A Freebie, a Winner and a Coat!

GUESS where I went for Mother's Day?

OK, so it's NOT the Eiffel Tower, but ... I can dream:) 

Later this week I'll show you this photo in context because even though I didn't jet set off to Paris for Mother's Day, I did get out of town with The Hubby and we had a great time discovering Oregon's 7,000-year-old lava flows, defunct volcanoes and 300-foot-deep river gorges.

I find this week's freebie intriguing. IF it weren't for the back of the postcard to verify its age, I'd never guess this is a turn of the century design. I love the mix of the black and white portrait with the vivid red roses. It's just a standout from typical Edwardian cards of that era.

As you can see here, the postcard was mailed on Sunday, the 20th of August, in 1905. Nothing special about this side of the card back side, but if you want it and can use for whatever, help yourself to it, too, along with the "official" freebie. 

Affectionate kisses to all

                         -- Clotilde

I couldn't find anything online about Masion Courtois, but Macon is a city in central France (close to Lyon) with a population of about 35,000. And the town's mayor is Jean Patrick Courtois....Maybe Clotidle was his grandmother....?

Now, as promised last week, I'm going to start offering 2 free scans, $3.99 or under, to one lucky commenter each week. I was up till midnight last Wednesday figuring out how in the world to get numbers to show up next to comments. The answer lies in disabling Blogger's threaded comment feature.... Anyway, things are never as simple as I envision them and I didn't take into consideration if someone comments on an older post during that week. But I've decided what I'll do is simply add that comment to the last of the numbered ones. SO, not including my own comments, one double comment and counting in a comment on an older post, I came up with 13 comments last week and the lucky winner, No. 10, is Wendy of Art by Wendy. Congratulations, Wendy! Just email me your two free scans choices!!

Now, you may have noticed that I totally spaced out doing a couple of important things last week. Like mailing out the prizes to the Kissed Again! winners Part 1 and posting the entries from Kissed Again! Part II. I swear I really am not prone to neglect my duties or break promises. But ... undercurrents of things (which have nothing to do with Etsy!:) have me more scattered than usual. 

ONE of those things was an adventure my daughter and I shared last Friday. It was the first time I've gone treasure hunting (aka garage saling) in probably 2 years! I had a million dollars worth of fun with a $20 bill! And one of  my favorite purchases was this coat.

The Case of the Mysterious Manteau

or Help! There's a Dead Animal on my Couch

The above photo shows the true colors of the two different furs. The white spot you see is exposed lining from the torn sleeve. The photos below distort the fur color, but give you more views of the coat.

The minute I saw the inside of the coat, I knew I had to have it:)

The hand stitching, the interior details, the little colorful motifs sewn inside ....

FRENCHKISSED update: Mes amies, I'm pretty amazed at what I discovered upon examining the coat some more. After Marda asked about a tag, I did another look over, this time checking under neath the lining. Voila! A Paris connection!ha! Each panel of the fur is stamped with the image you see below. A google search has come up empty handed. I assume the company name is VJ Paris if I'm reading the logo correctly.

 And another interesting detail: the sleeves have a bonus wind breaker feature. Here is the sleeve almost inside out, the cuff pushed way up so you can see that along with the lining, there was another additional layer sewn in with elastic at the bottom to keep the wind from blowing up your arm.

IF anyone can help me date/identify/appraise/value this coat, I would be most appreciative!

PS Check in before the week is out to
1) comment and get in the running for the free scans
2) VOTE on the Kissed Again! entries Part 2