The Ship's Musician

 

Some call it a life ring or a lifebuoy. 
Other names better describe its purpose,
a life-preserver or a life-saver.

But no matter what you call it,
everyone onboard a boat or ship
should know where it is and when to use it.

Your life may depend on it.

Royal Navy Protected cruiser H.M.S. Doris, circa 1910
Source: Wikimedia

This lifebuoy came from the H.M.S. Doris, one of nine second-class protected cruisers of the Eclipse-class built for Britain's Royal Navy in the mid-1890s. A protected cruiser had only an armored deck and was a lighter version of an armored cruiser which was protected by armored plate on both the deck and the ship's belt, i.e. the hull sides. I'll skip over the distinction between the other battlecruisers, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and scout cruisers.  

Construction of the Doris, the fourth ship of the Eclipse-class, began on 29 August 1894 at the naval shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England and was completed on 18 November 1897. Six of the nine Eclipse protected cruisers were finished that same year.

Royal Navy Eclipse class cruiser diagrams
from "Brassey's Naval Annual" 1896
Source: Wikimedia

The ship was 350 ft (106.7 m) long with a beam of 53 ft 6 in (16.3 m) and displaced 5,600 long tons (5,690 t). Its twin propellers were powered by two triple-cylinder vertical engines which used steam supplied by 8 coal-fired boilers. The engines were capable of 8000 horsepower, giving the Doris a top speed of 18.5 knots. Its normal stockpile of coal was 550 tons, but there was reserve capacity for almost twice as much fuel at 1075 tons. The ship also had two masts for sail rigging, though I don't know how often, if at all, sails were used. Perhaps it was insurance for an emergency if the steam engines should fail.

As seen in this schematic of Eclipse-class cruisers, H.M.S. Doris positively bristled with guns on all sides of the ship. As originally built it had five 6-inch (152 mm) quick-firing guns, six 4.7-inch guns, six 3-pounder guns, and three 18-inch torpedo tubes. In 1905 it was refitted with six more 6-inch guns and nine 12-pounder guns in order to reduce the number of different size munitions. 

The ship's complement originally consisted of 393 officers and sailors, though, like most ships, this varied over time depending on its assignments. The reason for my interest in the H.M.S. Doris is that I found a postcard featuring just one serviceman from the cruiser. He was described as the ship's musician.

His instrument is not one usually associated with a navy, or the sea, for that matter.

He is a Scottish piper wearing full highland dress with feathered Glengarry hat, jacket, cross belt, plaid, kilt, dirk, sporran, stockings, and buckled brogues, not to mention a set of bagpipes too. The piper stands on the bottom step of a removable set of stairs that lead to a very odd, short doorway on the ship. 

From what little I have been able to discover, it was not uncommon in earlier times to have a piper assigned to a warship in the British Navy. It was likely a choice of the captain, who was presumably Scottish, to add musical color to the ship's daily rituals. Usually bugle players and drummers were used on warships as their sound could carry in the heat of battle and convey orders from the commander. In the age of sail a ship's musicians was often a fiddler who played tunes that helped the sailors toiling at a capstan while pulling lines or weighing anchor. I imagine a piper could do the same on a battleship whenever the crew was hauling coal or heavy rigging.

But compared to bugle calls I'm not sure the sound of bagpipes triggers the same level of warrior zeal in sailors, though its squeal can be pretty bloodcurdling. At least when played with gusto. 

This colorful postcard of the H.M.S. Doris, 2nd Class Cruiser shows the ship on a placid teal sea. The Doris did service during the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902) and later joined the Channel Fleet. In WW1 it was sent to the Mediterranean as part of the Allied forces opposing Turkey. In 1915 it was part of the naval support for the attack on the Gallipoli peninsula. From March 1917 to November 1918, the Doris was stationed in India, where she served as a hulk–a floating troops barracks. Following the end of the war, in February 1919 she was sold for scrap in Mumbai.

This postcard was sent from Weymouth, England to Mr. A. Slade, a Porter (?) in Chipping, Sodbury, England. The postmark is unclear but the green, half-penny stamp of King Edward VII puts it sometime pre- WW1.   

                                                        2 Charles St

                                Dear A.  Many thanks for P.C
                                I was surprised to hear of your
                                being at C. Sodbury, and am
                                glad you are on alright.
                                Are you going to have a trip
                                down here in the summer.
                                No doubt you have heard I am
                                back at Weymouth again. Hoping
                                you are quite well  I remain yours truly
                                                                            Jezlipr (?)

