Fanfares for a New Year!

 

It's the end of the year,
and, as it happens, a century too.
The year 1900 has been satisfying for some folk
and not so good for others.

Oh well, so it goes.
Still we can't complain.
We wish you a warm

Prosit Neujahr!

A brass band plays a fanfare on a fanciful castle tower high above a sleeping city. Hovering above them, a young girl waves a handkerchief as she floats along in the moonlit clouds. The quintet (look closely to spot the fifth musician) has waited until the stroke of midnight to add their sound to the peal of a great bell behind them. It marks an exciting moment as it was indeed the true turn of the century.

This colorful salute to the New Year appeared on a German postcard with a postmark of 31.12.00 — 31 December 1900 from Frankfurt am Main, possibly also the place where it was printed. The card was addressed to Musketier Eckhardt of the Infanterie Regiment Nr. 117 in Mainz, Germany. Presumably it was sent by one of his army comrades who thanks him for his card and sends best wishes for a new year.

There was a lot to remember about 1900. In February, Britain and the United States signed a treaty to build a canal in Nicaragua that would link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. In May, the second Olympic games opened in Paris. Then in July, Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin's airship LX-1 made the first successful flight over Lake Constance. Then in September, Galveston, Texas became the target of a devastating hurricane that took thousands of lives. And throughout the year, there were terrible wars going on in South Africa, China, and the Philippines too. 

* * *

Another fine year comes to a close

having given the 20th century a respectable start.

1903 has been decent enough for most people

though others might think it pretty poor.

Oh well, so it goes.

Still we can't complain.

We wish you a

Prosit Neujahr!

On this next postcard a small band of four intrepid musicians stands outside in the snow playing tunes for the New Year. They are wrapped up warmly with sprigs of evergreens in their hats. This charming caricature appeared on a card sent to Zürich, Switzerland on 31.XII.03 — 31 December 1903 from someplace (the postmark is unclear) in Bayern – Bavaria. The back of the postcard dutifully advertises in 13 European languages that it is indeed an officially approved postcard. 

The year 1903 was generally more peaceful for most people. In January, the first transatlantic radio broadcast was made from the United States to England. In February, the new Republic of Cuba leased Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity". In March, the Ottoman and German Empires signed an agreement to build the Constantinople–Baghdad Railway. April was sadly a violent month as many people were killed in a pogrom in Kishinev, Russia (now in Moldova), and then many more died in a calamitous earthquake in Turkey. In November the United States signed a treaty that gave it exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone, formerly a French project. And in December, the Wright brothers made the first successful flight of a powered aircraft. 

* * *

Once more a year has passed.

The decade may have a bit more to go,

but 1908 has been remarkably agreeable

though for some people maybe not so much.

Oh well, so it goes.

Still we can't complain.

We offer our congratulations

and best wishes

for the New Year!

Another year and another band announces the turning of the calendar. Though technically this little group is just a quartet with two woodwind instruments, a clarinet and bassoon, I think it will still count. This German postcard was sent from Berlin on 31.12.08 — 31 December 1908. The bright colors of the illustration are enhanced by a subtle embossed outline that is more visible on the back of the card. This card was approved by 15 European postal services! (Double points for readers who can spot the new languages.)

The year 1908 ushered in many new signs of a modern era. In London in January, Robert Baden-Powell published his book "Scouting for Boys" which quickly became such a bestseller that it started the worldwide Boy Scout movement. In February, assassins murdered King Carlos I of Portugal and Prince Luis Filipe in Lisbon to supposedly advance a democratic republic. In July, the third Olympiad opened in London. In August, Wilbur Wright demonstrated a new flying machine to thousands of people at a horseracing track in Le Mans, France.  Later that month, the Hoover Company of Canton, Ohio acquired the rights to manufacture an upright portable vacuum cleaner. In October, Henry Ford's factory in Detroit rolled out the first Model T automobile. Then tragically in late December, between 75,000 and 82,000 people perished in an earthquake that shook Sicily and Calabria in southern Italy.

* * *

Just like clockwork,

a year has finally wound down.

Its beginning was not too bad,

but as 1914 ends,

the world has little cheer to share

and far too much bad luck for everyone.

Oh well, so it goes.

Still we can't complain.

We offer a hearty

Prosit Neujahr!

This last postcard offers plenty of brass bands, all precariously perched on snow-covered rooftops.  The artist has combined painting and photography to create a scene with almost Escher-like perspective. Ignoring the danger of slippery slopes, the musicians seem determined to sing and play in the new year as the clock hands move relentlessly to midnight. 

This card is from Austria as indicated by the mutilated green stamp of the Emperor Franz Joseph but the postmark is unclear. The only date is a handwritten note of 28 M***? 1914, which looks like a date, along with a placename which, I think, stands for Albrechtsberg an der Großen Krems, a small town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. The card was sent by the family Pochmann and addressed to Fritz Pinkert, a Musikdirektor in Kemberg, a small town in the Wittenberg district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. I wonder if Fritz played a brass instrument. 

Few years in world history can compare to 1914 which everyone remembers as the summer when the  Great War began. In February the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial was laid. In March, a Belgian surgeon Albert Hustin made the first successful non-direct blood transfusion, using anticoagulants. In April, 2,300 U.S. Navy sailors and Marines landed in Veracruz, Mexico, which they would occupy for over six months. At the end of May, the ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence taking 1,012 lives. In June Kaiser Wilhelm reopened the improved Kiel Canal linking the North and Baltic Seas and in August the SS Ancon made the first passage of the Panama Canal.

But it was the tragic assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo that triggered the main events of 1914. Within a month, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia which led to the mobilization of troops in Russia and then Germany. Within days France, Belgium, and Britain ordered their forces to deploy too. By late summer most of Europe was in the throes of a terrifying war. As the year closed in December 1914 there seemed to be no end in sight. 

As I began to write my last story of 2023, I chose from my collection four postcards of new year's greetings from the beginning of the 20th century. By themselves they are colorful, even silly, pictures of how people used to celebrate the start of a new year. But as I looked at the postmark dates, I realized that there was a larger context for each card that was worth examining. 

Just as in our time, each year brought far more tragedy, injustice, and suffering than anyone could have imagined at the time. And likewise there were countless new inventions, scientific discoveries, and astounding developments that seemed to offer transformative benefits to mankind. The hearty toast to the new year was more than just a simple sentiment. It was then, as it is now, an optimistic expression of hope and reassurance for the people we love. Be well. Stay safe. Prosper and enjoy life. May the new year bring you happiness and joy. 

So just as in times long passed,
my wish for everyone is the same.

Be well, stay safe,
and have a wonderful new year
for 2024. 

Prosit!

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where not every holiday
is merry and bright. 

And for a special holiday treat,
this morning, 24 December, 
these lovely ladies paid a visit
to my neighbor's house across the street.
Anyone for some Christmas turkey?