Constantinople / Turkey: Décrotteur Shoeshine Levant Stamp To Palma de Mallorca (Vintage PC 1914)

original vintage postcard - no reprint! 

vintage postcard from constantinople titled "decrotteur" showing a street shoeshine man polishing the boots of a customer dressed in traditional ottoman clothing with a fez, and a wooden shoeshine box with small polish bottles standing on the ground. bright hand colored photo print, likely produced around 1900 to 1910 for the tourist and postcard collector market.

the card bears a british levant half penny stamp with "levant" overprint, tied by a clear british post office stamboul cancellation dated 20 july 1914, just days before the outbreak of world war one.

a second strike on the reverse shows the palma de mallorca arrival postmark dated 26 july 1914, confirming a fast six day transit from constantinople to the balearic islands.

the card was sent by hatchik cherumkerdjian in constantinople to miguel vila, 9 rue fisol, palma de mallorca, baleares, spain. miguel vila was a known postcard collector from palma de mallorca, which adds extra interest for deltiology and postal history collectors researching early 20th century collector correspondence.

size: ~ 9 x 14 cm (1 cm ~ 0.39 inch)

postally used in 1914

condition: very good...please also refer to scans which show complete front and back of postcard

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