PostBeeld’s owner, Rob Smit, has a great collection of all sorts of things related to philately and its history. This article doesn’t feature actual stamps but focuses on something that has previously appeared in Rob’s series of stories “The History of Stamp Collecting”.
The Paris stamp market, La Bourse Aux Timbres, is the oldest stamp market in the world and still exists. It’s located very close to its original position, just off the Champs-Élysées near Avenue de Marigny. The market originated around 1860. As mentioned, this blog post doesn’t feature stamps, but rather some nostalgic postcards from Rob Smit’s collection.
In 1941, during the exhibition “L’Art dans le Timbre,” two postcards featuring illustrations of the stamp market were published. One depicted the market in its early days, around 1860, and one depicted the market as it looked at that time – 1941, when France was occupied by Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
The first postcards with photographs date from the early 20th Century. Trading was primarily done by sellers standing or placing their items on chairs. And it certainly wasn’t exclusively men!
By the 1920s, the market became busier and busier.
In the 1930s and 1940s, it became a little more comfortable to sell from folding tables instead of chairs.
The last photos from Rob's collection date from the 1970s when, as can be seen below, Still, chairs were still being used as sales stands.
As mentioned, the market still exists. With a little effort, you can find many more beautiful old and more modern pictures by searching online.
I just encountered your blog.
The Paris stamp market was featured in the suspenseful movie “Charade.” Some world famous rarities and an honest stamp dealer are part of the movie.