Vintage Military Postcards by Achille Mauzan
The so-called Golden Era of greeting cards roughly ended with the First World War, then often called The Great War. The most successful postcard artists were at the top of their creative powers, but the market changed. A lot. Buying power fell, priorities changed, and many artists found their way of surviving by becoming propagandists.
While art becomes almost negligible during wars, propaganda climbs at the top of demand. Skillful painters, illustrators, and decorative artists can get a chance to earn by creating inspirational posters and cards, in some cases they even designed banknotes (think about Edmund Dulac, for instance) or war bonds.
Achille Lucien Mauzan was one of the skilled and adaptive artists with useful connections. He designed numerous posters and also made quite a few picture cards, which we will present divided by style and theme in different groups.
Achille Lucien Mauzan created a lot of posters with a World War I theme. Some of them found their way to the postcard images, too. An alliance between France and Italy, both in some way Mauzan's homes, and a group of soldiers with a flag are typical examples of such works.
Especially interesting from the historical point of view are World War One cards with presented military equipment.
Achille Mauzan's favorite subject - beautiful young girls - was great for boosting the morale of the soldiers, dying for often unclear goals. Looking at these cards, a soldier knew what he was fighting for. These cards were huge morale boosters.
Still, the best possible military postcard is one with the best part of the war - the end of fights and time for rebuilding.
Optimism is one of the key elements during hard times. And what defines 'hard time' better than World War? Mauzan used children in numerous designs, so putting them in the center of the war picture cards is expected.
Becoming a soldier means for many they have to grow up. It's time to take care of hygiene in all senses of the word and start respecting the authority.
While the war is one of the worst possible human experiences, propagandistic ephemera, military postcards included, tried to expose the positive moments, as well. Soldiers are known for singing, playing, and having a good time at the rare moments of safety.
Short, intensive flirts and crushes, are also an inevitable part of the war.
While the loved ones are missing absent soldiers, soldiers are missing their homes, too. In some cases, a happy return offers a happy ending.
Of course, during the war, many wounded soldiers return changed and it's very important to offer them as much support as possible.
Many of them will stay traumatized for life and their problems will heavily impact the rest of their families and society in general.
To offer you a better perspective on military cards, we kindly invite you to check on another postcard artist, a member of the losing side - Franz Stassen's WW1 cards.