1900s – Page 3 – The Infomercantile

I bought a couple of these interesting postcards at a antique show recently. The drawings caught my eye, but the messages on them are a bit more striking as I’ve been figuring out what they say. They date from the very early 20th century — this one from 1909 — and they are all blatantly anti-religious, focusing on Christianity. This one doesn’t directly target the church itself, but the followers. The phrase “strach před smrtî“, as closely as I can translate, means “The fear of death.” To believe in something solely over fear of your eternal soul, the producer of this card believes, is a poor choice for faith. I’m still researching the postcards’ origins: they seem too early to be Communist, but religious opposition had many sources in that period. I should know a little more as I get to the other cards in the future.

Cranky, Cranky Kids

Oh, my — I know kids hate to get dressed up, but the dress clothes of today pale in comparison to the kids of the early 1900s. That sailor suit on the right? It would cause a riot among modern kids. The photo appears to me to be from a travelling photographer; the ground is dirt and grass, the chair is simple (probably recruited from the nearest building), and the backdrop is simple. Despite the outdoors, the camera is of a vintage without a speedy shutter, resulting in some blurriness. It could, however, also be an attempt to emulate a more expensive photo studio by hanging a sheet over the washline and getting the kids dressed up to the tees. Either way, the kids weren’t happy about it.