Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

First World War Postcard of a ‘View of Cairo’, Cairo

« Prev Item Next Item »

Leon & Levy

1900 - 1919

Overview

A black and white artistic postcard depicting.an elevated view of a city. The flat roofs of numerous buildings can be seen together with a minaret of a mosque which stands higher than any of the roof tops. Many of the roofs have wooden structures and fences on top. The image shows far in the distance over the city to a ridge of a hill. The postcard has damage to both left-hand corners, one quite significant. The reverse is a pale green colour with dirt marks visible. The front is printed with a description of the image, and the reverse has proforma printing.

Historical information

In 1900s Cairo, traditional multi-story residential and Arab-style houses featured prominent flat roofs. Driven by Egypt's hot, arid climate, these accessible flat expanses served as vital outdoor living areas for families.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2022.1.159

Item type

Postcards

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Card

Width

140 mm

Height or length

89 mm

Inscriptions and markings

In machine printing, on the front “186 CAIRO. – General View. – LL.” On the reverse “Union Postale Universelle / Post Card. – Carte Postale. – Postkarte. – Briefkaart. / Cartolina Postale. – Tarjeta Postal. / Открытое письмо / 186 LE CAIRE. – Vue generale – LL.".

Contextual information

Léon & Lévy was a French photographic studio founded in 1864. The studio transformed into a postcard publisher and was incorporated under the trademark of LL in 1901. By this time, the studio was the second largest French postcard publisher.

Keywords

First World War

Egypt

Place made

Egypt

Year

1900 - 1919

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Well provenanced