We want dry diapers! We want Mama’s milk! We want to be protected from flies! Can you pick out and translate another pressing demand from this bold vintage postcard? These babies have picked up the French national pastime of striking lickety – split!
The origin of the word strike in English is fairly obvious. To strike means to assault, assail, besiege, aggress…. The German term is Arbetitskampf which literally means work – fight. That makes perfect sense too. The word ‘grève’ in French baffled me. A ‘grève’ is a gravel bank of a river. Pardon? What in the world does that have to do with striking?
L'Hotel de Ville (city hall) in Paris pictured ob this vintage postcard was called la Place de Grève until 1830. This town square is near the bank of the river Seine. The unemployed would congregate here to look for work. A dissatisfied worker looking for a salary hike would come to this square as well when looking for a better job. The word developed over time to mean 'abandoning your job due to a needed salary augmentation.' Voila! The mystery has finally been solved for me through my vintage postcard collection.