I knew I had forgotten something, and that was why this card is here. It shows Naples, and pizza is connected with Naples in many ways, not least the fact that one of the most popular pizzas is named after it. We call that a Neapolitan, but in Italy they call it Pizza Napoleteana, and in Naples itself they call it Pizza Napulitana.
It is also the truth that pizza was born in the city of Naples, in the eighteenth century, and, rumour has it, something was done differently that turned a flatbread piled with toppings into something with crusty raised sides and the cheese melted way beyond anything anyone had ever experienced before. However tomatoes were not part of the mix then, it was only garlic and cheese, plus the rather dubious offerings of lard and salt. Once the taste was "out there", (shall I say, for after all I am writing this om my birthday!) the punters went wild and it was being sold in the street from all manner of vendors, called pizzaiolos, some of whom just wandered about with them on trays, and some of whom made themselves little covered stands. The name given to those vendors says it all, for "aioli" means garlic and oil, though the question is how a word in Spanish was being used so openly in Italian.
As for the first true pizzeria, with tables and chairs, that also has its roots in Naples - though at first it was but a chair, perhaps supplied ad hoc by a vendor to someone they felt needed a sit down. That appears to have been in the 1830s, and pretty soon if you wanted more business you supplied chairs and then tables, The reason behind this is easy to understand; if someone buys a pizza and walks away, they get anything else they want to add to their meal along their travels, if you sit them down they will ask of it from you,....
Today, we know this pizza as being of a soft, wheaten dough, both fat, and sugar free. and packed with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes, traditionally of the San Marzano breed, which thrive on the volcanic soil that surrounds Mount Vesuvius (also shown on this card).
This card is intriguing because you can also find this image, of "les pifferari di Naples" (or the pipers of Naples) with the standard advertising back showing the department store. However this card was specially printed for a sale of goods - indeed, the biggest words translate to "Sales and Bargains" and this is followed by "at all our counters". Though this card specifies "voyage, bains de mer, sports", which is travel, sea bathing, and sports.
Starting with the date on it, that is Lundi (or Monday) 19th of Juin (or June), so I did some calendar checking and discovered that was only the case in 1899, 1905, and 1911. I kind of favour the first, but am open to hearing what you think.