A Sister Act

Four young musicians gaze at the camera lens. A young girl sits with a guitar, while two older girls in matching dress and hair styles hold mandolins. A small boy with long curly hair gives a salute with his violin. Behind them stand three large military band glockenspiels. They are the Soeurs Emilia, which is French for the Sisters Emilia, a typical traveling family band that played the theaters and music halls in Europe at the turn of the 19th century. The postcard was printed on pink card paper and slightly askew in Düsseldorf, Germany, but it was never mailed and has no annotation. 

One of the characteristics of images of family bands from this era is that several different photos were usually created over the career of the group since growing children are always changing. We can date this promotional postcard to about 1900 because of the postmark on another postcard of the same group.  

This image of the Sœurs Emilia shows the same four young musicians, though slightly younger I think, holding the same instruments - guitar, violin, and mandolins. However instead of glockenspiels there is a rack of tubular chimes and three tables of hand bells in various sizes. In the message space under Gruss Aus: - Greetings from:  is an enthusiastic note written in German. Any help with a translation is always appreciated.

Clearly these children were a talented bunch. Many European musical groups from the 1900s often show similar impressive arrays of instruments. The postcard was produced in Germany by the same printer - Ed. Lintz, Düsseldorf, but the children's name implies that they are French musicians. They may have come from the French Alsace-Lorraine region which was annexed by Germany after the war with France in 1871. 

What makes this postcard interesting is the postmark on the back – 19.9.99 or 19 September 1899, which makes it one of the oldest postcards in my collection. 

The postcard was sent from Crefeld, Germany, or Krefeld as it is now spelt, to Herrn Ulrich Keigen in the village of Söflingen, now part of the city of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg.

The first postcards in Germany with printed advertisements and illustrations were made in 1874. The German printing industry quickly became the dominant leader for picture postcards and produced millions for many other countries. Therefore the family home of the Sisters Emilia may have been anywhere in Europe.

A search for Sœurs Emilia did not turn up any citations, but a search for Sisters Emilia did bring one brief mention in a theater review published in the Birmingham Daily Mail, on January 17, 1905.

Birmingham Daily Mail
January 17, 1905

THE GAIETY - "The Mysterious Lilith", who supplies one of the best "turns" on the Gaiety programme this week, certainly does not belie her description. While in a hypnotic trance this lady ascends from the stage into mid-air, where without any apparent aid, she gives an exhibition of skipping. The performance is a remarkable one, and last night considerably mystified a large audience. Other attractive items include the Five Sisters Emilias, who are responsible for a really smart musical entertainment, while Rose Elliott, a favourite with Gaiety audiences, scores well with several new songs. Professor Harcourt further puzzles "the house" by a series of clever feats of magic; and the Rayfords and Harry Lynn and Co. give a couple of amusing sketches, which are well appreciated. Among others who merit commendation for their share in the programme are Miss Lilian Warren in her illustrated songs, the Sisters Oswald, song and dance artistes, and Hamilton Hill, the Australian baritone.




It would seem that there was another sister! Or maybe a brother. In any case, this report of a family musical group with an English version of the Emilia name could be a coincidence. But the date of 1905 still makes the youngest musician from these two postcards - the violinist, only 12 to 16 years old, so I think it must be the same group. What music did they play in their 18th century courtier costumes? Did the boy imitate the violin solos of Mozart or Paganini?


What we can not see of course is Monsieur and/or Madame Emilia. Imagine being show business parents traveling with 4 or 5 young children in 1899. Every week, or even every day, there would be trunks to pack with their costumes, mandolins, guitars, hand bells, and glockenspiels. There were tickets to book for the coach, the train, or the ship; accommodation to arrange at hotels and inns; and countless postcards to send to theater agents. Though the children's variety act was maybe only 15 to 30 minutes long, there were  probably two or three performances every day during a run at some provincial music hall. Any entertainment has to keep fresh to be successful so there would always be new music to learn. And being on the road meant there was no formal school for the children. Did the Sisters Emilia have a tutor or did they limit their concert tours to only the summer months? Show dates in September in Crefeld and January in Birmingham suggests they likely played throughout the year. So many questions that will never have answers but at least we know that they were "a really smart musical entertainment."

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everyone is invited to drop by for tea.