Explore Black History

ca. 1905

The colonial postcard, popular in the first two decades of the 20th century, came to represent both the technological triumphs of western photography – in printing and mass production – and the political triumphs of European conquest and expansion. These postcards also promoted tourism to the Caribbean, painting the region as a safe, favorable, and exotic travel destination.
At the time of this postcard’s creation, St. Lucia was a British colony, however the woman’s ensemble displays elements of French Creole fashions characteristic of St. Lucia’s history of colonization by the French. It is also characteristic of contemporary national dress. She wears a traditional chemise jupe, an informal bodice and skirt ensemble. Prior to Emancipation, enslaved women in the French Caribbean were subject to le code noir, which required them to wear a chemise jupe made up of a white blouse, two skirts, and silver jewelry. The first skirt was colorful whereas the second one was made from cotton and muslin. Following Emancipation, black women resisted these dress codes by donning elaborate five-piece formal douillettes that were previously forbidden.
The ensemble is finished with an ornately tied madras head scarf with attached pins. Originally produced in the Chennai region of southeast India, madras cloth became popular amongst Creole women in the 18th century and replaced the white cotton head kerchief which was associated with the dress codes of enslavement. In the early twentieth century, Guadeloupian and Martiniquan women reclaimed this head adornment as their own and many wore madras head scarves with their douillette and chemise jupes. The square or rectangular piece of madras cloth was worn over the forehead and folded to display varying numbers of peaks. The head scarf can be tied in a ceremonial fashion or can be worn to show the availability of the woman in courtship, depending on the number of peaks tied into it. One peak represents that the woman is single, two that she is married, three that she is widowed or divorced, and four that she is available to any who tries.
It was fashionable to accessorize these outfits with gold jewelry. The woman in this image wears a traditional collier-choux around her neck. The collier-choux is a multi-layered necklace made up of a succession of two striated gold grains welded together.

A picture postcard of an unidentified woman from Saint Lucia in traditional a Creole chemise jupe ensemble. She is featured seated on a bench resting her right arm on the back. She is wearing a white blouse with a dark foulard scarf tucked into her long floral-patterned skirt, or jupe. She wears a multi-layered collier-choux necklace and large earrings with a madras head scarf that has multiple pins attached. The image has a blank space below where [Women in national dress, St. Lucia. W. I.] is printed in red ink. There are four lines of handwriting in Swedish in black ink below.
The back of the postcard is covered in print and writing reading [Tack för brefvet [sic, brevet] jag fick i Maj. / Allt folket här på oss ära de svarta. / Många hälsningar till [indecipherable] alla fråm din bror Otto.]. This translates to [Thank you for the letter I received in May / All the people around us respect/honor the Blacks. / Best regards to [...] all from your brother, Otto.] Printed in red ink, original to the postcard, is [ST. LUCIA (STE. LUCIE) / Post [English Monarchy Crest] CARD / THE ADDRESS ONLY TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE.] Handwritten in black ink, [Miss Pchéa Påhlsson / Villa Wäshanlid / Helsingborg [underlined] / Sweden [underlined] / Europe [underlined]].

French Colonial postcard from St. Lucia

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Memorabilia and Ephemera - Other
Photographs and Still Images

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2016.151.6

portraits
postcards

Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

ink on paper

H x W: 5 5/8 × 3 1/2 in. (14.3 × 8.9 cm)

Title • Woman in national dress. St. Lucia. W. I.

nmaahc_2016.151.6

NMAAHC

WOMAN IN NATIONAL DRESS. ST. LUCIA. W. I.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1900s

Saint Lucia • Chennai • Asia • North and Central America • Europe • England • Tamil Nadu • Caribbean • France • Madras • India

Description and travel • Women • Colonies • Clothing and dress • Fashion • Freedom • African diaspora • Photography • French colonialism • Correspondence • Race relations • Gender issues • Group identity

African Americans • Africans

Country • Saint Lucia • Subregion • Caribbean • Continent • North and Central America • Country • France • Continent • Europe • Country • England • Locale • Madras • City • Chennai • State • Tamil Nadu • Country • India • Continent • Asia

Postcards • Portraits

Images

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