Rabbit Ears

There's always a joker in the crowd.  Stamped on the back, "van Leaucourt"   Leaucourt is a small village in Belgium.

Anderlecht

Not only am I staying in Europe with this one, I'm staying in Belgium. Written on the back, "M. Boucher Impasse de la planete Anderlecht" Impasse of the planet? Sounds rather astronomical, though a local pond looks to be a better explanation. Anyway, Anderlecht is a city in Belgium near Brussels. This kid has very thin legs. I wonder if he was sick when this photo was taken. Perhaps some childhood disease. It's also possible that this photo might have been taken during World War 2, and he could have been malnourished.

Courcelles

Thought I'd take a break for a few days from the German-American photo album, but still stay in Europe. Stamped on the back of this one, "STUDIO R. TASSIN E033 COURCELLES" I went on line and found 32 communities in France either named Courcelles or with Courcelles in the name, one in Quebec, and one in Belgium. Only the one in Belgium is large enough to sustain a trolley system. This photo came from the mystery grab bag of photos that I've already dipped into for several posts. (It looks like there are a number of images from Europe in the lot.) Click on the image to bring it up in a larger window to see the old Volkswagen and trolley car waiting for the parade to pass by.

Brazzaville

How were the European colonial powers able to conquer millions of people with so few troops? I suspect this postcard from French Congo, also known as Brazzaville, was meant to be comic. The type at the bottom of the card roughly translates as Congolese in city clothes and would allow the French recipient of this card to laugh at the natives trying to look European. The reality is that the European powers occupied much of the third world by seeking out native allies, usually playing off a favored tribal, religious, or ethnic group against those considered traditional rivals. While these men may have been servants, or models dressed up for the camera, it's also possible that they were some of the local collaborators used to subdue the majority of the native population. While the British and the French were masters at using locals to control, and when necessary, slaughter native populations, it was across the river from Brazzaville in the Belgian Congo where slaughter was at it's most destructive. Leopold II, the second king of Belgium, unable to interest his own government in taking African colonies, established a private company, The International African Society, with himself as the head and sole owner, to subdue the Congo region as a private colony. At first, Leopold's interest was ivory. When that proved less profitable than expected, his interest moved to rubber. Using both European and native troops, Leopold took native women for forced prostitution, cut off the right hands of workers unable to meet quotas, and killed people in the millions. Low estimates run from several million to as high as fifteen million. Ten million dead is a probable best estimate. Eventually the Congo Free State became an embarrassment and Leopold was forced to relinquish control to the Belgian government. All this from a postcard? Researching an image can lead in many directions. Phototypie, in the type on the front side of the card is the French translation of collotype, a mechanical photographic process that allowed for the mass production of black & white prints. I assume that Meyrignac and Puydebois were the publishers of the card. Brive is a town in France. On the back, "La correspondance au recto n'est pas acceptee par tous les pays etrangers. (Se renseigner a la Poste.)" translates to Correspondence on the front is not accepted by all foreign countries. (Inquire at the post.) At least that's how I think it translates.

From Belgium

The person who sold these four images to me, told me that they were estate photos from a family that had come to the United States from Belgium. The street scene has signs in French, as well as the word, "Doyon." Doyon is a town in the Namur province, in the French speaking part of Belgium, so it's a good bet that the information is correct. It's very difficult to see, but there is an arrow drawn on to the group picture (the third lady from the right) identifying the woman as Lena Jagger. Another wedding photo without women. The portrait of the lady is labeled Christianson-Leberman. It's written in pencil right below the woman, so it may be the name of the subject, or the photographer.