders how often linear collectors - images of Lourdes thru the ages, for example - even bother with these cards)
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Retired Ap. Book Mod, Pres Golden Gate Stamp Club, Hi Tech Consultant 14 Dec 2019 01:05:13pm
re: France - Offices in Egypt - Alexandria - "Coffee House" Postcard
Thanks. Really interesting info. I also like these cards, but I don't collect them. When I went on ebay, I was surprised by some of the prices asked for. Yeah 25c seems like what you would pay in the card shows where you scan through boxes of old cards picking what you like...although I admit I always looked for used cards with stamps on the back. Cheers.
rrr...
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"E. Rutherford: All science is either physics or stamp collecting."