Lot #819: Three Vintage WWI France Postcards - "Aire-sur-la-Lys Beffroi" - "Bailleul (Nord) Public Garden" - "Maréchal Gallieni" (Bourgogne Frères)

Three Vintage France Postcards: (1) One Vintage 1910s France postcard, unused, showing a Church with caption "Aire-sur-la-Lys - Le Guetter du Beffroi" indicating publisher as "Carte Postale Impr. par E Le Deley, Paris". No Stamp. No Postmark. Never Postally Used. Aire-sur-la-Lys is a town in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France. (2) One Vintage 1910s France postcard, unused, showing a town square with caption "Bailleul (Nord) - Jardin Public. Public Garden" indicating publisher as "Carte Postale Impr. par E Le Deley, Paris". No Stamp. No Postmark. Never Postally Used. This Le Deley specimen is a vital "Pre-War" record of Bailleul, a town in French Flanders that, like Estaires, was almost entirely leveled during the First World War (specifically during the Battle of the Lys in 1918). As an "ELD" production, it captures the meticulous Landscape Heritage of Northern France during the height of the Belle Époque. The "Jardin Public" (Public Garden) of Bailleul was a central feature of the town's social and civic life, featuring manicured lawns and structured pathways that served as a "Living Room" for the community. The Publisher of both these first two cards was Ernest Le Deley, a titan of the French postcard industry, operated out of the Rue des Ursulines in Paris. Both cards appear to utilize a fine-screen Collotype. (3) One Vintage 1910s France postcard, unused, showing a statute with caption "Statue de Maréchal Gallieni Elevees par le Ville de Paris a Trilbardou (Eugène Bénet,. Statuaire) " indicating publisher as "Bourgogne Frères, Editeurs, a Château-Thierry". No Stamp. No Postmark. Never Postally Used. This Bourgogne Frères postcard is a significant piece of Military and Commemorative Heritage, capturing a monument erected at the very site where the tide of the First World War turned. It documents the statue of Maréchal Joseph Gallieni at Trilbardou, a location inextricably linked to the "Miracle of the Marne." The monument commemorates Gallieni's decisive role as the Military Governor of Paris in 1914. It was from this general area that Gallieni famously requisitioned Parisian taxicabs to rush reinforcements to the front lines, halting the German advance. Based in Château-Thierry, the Bourgogne brothers were regional specialists. They focused on the Seine-et-Marne and Aisne departments. Their cards often served as "Pilgrimage Souvenirs" for veterans and families visiting the battlefields of the Marne. This card likely utilizes a high-quality Litho-bromure or a fine-grain Collotype. This card is Post-WWI Commemorative (and thus dates from the late 1910s or early 1920s) Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}