Figure 1.--This German postcard was a series. This one was labeled the "Kinder der Pussta". I am unsure why there is Hebrew or Yiddish text. The German text reads, "Don’t look so sad, young lad/I guess you don’t know what’s going on/Next to you, as if by magic /Stands a little rose" A reader writes, "I wonder if the lines above the picture are not Yiddish rather than Hebrew. I think that European Jewry -at least at the time this picture was made - used Hebrew for religious purposes only. I guess not a few would have objected to the profanation of that language by using it in such a romantic context."

Pussta is an arid, almost treeless steppe-like plain in eastern Hungary. We have found a German postcard labeled "Kinder of Pussta. It was part of a series. We think that meant a series on European children, not a series on Pussta itself. Strangely there are Yiddish characters on the card. We are not sure why this was as we do not see any distinvtively Jewish aspects to the way the children are dressed.

Pussta

Pussta or Pußta is an arid, almost treeless steppe-like plain in eastern Hungary. At the time it was the less populated area of Hungary. The teraine is similar to the plains in the American midwest.

Postcard

We have found a German postcard labeled "Kinder of Pussta. It was part of a series. We are unsure if the card was printed in Germany or Austria-Hungary. As it has German text it has to be printed in one of the two countries. The poem reads: "Do not look so melancholy, young laddy, probably you don't know what happened, close to you, as magic, there is a small rose". We think that meant a series on European children, not a series on Pussta itself. Strangely there are Yiddish characters on the card. We are not sure why this was as we do not see any distinvtively Jewish aspects to the way the children are dressed. Perhaps the card was oprinted by a Jewish company. Perhaps Jew were avid postcard collectors. We just do not know. Hopefully we will evenbtually obtain a translation of the text.

Chronology

The postcard here is undated. We would guess that was printed about 1910.

Austro-Hungary

Hungary at the time the postcard here was made did not exist as an independent country. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As part of a dual monarchy, while not independent had considerable autonomy.

Costume

Despite the Yiddish text, I cannot see anything which is Jewish. The cloths are rural as worn in Austria/Hungaria in former days.

Created: 7:04 PM 1/24/2005
Last updated: 7:04 PM 1/24/2005