Newsnote: Vincentiana Purchase of the Week: 1/31/2015

 

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century there was a flood of French postcards that illustrated cultural and religious fascination with the “bonnes soeurs” who were such a feature of daily French life. During the 19th century French women in large numbers flocked to the new and established religious communities with active apostolates. As tensions with the anti-clerical Third Republic heightened these sisters became symbols in this struggle. The Daughters of Charity with their distinctive “cornette”, were spread across France and were often featured in such postcards. One sub-genre of these postcards include young girls dressed up in sisters habits, and repeating the themes portrayed by the “bonnes soeurs” genre. This black and white postcard is postmarked 1907.