Thursday 4 November 2010

Vintage Thingie Thursday-Autumn poster




Hello dear friends,
Today for Vintage Thingie Thursday, I am going to show you our Autumn poster. It is one of four seasonal posters we put up according to the season.
These posters were used in Primary Schools across Greece until the early 1980s, to teach the seasonal activities in the classroom. They depict a time and era when life was simpler, and closer to Nature and God. They were then considered anachronistic, and were banned as they were against the multicultural society that was becoming the thing du jour.
We found a few stored away in an old bookshop and bought them with the intention of selling them in my on-line shop. I never put them up for sale, but we use these four every year.

The original artwork is by a lovely naif painter, Spyro Vasiliou.
(click on images to view larger)


At the center to the left there is the school. Notice the artist's depiction of the school. It links the present with the past, the traditional architecture of the Greek countryside to the pillars of the ancient times, still visible in the many ruins that are scattered across Greece. 
The girls are wearing a blue dress with a white colar, the school uniform that was abolished in 1982 because it  "insulted the kids' individuality". The school uniform was in fact abolishing in the school ground social rivalry and discrimination of the richer and poorer, and helped children concentrate on their studies, not the latest fashions.

To the right, the women are occupied with traditional household work, from feeding the livestock to knitting.


Top and center stage is given to the church, with the little girl kissing the priest's hand, a gesture of respect accompanied by the priest's: "Christ's blessing".


Seasonal activities are also shown, like apple picking and shooting.

Autumn is the season of the land: ploughing and spreading the seeds that will give the crops in the Spring.

It is also the season of wine and spirit making. As the old saying went, three are man's most important toils: harvesting the wheat, harvesting the vine and going to war.

With special thanks to Coloradolady for hosting.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. 
See you all next week!


love, Irene

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely folk art poster! I enjoyed learning about the history of it... thank you!
Thanks, too, for posting about my giveaway on your sidebar! Good luck!!
xo ~ Jo

Sarah Tognetti said...

Hello Irene, thank you for visiting the blog! Of course I'll keep this for my giveaway! Take luck! :)

Sarah

Coloradolady said...

These are wonderful prints. I think I would have done the same thing and held on to them. They are really neat. Happy VTT!

Postcardy said...

Interesting folk art.

Bea said...

Beautiful folk art. I like your explanation of the events in the poster.

P. said...

Beautiful pictures.
Alfazema

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