My wife and i were walking through a little Brocante in France when underneath a pile of boxes we spotted a collection of French handwritten business documents. Upon closer inspection I realised that there were various items, such as old bank cheques still carrying the original stamps through to elegantly handwritten business letters, all dating between 1892 - 1936.Immediately we snapped up this bargain and then proceeded to go through each of them to understand better what treasure we had found this time. Some of the more interesting business letters were from a L. Grandjean Lace & Ribbon factory of Paris which were all (20 in total) handwritten by the founder within 6 weeks of the end of WW1! Interestingly there were references made to "... although the staff all have the flu, at least we did not succumb to the great malady that has befallen so many others..." Paris, 28th October 1918 exactly 13 days before the official armistice pronounced on November 11th, 1918 when optimism and knowledge that they had survived the greatest war man had ever, and still has, known to this day! Holding this old, delicate piece of history in my hand I can only wonder at the feeling that this author must have been feeling during all those weeks from September to November 1918 in the City of Love, Paris.
Other finds were a collection (x13 certs) of original Company Stock (or share) Certificates dated 1892! Now as an ex-investment banker you can imagine the surprise on face when I realised I was holding historical financial documents from the Victorian Period!
Others included bank cheques from 1925, all handwritten including the original postage stamps!
There were so many (100+) that I still haven't quite got through all of them and classified them so I have added some images below of those I have sorted and have already added to the shop... enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment