Vinateros de Barcelona congratulated Christmas at the beginning of the 20th century with the card that opens this chronicle. The text on the reverse is in Catalan (“Christmas, hope of the worker who counts the hours that are still left to eat the snowflakes, the rooster and the nougat”). The tree in the picture is a plane tree (Platanus hispanica), a sign of Barcelona identity. Another detail identifies the city: the turkeys on the public road…
Older readers will remember seeing Christmas stalls selling turkeys in front of the Ciutadella park, one of the lungs of the Catalan capital. Live turkeys, we mean. A historical photo taken in 1933 by Carlos Pérez de Rozas, protagonist (like his son) of the centenary history of La Vanguardia, shows some vendors herding or herding turkeys through the urban center, on their way to the fair.
The snapshot, very similar to others in this newspaper’s newspaper archive, can be found in the Barcelona Municipal Archive. The National Library of Spain, a treasure of incalculable value that can be explored online, also houses images that speak of an era that will never return. His extraordinary collection of Christmas cards deserves a separate chapter in the memory of those times.
The card of our anonymous vintner belongs to this collection, one of the few in Catalan in the series. The most varied professions thus sought the bonus, a habit that survived until the seventies and perhaps longer, although now that almost everything is communicated through social networks it is difficult to imagine someone knocking on the door to wish us a prosperous new year and deliver a card in exchange for some coins.
In addition to the more predictable professional postcards (for example, watchmen, garbage collectors or lamplighters), there are ones for all tastes, even the greaser (greaser of the metal shutters of the shops, that is). This is precisely one of the most modern prints, from the sixties. Nothing to do with those of the altar boys, from the late 19th century and very sincere when it comes to asking their neighbors to allow themselves to be mugged.
“Today, sir, the altar boy / comes, but not with anointing, / nor to sing Kyrie Eleyson: / the question is pocket-sized. / In a friendly and simple tone / Easter congratulates him / and hopes something during the visit. Although our Catalan illustration does not have a title (a good option would be The Vintner and the Turkeys Wish You a Merry Christmas), most of the prints share the same title: “The… (the craftsman in question) congratulates You on Christmas Easter.”
Numerous illustrations in the series use the abbreviation V., instead of you. That capital letter is a v, and not a u because it is a reminiscence of your worship or your worship, which initially gave rise to you and later to you. Many share variations of the same couplets, with more or less elegance: “One year ends, another begins / and I, within my profession, / I dedicate myself to your service / with loving alacrity.”
The obverse shows the bonus claimants at work, along with recreations related to Christmas: the Bethlehem portal, turkeys (live, of course) and liquor bottles, some unmistakable, like the Anís del Mono one. The tavern owners took advantage of the bonus to praise their wares (“my oil and liquors are those of gentlemen”). Its rubble is intersectoral, as a trade unionist today would say. Examples?
“Today is the Lord’s day (…) / And may you spend it all / eating turkey and nougat / with all his heart / the innkeeper wishes you.” Nothing is wasted here, like with croquettes. The same desire is expressed by other professionals who can recycle the rhyme, such as the waiter, the garbage collector, the carter or the lamplighter… And the hatter! Some desires are almost childish, but they represent the gastronomic summum of the time.
“Easter among pigeons, / turkeys, chickens or partridges / have them happy,” many say. The Catalan vintner, however, prefers chicken, nougat and neules or wafers. Another of the cards in Catalan is the one for the rentacotxes or car cleaners. Your Castilian colleagues ask that you “increase the joy / of the car cleaner on this day.” The Catalans say they settle for a little bit (a xic) of happiness. And, for that matter, some caviar.
Some ask for “drinks, sweets and nougats.” Others remember, in non-normative Catalan, that “the smelly botigues / and full of good menjars / offer sucoses fruits / llaminets and squids.” In addition to all the trades already mentioned, electricians, dressmakers, apprentices, “milkmen and milkmaids” (the only sector in the series with inclusive language), druggists, pastry chefs and even foundries are represented.
After consulting a hundred lithographs and prints, it is concluded that the turkeys of Barcelona were no exception: “Christmas Easter is coming, it is coming! / The turkeys show their red crests / today in the city.” The chronicler, like the entire Comer channel team, can only say goodbye today in one way: “With all cordiality / now my affection tells you: / Have a happy / Christmas Easter!”
(All the greeting cards mentioned, and many more, can be seen on the website of the National Library of Spain)