Lot #770: Vintage 1910 Romance Postcard - Horse - Couple Kissing - "Good Bye" - "Chere Annie" - "Bamforth & Co." - No Stamp

One Vintage 1910 Quebec Canada Romance Postcard, used, showing a young woman on a horse leaning down to kiss a young man standing besides the horse with the caption "Good Bye". This full colour postcard indicates as publisher "Bamforth & Co., Publishers, Holmfirth, England, and New York. No. 6025 Copyright 1910 by Bamforth & Co.". No Stamp. No Postmark. Never Postally used. But long message in (mostly) French covers the entire back of the card. Addressed to "Chere Annie". Sad Parting Message in small hand in blue ink. ("...et si tu pense que tu peux trouver mieux que moi, c'est all right. Je ne suis pas fou. Allez chez vous en attendant que tu trouve un autre garcon. ... From A. Burgess" This Bamforth & Co. card (No. 6025) offers a poignant and stinging contrast between its idealized, romantic imagery and the harsh reality of the message on the reverse. While the front depicts a cinematic "Good Bye" full of equestrian charm, the French message provides a raw look at a broken relationship in 1910s Quebec. The Staging: Staged in Bamforth’s Holmfirth studios, the use of a horse added a level of "prestige" and drama to the scene. The "Full Colour" tinting—likely applied over a black-and-white photograph—gives the woman’s riding habit and the horse’s coat a soft, saturated glow typical of the 1910 copyright series. "Parting" cards with a "Goodbye" motif, were a massive sub-genre of the postcard trade, serving as ready-made emotional placeholders for travelers or, as in this case, those facing a more permanent separation. The message from A. Burgess to "Chère Annie" is a remarkable social document. Written in a mix of French and early 20th-century English slang, it captures a moment of pride and heartbreak: "...et si tu pense que tu peux trouver mieux que moi, c'est all right. Je ne suis pas fou. Allez chez vous en attendant que tu trouve un autre garcon. ... From A. Burgess" Translation: "...and if you think you can find better than me, it’s all right. I’m not crazy. Go home until you find another boy." Burgess’s use of "c'est all right" is a fascinating early example of the linguistic blending in Quebec. The message is dismissive and hurt, using the "Good Bye" imagery of the card as a literal and final punctuation mark to their relationship. The lack of a stamp or postmark suggests this card was likely hand-delivered or left for Annie to find. The fact that the message covers the entire back shows that by 1910, the "Divided Back" was being used to its full potential for long-form venting, rather than just short greetings.. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}