POST CARD CARTE POSTALE POSTKARTE
BRIEFKAART - POSTKAART
CARTOLINA POSTALE TARJETA POSTAL
THE POSTCARD MUSEUM
4 AVENUE TOURNELLI ANTIBES 06600 FRANCE
5 mn on foot from : - The Railway Station.
-The Tourism Office.
-The Port and the Car Park
A permanent exhibition of hundreds of postcards
from all epochs and all countries. Also temporary exhibitions.
The objective of the "Postcard Museum" is to let visitors
discover an iconographic universe of unknown documentary
and artistic riches. You will have a view of the history of the
postcard told by itself, from its origine up to now. We hope that
after visiting this Museum, you will never again have the same
regard on postcards.
OPEN EVERYDAY EXCEPT MONDAY FROM 14 TO 18.
TEL : 04 93 34 24 88 INTERLOCUTOR : MR. CHRISTIAN DEFLANDRE
e-mail : cartepostalemuse@aol.com
 
« DON’T FORGET TO SEND ME A CARD… »
That’s something people have been saying to their friends and relatives leaving for a holiday for well over a hundred years. This summer tens of thousands of colourful cards will be sold all along the Coast to allow Heinz, Henk and Hirafumi to tell the folks back home they are here. But who invented this handy means of communication ?
According to the French…it was a Frenchman.
During the Franco-German War of 1870 a large number of French soldiers were holed up at SILLIE-LE-GUILLAUME in the Sarthe. As week after boring week passed, they finally found there was no paper left to write home. Léon BESNARDEAU, a wily local bookseller, had the idea of cutting sheets of cardboard into small oblongs, large enough to carry a short message. The troops loved it, and soon the carte postale – with a picture- was adopted all over.
(Your attention please : - In 1902. Leon BERNARDEAU, bookseller in SILLE LE GUILLAUME
( sarthe )pretends to be the inventor of the illustrated postcard published in France. As a proof, he issues " fac similes " of small size. Here are three copies, as well as other memorial cards of that event. The truth on this invention could not be made since no card stamped in 1870 has ever been found.)
« There was a golden age from about 1890 to 1914 » This is the opinion of Christian DEFLANDRE, founder and director of the Museum of the Postcard in Antibes.
“It was a new medium and a new market and there was a lot of originality in the earlier creations. This became much less evident as mass production took over and the publishers went for long runs of essentially banal images. Look in London, New York, Tokyo or here on the Coast- the choice is very poor and that’s been the case for a long time.”
Although sales last year in France were around 600 million cards, both publishers and retailers have noted a decline in turnover. Explains Christian DEFLANDRE : “The card is losing out to technology. When people are away they call up their friends and family on their mobile, send a text message or even an e-mail. And the younger they are, the more likely that is. I’m not optimistic for the long term future of the card”.
The museum in Antibes opened two years ago. It has three sections : an historical presentation of the postcard, a collection based on a variety of themes illustrated in cards published over the last 100years or so and a temporary exhibition which changes every three months. “At the beginning of July 2002 we started an exhibition showing the bathing costume as it was in the early 1900’s.We’ve got around 150 cards illustrating the maillot de bain of that time. There’s been quite a change ….” Amanda SEGRAVE
(FROM THE RIVIERA REPORTER August/September 2002)
 THE POSTCARD MUSEUM will be of great interest to all artlovers and all. It shows only authentic documents, no copies.
 The tour includes three different parts :
1 THE HISTORY OF THE POSTCARD : its origine, its marketing, its influence on everyday’s life during the “golden age” from 1900 to 1914.
2 A CENTURY OF HUMAN LIFE IN France : through different themes :
woodworking, music, publicity, means of transport, puzzles, animatedcards (with demonstration for each guided tour).
3 TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS IN 2002, 2003,2004,2005,2006 :
For have a look clek here
|