I found a postcard from occupied Belgium WorldWarI (pics)

[Billsgate]

I found this in a wooden chest in a house my dad is considering buying (still renting current house).
The house belonged to a man who recently died and was 102 years old.

The postcard is written in French, in a beautifull handwriting. Some of the words have faded and are very hard to make out. Apart from that it is in excellent condition.
Belgium was occupied during World War I. The stamps on the postcard read: "Deutsches Reich", which means as much as German Empire. And then there is the black ink which is 'stamped' on the stamp. If you get my meaning? This black stamping is still in excellent condition and very well readable. It has the date on it (9th of October 1917), but the header on the postcard is dated 26th of January 1917. Talk about delay!
The place where it was sent is Ottignies, in the French speaking part of Belgium (I have friends living there, they'll be jealous of this find! )

I will only be able to post pictures of the postcard sunday evening, when I get back to my mom (sunday noon for most of you )

In the meantime I will try to make out all the words, and post the text once I figured most out. I will also translate to English

I feel like a kid who found a treasure!!!!

 

[ReefRaff]

excellent!

 

[SerLunchbox]

Oh that is a nice find for sure!!!

 

[Jchillin]

Cool...that is a rare find indeed. I just wonder what that "black" stamp would be worth to a collector?

 

[Serge]

That must be a real gem, Thomas! Congratulations! From your message, I take it that you live in the Flemish part of Belgium? I have an old acquaintance that lives in Antwerp, or at least, used to live there. I was trying to find a map of Antwerp on the web, with his street, but out of luck so far.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing a pic of that postcard! Merci mon ami!

8)

 

[Meredith]

Sweet!! I can't wait to see pictures.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Thats crazy! Its amazing to see what you can find when cleaning out older peoples houses. We cleaned out my grandmothers cousins house and found a telegram type letter dated back to 1883 asking for someones hand in marriage

 

[BrianNY]

Things like that are very cool. I'll never forget rummaging through my grandparents house and finding a letter that was written by my great great grandfather while he was serving in the Civil War. It sort of connected me to the history.

 

[oscarbreeder]

That is really cool Thomas. I really like old things like that.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thomas, that is a wonderful find! I can't wait for pictures, and the translation!

 

[Docker66]

Wow, thats amazing! I'm a huge history buff and love pieces of history like that. I can't wait till you get it translated! Get pics up as soon as you can!

 

[Guest]

And then there is the black ink which is 'stamped' on the stamp. If you get my meaning? This black stamping is still in excellent condition and very well readable. It has the date on it (9th of October 1917),

Do you mean the postmark? The mark the post office stamps on it telling which town it was mailed from and the date. The postmark also serves to indicate the stamp has been used, so no one can re-use it. (We call that "canceling" the stamp, I have no idea if the term is the same in countries other than the U.S.)

but the header on the postcard is dated 26th of January 1917. Talk about delay!

This I do not understand, what is "the header" on a postcard?


That is one cool find! I'd really like to see the pics and translation.

My maternal Grandfather fought in WWI, trench warfare, poison gas, the whole deal. I have no idea where he fought though. He passed away in 1977 or '78, I think he was 84 years old.

 

[Billsgate]

Yes Corvus, I indeed meant the postmark. I don't know what the term for cancelling the stamp is in Flemish, but it must be something very much alike. Devaluate or something?
If your grandfather fought in the trenches it is very possible he too fought in Belgium. Our country had the ''worst'' (and most) trench warfare in Europe. Or it could also have been the north of France. Apart from that there was not too much trench fighting going on.

Here are some pics:

Didn't have time to figure out what the text reads yet, but I'll do that today.

 

[Billsgate]

Here's what I could make out of the original text.

French:

Ottignies 26-1-1917

Cher Camarade je vous ecrit cette
carte pour vous dire que je vous
remerci beaucoup de vos compliment.
...tôt que j'aprendrai que vous avez
reçu vos coli(?). Je vous invoirait(?) votre
nouvel an en attendant ...... toujour
la bon courage esperont que votre retour
approche(?) les autres commence a revenir
seulement. A le temps nous s'emble assez
long se sont les nivellois qui sont arrivé
et sont des flandres ne vous plaignez
pas la camarade car l'hiver est
trés dur chez nous autre aussis ne
vous faite pas de la peine sur votre
famille t'on est tous en bonne santé
espéront vous de même ne manchez(??)
pas trop de role car la vie est ... moi
ma femme ne veut plus que je chiques(??)
Maintenant cher camerade je fini ma
lettre en vous embrassant ..............
.......................................


English (sortof...... )

Ottignies 26-1-1917

Dear Friend I write you this card to tell you that I thank you a lot of your compliments. ...... that I heard that
you received your ..... (?). I ....... (?) your new year while awaiting ...... always the courage hoping
that your return approaches (?) the others have begun to return on their own. To the time we..... themselves rather long it are the nivellois that arrived and are flanders. I do not pity you friend for the winter is hard at our place
other also done not do you penalty on your family you one is all in good health hoping of you the same. Don't eat
too much...... for life is... me my woman does not want me to......anymore. Now dear camerade I finished my letter while
kissing you .............. .......................................


The last part of the letter was hard to make out.

 

[Melody]

That is so neat, I would find a good frame for it.
Congrats on that find!

 

[Billsgate]

Thanks! I think I will look for a frame for it, but I'm not going to hang it in a sunny spot or all the letters will fade in a couple of years!
I sent the text+pictures to some of my friends in Ottignies, so maybe they can come up with the rest of the text (they are french speaking). Sorry if the translation is lame, I just did it on Babelfish and roughly corrected the mistakes I still saw. :|

 

[zacdl]

Need to have it appriased....

 

[TankGirl]

I agree with zacdl - that needs to be appraised and framed in such a way to preserve it. Very cool piece of history- I love stuff like this!

 

[Billsgate]

Excuse me for my (blissful) ignorance, but what does appraised mean?
Still haven't gotten a reply from my friends in Ottignies, they must think I'm crazy keeping myself busy with old postcards

 

[TankGirl]

When you have something appraised, you take it to an expert dealer (often from a respected auction house) who will place a value on your item and authenticate its origin. This is written up formally and in the case of a very valuable item it can help with an insurance claim if it is stolen or lost in a fire, etc.