Alfred Mainzer was an German-American publisher of high-quality Art Postcards, most of which were printed in Belgium and Switzerland.
https://rutheh.com/tag/alfred-mainzer
Ironically, Mainzer today is best known for the “Dressed Cats” – charming depictions of anthropomorphic felines, most of which were drawn by the Swiss artist, Eugen Hartung.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Hartung
The company offices opened in 1938 in lower Manhattan, but moved to Long Island sometime after World War II.
https://cuteanimalart.blogspot.com/2009/10/alfred-mainzer-company-and-dressed.html
We have seen other examples of Mainzer cats: “The Unruly Family Dinner” and “Cats at School”.
The postcard depicting a christening was neither addressed or mailed, so there are no personalities associated with it.
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On the face, we see a well-dressed couple proceeding from a Church.
The woman, wearing a stylish white suit, holds a veiled infant in elaborate swaddling.
The father, holding his hat in one hand and gloves in the other, walks stiffly – whether from pride or from discomfort.
Behind the parent and child, we see two other couples, perhaps the grandparents of the infant.
Two children are watching the procession, they do not appear to have taken part in the rite.
The postcard was “Printed in Belgium”.
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This postcard from Alfred Mainzer is posted in the anthology of “Postcard Art”.
It could also be filed with “Sunday School and Church”, as the drawing represents the importance of Christening as a social, familial, and religious milestone.
As religious observance has declined in the United States, so has the ceremony that once attached to this first Sacrament.
Today, christening is most often combined with regularly-scheduled celebrations of the Church – not performed as a distinct occasion (unless you are a member of the British Royal Family or the survivor of an ancient European noble house).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_baptism
It seems that some collector of 60 years ago was charmed by the illustration and preserved it within a personal postcard collection.
