Brighton - Metropole Hotel. And a Brutal Form of Torture.

            The Postcard

A Photogravure Series postcard published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Art Publishers to Their Majesties the King and Queen.  The card was printed in England.

On the back of the card the publishers have printed:

'Metropole Hotel and King's Road.
King's Road forms the western part of
the broad esplanade and contains the
chief hotels and shops.
Here is concentrated most of the life
and gaiety of the seaside'.

The card was posted in Brighton on Tuesday the 6th. August 1929 to:

Mademoiselle M. Raissac,
15, Rue de l'Estrapade,
Paris Ve,
France.

The message on the divided back of the card suggests that the sender was not impressed by the Metropole:

"6 Août 1929.
Chère Tante Madeleine, 
Un spécimen des horribles
édifices d'ici.
J'ai été bien triste d'apprendre
que Monsieur Raissac était
malade.
Je vous remercie beaucoup
de m'avoir mis une carte.
J'espère que Monsieur Raissac
va aller mieux bientôt, et je lui
envoie mes meilleurs baisers
et mes meilleurs souhaits de
guérison.
Je vous embrasse affectueusement
ainsi que Marraine et Henriette.
Babeth".

La Rue de l'Estrapade

The Bistro l'Estrapade now operates from number 15.

The name of the Rue de l'Estrapade in fact refers to its brutal history - until the 17th. century the street was the scene of a horrific form of torture - the infamous Estrapade, otherwise known as Strappado.

In Paris, the procedure was used mainly on the City's Protestants during the period when they were being persecuted.  It consisted of tying the victim's hands behind his back and then suspending him from a post by his wrists.

He (or she) would be repeatedly hoisted up to the top of the post and dropped down again, in full view of a crowd of cheering locals. The human shoulder joint is not designed to rotate in that direction, therefore the procedure led to permanent disability. 

A variation was to hoist the unfortunate victim to a height where his feet were a few centimetres above the ground and just leave him there for as many minutes or hours as the victim's torturer saw fit.

The street gave its name to a film 'Rue de l'Estrapade' by Jacques Becker (1953).

The Suez Canal

So what else happened on the day that Babeth posted the card?

Well, on the 6th. August 1929, Great Britain signed a treaty with Egypt ending British occupation and replacing it with a military alliance allowing Britain to station troops along the Suez Canal.

The Lupeni Miners' Strike

Also on that day, during the Lupeni Strike in Romania, troops were called in after miners seized a local power plant and fighting broke out. The number of miners reported killed ranged from 15 to 58.

Al Jolson

Also on the 6th. August 1929, the musical drama film 'Say It with Songs', starring Al Jolson, was released.
   

Taken on: June 25, 2020

Tags:

postcard

old

nostalgia

nostalgic

Brighton

Metropole

Hotel

Tuck

Raissac

06/08/1929

1929

22BMH89

Estrapade

Strappado

torture « less

Sets appears in: • Brighton and Hove • UK

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