COVER N. 348 - FRANCE

Postmark: Jouets Anciens 39 Moirans-en-Montagne La Poste 08.11.2023

Posted on the 8th November; received on the 13th November 2023

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Jouets anciens, antique toys...I can't remember ever playing with a Diabolo when I was a kid, nor do I remember having a Teddy bear, far too elaborated... 

I was the type that would spend my time playing the "Bilharda" (a game that was played with sticks cut to size and shape by the players themselves, from a tree branch or a bit of scrap dowel), "Caricas" (beer and soft drink bottle caps, smashed flat,  that we would race on kerbs by propelling them forward with a  flip of the index finger, pretending them to be great cyclists on the tour de France or Portugal, for instance), watching frogs and butterflies in ponds, fishing, riding my bicycle....

Looking back on my youth days, boy, was I lucky. My father always took me into the outdoors. To the horror of my mother, my present for graduating from primary school at 10 was not a watch or a pen as it was then the norm, but a "Champion" spear fishing gun, and "Simotal" snorkel mask and flippers.

The soles of my feet were much like goat hooves, due to walking barefoot on lava rock and sand all the time... and my legs (and sometimes my head) were often beautified by bandages, and Band-Aids.... so I think it is understandable why a Teddy bear would not be an usual part of my everyday life.... 

But I do concede to the beauty and even brilliance of some of these ancient toys, often made by artisans, so far from today's mass produced Barbies and Kens, and one has to marvel at the superior craftsmanship involved in producing them.

Thaks a lot for the nice FDC Eric.

The two stamps on the cover are part of a 12  "Lettre Verte" (domestic up to 10g) stamp set dedicated to antique toys issued by La Poste on 13NOV2023 (the FDC dates of the 8th November, date of advance sale, presumably).

The toys in the photographs that illustrate the stamps are part of the collection of the Toy Museums of  Poissy and Moirans-en-Montagne, the latter being also the place of issue of the nice First Day Postmark.

As often is the case with circulated FDCs, La Poste showed little care in the handling of the cover, with a rather unnecessary and unfortunate mechanically applied postmark doubly obliterating the stamps.