Yesterday I discovered a web site with old Romanian postcards and I decided that this is my new passion. I’m going to start collecting this stuff. I always wanted to collect something. So if you stumble upon an old postcard from Romania or India, I’m interested.
Isn’t this one with Romanian men sewing just amazing? This is what’s probably written on the back of this postcard, which was also a Singer commercial of the time (1892):
ROUMANIA
A kingdom of Southern Europe, comprising the old principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia and Dobrudja. It is bounded East and North by the Pruth, South by the Danube, West and North-West by the Carpathian Mountains. It is mountainous in the West, but level towards the East.The climate is subject to extremes of cold and heat. Large numbers of horses, sheep and cattle are raised. Also grains in abundance. The first authentic inhabitants were the Daciens, who were conquered and the country colonized by the Romans, The Roumanian of today is a mixture of the indo-caucasian and mongol races. They are good looking, intelligent and fairly energetic. The national dress is rich in embroidery and lacings. There are the typical Roumanians. Their rich brunette complexion enhanced by their highly colored dress. The Singer company have several offices here and sell numbers of machines.
The Singer Singer Manufacturing Co.
On the back of the women’s postcard, the text is the same, except at the end: The national dess is rich in embroidery and lacings. Our picture represents three young Roumanian women in their fanciful dress around a Singer machine, which has helped to embroider their costumes.
I love the Romanian national costumes. They are indeed very rich in embroidery which is done by hand, not by machine, even today.
I am also fascinated by these postcards of a Romanian and an Indian woman carrying water.
Aren’t women carrying water just beautiful? I look at them, how different and how similar they are, and think of my daughter who embodies both these cultures, one with its glamour and spiritual depth, the other with its earthy simplicity and unbounded faith.
