29 March - 4 April 2001
Issue No.527
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 29 March - 4 April 2001 Issue No.527 |
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Yours, sincerely
Pierre Sioufi, proud owner of an extensive collection of rare postcards, wonders why he is compelled to accumulate bits of cardboard
Is there any reason to collect postcards, apart from the fact that it is "quite the thing for ladies"?
They are just pieces of cardboard, after all, with an illustration on one of the sides; on the other is the caption space, which may be used or not. If it is, then it might also feature a stamp; or a stamp collector may have removed the stamp. Still, why would anyone be interested in collecting post cards -- especially now, when one can easily predict the end of the physical postcard era with the birth of virtual e-cards?
Postcard publishers always dreamed of cards that could talk and sing, and there always were postcards that made sounds when squeezed. In the 1950s, there was a time when people used to send singing postcards that you could listen to on a pick-up (another item that is disappearing). Computers make things so much easier, don't they?
Besides, postcards, being paper, are indefatigable dust magnets -- not that it would be possible to avoid dust, with pollution at its current levels in this land which started the post-World War II era with a nearly uncorrupted environment. That is unfortunately no longer the case. Egypt's coastline, like postcards, could soon become obsolete -- one need only look to the cliff beach of Aguiba near Marsa Matrouh, and that represents only 50m of despoliation. The sheer magnitude of this disaster dwarfs even the great Pyramid of Cheops; perhaps it is the current incarnation of the tomb robbers' curse? Nowadays in Cairo's streets, however, it is the unattainable dollar that is a greater irritation...
There is no shortage of ideas about ways to obtain hard currency, though. A particularly brilliant one is the construction of an escalator that could take tourists to the top of the Great Pyramid, the climbing of which was an inevitable part of any Egyptian tour before it was forbidden. Surely, though, many today would find it thrilling to recite Bonaparte's famous words (declaimed from Imbaba, as it happens) while looking down on the surrounding desert...
These metaphysical and environmental musings have no direct bearing on postcards, however; nor, for that matter, do the get-rich-quick schemes.
What, then, can an old postcard tell us? Is there anything that would make the possession of such an object pleasurable?
The first of our samples contains a message on the front from which we can deduce that postcard collecting has existed at least since the date when this card was sent. Unfortunately, we have no stamps indicating when that was. But let us investigate further. Luckily, we know that any postcard with an undivided caption space inscribed with the words Union Postale Universelle can be assumed safely to date from the period 1901 to 1907.
A CHOSEN FEW: left, clockwise from top, panoramic view of the Mosque of Amr; Nicolas Tanos; "Arabs praying"; bakshish and the British occupation; climbing the Pyramids; a royal visit. Centre, card addressed to Mlle Pielsch. Above, three in a series by Misha
This particular postcard was sent to Mlle Pielsch, les Mureaux, France, and dates from this period. The name of the photographer is nowhere to be found, however, which is a pity because the photograph is a little strange. Perhaps it was not yet general knowledge that Muslims when praying must face the qibla, so here each of the persons praying is looking in a different direction. This clearly means that we are dealing with a staged photo, made especially for the tourists. The caption ("Arabs praying") is also less than politically correct.
The second postcard proves that climbing the Pyramids was allowed, but required the presence of five or six helpers for the tourist to actually get up there. Arguably, then, the idea mentioned above could help solve the unemployment problem... This one is much easier to date, for the stamp shows it was sent on 21 November 1903 from Helwan. It is an illustration signed A Z Franke, but the same shot is also available in photograph form.
Great artists have signed original postcards, which collectors value highly. For example, a card by Alphonse Mucha (a star among Art Nouveau illustrators) can grab anything from $200 to $2,000 according to its rarity. In Egypt, artists also published series, the ones collectors prize the most being the series signed by the great Armenian caricature artist Saroukhan. Many other artists drew caricatures for postcards related to Egypt, many of which are at least slightly racist, classist, or both. The series signed by Misha is a case in point.
Postcards were used to promote shops, movies, and even political thought and personalities almost from the time they came into existence. A mind-boggling pre-World War II example is a card advertising Deschiens Syrup for anaemics. Still, one wonders why the visit of the British sovereigns to Paris had anything to do with the advertised product. Was this a reference that was relevant at the time?
The Nicolas Tanos advertisement postcard also deserves a good look. Most amazing is the phrase "has been charged by the Gods and Kings of Egypt, to sell their genuine treasures..." Here let us fly over the questions that spring to mind (who is the heir to this privilege? was no one charged with preserving those treasures?), and instead pause to note that this is a divided-back card bearing the words Union Postale Universelle. Despite its mint condition, we now know that it dates from before 1940, when this inscription was abandoned. The illustration on the card is not signed and the publisher's name is not to be found.
Such points could be researched extensively by "serious collectors," who would be sure to determine the editor's identity, the exact date of the printing of the card, the illustrator's name and life story.
"Serious" collectors can easily fall into the trap of obsessive behaviour...
Photographic postcards, like personal photographs, are also just reminders of the way things used to be. An example would be the Dendour Temple, which is now enjoying special treatment (perhaps preserved in an appropriate environment in an impressively huge building) somewhere in the United States. Then again, we should not forget that the Temple of Venus is in the British Museum; its relocation could be compared with current events. Incidentally, at the time, Greek anarchists had threatened to bomb the Acropolis (from which said Temple of Venus was removed), which casts the British Empire in a far nobler role as the saviour of endangered monuments. Acropolis postcards are to Athens what Pyramids postcards are to Cairo, and the actual site is just as much a symbol of civilisation.
Postcards come in a variety of sizes: that depicting the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-'Aas is a panorama printed by Lehnert and Landrock, and an example of a double card. Some panoramic postcards can be as big as five folds.
Apart from the famous duo, other interesting publishers of postcards who worked in Egypt were Aziz et Dores, Reiser and, although to a lesser extent, the Cairo Postcard Fund, L Scortzis, Lichtenatern et Harari and Gaddis. Each of these deserves as much credit and fame as their German colleagues, whose erotic negatives are said to have been destroyed here in Egypt some 20 years ago, by those who were supposed to preserve them. Perhaps it would have been better if someone had managed to save them, even if that meant that the negatives today were being kept in the United States or elsewhere. No use wailing over spilt milk, though, and it is fortunate for the nostalgic that if the negatives really were destroyed, many of the prints are available.
Finally, there is a photo of a lady on a donkey in front of the Sphinx, whose paws were not yet uncovered. The back informs us that this lady's name was C Bissou, and that the photograph was taken on 5 February 1901. The printing on the back is not as nice as it is in the first card, because this was simply a piece of cardboard sold by Droguerie 8, which had outlets in Del Mar, Alexandria, Cairo and Port-Said, and was used by amateur photographers to transform their snapshots into real postcards. Although this particular example does not mention the Union Postale Universelle, these cards interest collectors looking for rare pieces, as they were originally very limited series, and each individual unit may therefore be the only surviving representative of its kind.
Is collecting postcards a worthwhile pastime, or a hobby best left to the ladies, since they don't even do needlework anymore? Ultimately, it is an individual decision. I wonder, however, what the Taliban would do to postcard collectors and their collections?
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