This is a lovely set of cards showing life in Serbia, ten years before it was swept into the First World War. But the reason it is here is that "ble" is French, for wheat, and both Weet-Bix and Weetabix are made from 95% wheat, with just a little barley extract, sugar, and several vitamins and minerals. Salt is added too though. Curiously the fibre content varies by country, Americans and Canadians having almost 2% more fibre in their product than anywhere else.
There are six cards in this set, which are :
- Belgrade. La Place de L`Universitie [Belgrade University]
- Fileuse [spinner]
- L`egrenage du ble [threshing wheat]
- L`ancienne route de Trajan aux portes de fer [Emperor Trajan`s road, and iron gates]
- La Poste Rurale [a country postman]
- Ruine Golubac pres Samendria [Golubac Fortress, near Semendria - now called Smederevo]
You may be surprised to hear that the University of Belgrade was founded in 1808 as a school, then in 1838 it merged with other departments to become a university. As one of the most recognisable buildings in the area, it found itself a target, and was regularly bombed in the First World War.
The cards measure 111 x 70 m/m, and they were issued in five countries, namely ;
- Belgium - as "Vues de Serbie"
- France - as "Vues de Serbie"
- Germany - as "Bilder aus Serbien"
- Italy - as "Vedute di Serbia"
- The Netherlands - as "Uit Servie"
The French version is quite hard to find, but the most sought after of all, and the most expensive, is the one from the Netherlands. Their wording is odd too, for it translates as "from" Serbia rather than "views" or "pictures" thereof.