French School Posters

French schoolchildren of the 50's and 60's got to learn their lessons with the aid of didactic posters which were both colourful and instructive. They probably didn't appreciate them at the time!

These are now popular as decorator's items (Ikea even make an up to date version). This book "The Art of Instruction" by Katrien Van der Schueren is now available on bookstore shelves.

For posters see my shop

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/159028242/two-french-vintage-school-anatomy?ref=shop_home_active

A Eureka moment....

The veil has been drawn from my eyes! 

I am surprised at how popular embroidery transfers seem to be and have been fondly imagining a new generation of girls quietly embroidering like their genteel great grandmas did in the 30's. Instead, I am beginning to suspect another kind of needlewoman. Are these being used for tattoos? If this is true, how interesting is that as a piece of social commentary.....

Maybe I'm wrong and there are lots of embellished pillow cases out there. 

Just a Swiss hanky....

These are part of my collection of hanky salesman's samples. The salesmen don't call here but if they did, I'm sure they have nothing as attractive on offer. You might think the hankies were pretty enough to sell themselves but these had a pretty folder and delicate little label as well.
Wonderfully twenties, it would be a shame to break up the package....... even a single hanky on its own could not look as attractive as these packaged by some unknown Swiss hand so long ago......

Concrete fantasy

In a little corner of Normandy, what else but faux tree trunks made of concrete? The French were pioneers in the use of concrete for building. One's mind leaps to modernist structures and the work of Auguste Perret and Hennébique, French architects and engineers whose ideas influenced Le Corbusier.
Yet, here is a typically rustic application.....

Step into the past....

Does anyone remember when shops had orange cellophane in the windows to stop the sun fading the goods? Do window displays change more often or perhaps shopkeepers get special advice from the Meteorological Office about the sun's failing capacity to fade!I know that specialist shops still exist but on the whole "specialist" equates with expense. Shops like these above were in every town centre and shopping in them was a pleasure for everyone - from the tinkle of the bell, to the shop fittings, the service and wrapping.Shop fronts have long since been ruined with brash signage and plastic. Modernising and replacement windows have further robbed us of much aesthetic pleasure

Online shopping is fun and easy but we have lost a lot.

Simone Boutarel

Another of the wonderful friezes which adorn the entrance to the 1930s market hall in Falaise, Normandy.
They are the work of Simone Boutarel, an artist born in Paris who specialized in animal groups.

Setting out your stall

Part of the doorway to the market hall in Falaise, Normandy. Could there be a more stylish way to attract customers to buy fish?