Domestic Roles & Suitors of Young Woman
These cards are all addressed to Mademoiselle Menant, who, from her title, we know to be an unmarried woman.
In the Postcard series "Âme de jeune fille", based on a jeune fille reading letters from potential suitors for marriage and dated November 1904, Mlle Menant is said to reside in Carentan, Manche, in the city of Turqueville near St. Mère Église (church). Card #89 reveals in the written address that Mlle Menant's mother, Mme Menant, is a vendor ("commerçante"). The address on card #90 further reveals that Mlle. Menant has sisters with whom she lives ("en ce moment près de sa mère et de ses soeurs"). Card #93 reveals that around mid-November of 1904, according to the sender of the card, Mlle Menant was believed to be on vacation without her family ("toute en congé sans sa famille"). Might this imply a trip that is independent or with friends-- or stemmed from a romantic escapade?
In the postcard series "Roles of women", dated between 1905-1906, she is also listed as an "institutrice" (schoolmistress) residing in Barneville, Manche in France. One of the earliest cards containing this new address is card #87, dated from 1904, on which the original address ("Turqueville / par St. Mère Église / Manche") is crossed out in blue pencil and "Barneville-sur-mère", the new location, is written next to it in red.
It is interesting to note the images and content of the postcards (that is, a young woman choosing among suitors and the domestic roles of women in various stages of life), in light of Mlle. Menant's occupation, family situation and status as an unmarried woman. We have little information concerning the nature of the sender except that she or he enjoyed sending postcards in complete, or near-complete series. We also have little information on the nature of Mlle. Menant's responses to these cards, or whether she responded at all, but we can presume that the sender and recipient not only knew each other but were likely friends.
Roles des femmes (Roles of Women): Postcards #81-85 comprise a series based on domestic "roles" of women: wife, young girl, child, mother, grandmother. Postcard messages include short greetings. Sender's name is unclear.
- See "The Repeating Cycle of Childhood to Womanhood," a Scalar page project by Rafael Rasura. This, among other pages on the site, came from a PAYS course on Savoirs de jeunes filles under Professor Virginie Pouzet-Duzer's teaching and supervision.
Âme de jeune fille (Soul of jeune fille): Postcards #86-#93 comprise a series based on a jeune fille reading letters from potential suitors for marriage and dated November 1904. Postcard messages are brief or nonexistent, and the sender is unknown.
- See "Women Writing and Marriage", a Scalar page project by Skyler Javier. This, among other pages on the site, came from a PAYS course on Savoirs de jeunes filles under Professor Virginie Pouzet-Duzer's teaching and supervision.