<I>306 - MARTINIQUE - Yon ti ma coumè zébage</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1920-1940
name: label: Published by
content: Armand Benoit-Jeannette
label: Photograph by
content: Armand Benoit-Jeannette
label: Subject of
content: Unidentified Child or Children
notes: label: Caption
content: 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 French Caribbean, painting the region as a safe, favorable, and exotic travel destination.
label: Caption
content: The title of this French colonial postcard “MARTINIQUE- Yon ti ma coumè zébage” exemplifies the standard naming structure that categorized “exotic” native subjects in the form of ethnic and occupational “types.” In the original caption, “ma coumè” translates to someone who is a good friend or someone you have a good relationship with. In this case, the young girl holding a basket with leafy greens, who is a vendor so a good translation may be “A sweet little greens vendor.”. Presenting the image subjects in this way conveyed the perception of them as “tame” colonial subjects capable of assimilation into European ways of life.
label: Caption
content: The leaves in the basket are likely zébage, or different types of leafy vegetables, commonly used to make callaloo. Callaloo, also spelled calalou, can take many forms across the island of Martinique and the Caribbean. Documented since the 19th century, this dish is a staple to the development of Martiniquan identity and cuisine. Similar to the madras cloth, the dish, influenced by African, Indian, and Creole dishes, is reflective of the cultural commercial links between the West and East Indies.
label: Description
content: A photographic postcard of an unidentified girl from Martinique in a white dress, dark boots, a madras headscarf, and a large pendant on a chain around her neck. She is a greens vendor and is holding a wicker basket filled with leaves over her left arm. She is standing inside a room with an ornamental carpet. There is a white border on the horizontal edges of the image and on left printed [306 - MARTINIQUE - Yon ti ma coumè zébage]. The back of the postcard is blank except for two handwritten notes on the bottom upside down, [2806] and [Martiniq]. In the center, printed vertically, [Collection Benoit-Jeannette -- Reprod. interdite]. On the right of the card, there are four horizontal lines.
place: label: Place captured
content: Martinique, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
label: Cultural Place
content: France, Europe
label: Cultural Place
content: Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia
title: label: Title
content: French Colonial postcard from Martinique
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Colonialism
label: Topic
content: Correspondence
label: Topic
content: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Freedom
label: Topic
content: French colonialism
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Travel
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Memorabilia and Ephemera - Other
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2016.151.7
objectType: label: Type
content: postcards
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper, with ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 5 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (14 × 8.9 cm)