The Catholic holiday of Candlemas, on 2 February, is a feast to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus. In France, this holiday is called la Chandeleur, Fête de la Lumière, or jour des crêpes.
Not only do the French eat a lot of crêpes on Chandeleur, but they also do a bit of fortune telling while making them. It is traditional to hold a coin in your writing hand and a crêpe pan in the other, and flip the crêpe into the air. If you manage to catch the crêpe in the pan, your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year!
french vintage postcard
19 cool cats commented:
in anglican countries they have shrove tuesday...pancake day! i think it falls on 16th february this year...
My daughter loves to make crépes. She didn't make any yesterday though.
That's a very interesting card. It made me think of Pancake Day--February 23 in 2010.
Oooooo I like this holiday! Crepes...yum!
I don't have much opportunity to enjoy crepes and learned something new today about this celebration.
Always interesting to know what goes on in other corners of the world.
Thanks for stopping by my OWOH and I'll put your name in the hat for my giveaway.
Blessings ;-)
What a cool snap... love these old postcards.
I had never heard of that tradition! How interesting.
You can tell your son that Jonny Jump Ups are bright yellow! They're a wild violet which grows in the Pacific Northwest. I've tried to transplant them into my garden here--but so far have been unsuccessful.
Thanks for your sweet comment this morning!
Mmm...
I have your blog linked at my blog: http://shaunnaf.blogspot.com/2010/02/postcard-links.html and I have linked up PFF on my sidebar. Happy mailing!
While you're arm wrestling Tristan,
I'll be juggling crepes!
Jjj
I also have never heard of this tradition. But I do love the card.
Makes me wonder though ... did he catch it? Tee hee.
My mother use to freak out when our Catholic Schools here in Canada paid no attention to the Candlemas and focussed on the pancake part of things. The two are very separate, and not to be confused with pancake tuesday. What a great card Marie, you are always so informative.
If you haven't yet entered, please read my One World One Heart posting and enter your name there to win one of my giveaways. And if you have already entered, good luck!
Well, here to good fortune and prosperity! who isn't for that? Plus, I like a good pancake, er, I mean crepes.
Okay – confession time. My husband makes fantabulous crepe suzettes – and I couldn’t turn out an edible-looking pancake if my life depended upon it. Where is the grand marnier when you need it?
That reminds me my childhood.
I will make some crêpes on next week, I think. My Chéri like to eat them with Nutella.
Love this fact!! neber really heard about it before! thanks alot for sharing and the pretty pretty picture too!
Ah, la Chandeleur, which is also my birthday. I love crepes, though I didn't eat any that day.
Great post. I too have never heard of this holiday, it's interesting. I do however, know all about crepes! My father made the best! Thanks for sharing : )
«Louis» also posted about Chandeleur, which is not well-known aux États-Unis.
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