Many of us still know the time when there was no internet with e-mail and the telephone was still very rare, the postcard was then still a popular and cheap means of transferring short messages, congratulations or greetings.
Nowadays, postcards are almost no longer used due to the availability of faster, cheap media.
The postcard was introduced in the second half of the 19th century.
On a postcard there was room for writing a message and usually there was an image on the other side.
Fernand Martin’s toy has also been used a number of times as an image on a postcard.
I have examples from France, Germany but also one from the U.S.A.
The most of the postcards shown here are from my own collection.
A street vendor from Paris with a stamp from 1905
French postcard with images of Martins, date unknown
Another French street vendor from the late 1800s, with the Violinist, this image was also used on a chromo collector plate.
This card can be found in the hand-colored version or in black and white
A French postcard with the “Le Charcutier” date unknown
A German postcard of the circus Barnum & Bailey who toured in Europe around 1900.
The “La Boule Mystérieuse” is shown on this postcard
Another postcard now of the circus Strassburger from around 1914
The “La Boule Mystérieuse” is shown on this postcard
A street vendor from New York with a stamp from 1906
A postcard from 1994 with the Number 233 La casseuse d’assiettes from 1912
It is nice to collect this postcards next to the Martin toys.
And I have another very special postcard in my collection, a handwritten card by Fernand Martin personally. See my blog: https://fernandmartintoys.nl/personal-postcard-from-martin/