As I was preparing this short post I discovered a colorized version of the Ship's Musician from H.M.S. Doris, so I bought it. An unknown artist has given the piper's uniform beautiful detail, bringing out his tartan's color. But I can't decide which unit he is from, the two black tassels and green plaid are either the Gordon Highlanders or the Seaforth Highlanders. Or maybe some other clan. To be honest, Scottish plaids look like camouflage to me as it makes my eyes blur. However until I saw this colorized image I had not noticed the photo bombers in the picture.  

So what did the piper play on H.M.S. Doris? Did he perform regular hours or only on special occasions? Where did he practice? The sound of the pipes likely could be heard from ship's bilge to its crows nest. And how did he keep his kit clean? I don't think wool and seawater are a good mix.

But unlike the other sailors who needed to keep track of all the lifebuoys on the ship, a piper had the benefit of carrying his own personal flotation device.   

To best demonstrate Scottish bagpipes
here are two young Scots playing pipes and drum  
at a farmers market in Perth, Perthshire. 

The player blows air into the pipe bag
through a mouthpipe that has a small flap valve
where it connects to the bag. 

It is the pressure from the left arm on the bag
that propels the air to vibrate the reeds
of the chanter and drones.

It is not easy. 

For more pictures of pipers,
all sober and landlocked,
check out
The Sinister Piper
Four Well-dressed Pipers
The Piper and the Auld Brig o'Earn

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where boating safety is always first.

Austrian Horse Power

 

It's a dramatic moment that could easily be mistaken for a storyboard scene from an action movie. A squad of cavalrymen, actually hussars, chase after a huge airship soaring in the sky. The lead officer leader exclaims, "So leicht ist Zeppelin nicht zu fassen." ~ "A Zeppelin isn't that easy to catch." The horses look like they still want to try.

The artist of this postcard is Fritz Schönpflug (1873–1951), an Austrian postcard illustrator whose clever work I have enjoyed collecting for many years. I was originally attracted to his colorful and amusing caricatures of the people living in his native city of Wien (Vienna) during the final years of the Hapsburg Empire. But I soon discovered his postcards covered a much wider range of subjects than just quirky people. 

This spirited drawing was created in 1909 as indicated by the number 909 under Schönpflug's signature. It bears a striking similarity to another postcard by a different artist that I featured earlier this year in The Art of War – Aerial Assaults, part 1. 

In this thrilling painting by Anton Hoffmann (1863–1938), a painter and commercial artist from München, a half dozen horsemen of the 2nd Silesian Hussars Regiment, a distinguished cavalry unit of the Prussian Army, gallop after a Zeppelin that flies in the distance. My research found that this postcard was produced in 1913 as a benefit for a foundation sponsored by Germany's Crown Prince and Crown Princess. So it would seem that Schönpflug's 1909 sketch, which I believe depicts the same gallant Silesian regiment, inspired Hoffman's 1913 painting. 

Both pictures capture a thrilling moment when the time-honored military force of a cavalry encounters the new modern age of war machines. But what makes both pictures exciting is the way each artist portrays the movement of horses. Schönpflug was particularly skilled at drawing horses, which I've featured before, such as his carriage horses in Getting Around Old Wien part 3, and race horses in Horse Racing in Old Wien. Today I present some of Fritz Schönpflug's caricatures of horses and soldiers.

In this picture a group of German field artillerymen race up a hillside on horseback. Schönpflug expected his patrons to recognize that the soldiers were German by their leather Pickelhaube helmets, and that they were artillery because their hats were capped with a round knob instead of a sharp spike. The lead officer on a white horse shouts to one gunner, "Mensch, halt' dich Feste!" ~ "Man, hold on tight!" The horses appear to levitate with all four hooves above the ground. The officer's horse gives the impression it is thrilled to be given free rein to gallop at full speed. 

This card was never posted but Schönpflug's signature includes 909 for 1909. 

 In this picture a cavalry officer on horseback writes a message as cannons fire just beyond him. The officer is an Austrian dragoon signified by his light-blue tunic and tall crested helmet. His horse, not surprisingly, is alarmed at their position. The caption reads, "Aufklärungsdienst." ~ "Intelligence service." The subtle joke, of course, is that the officer's smartness is questionable when his horse knows they should not be so close to the field guns. 

This card was posted from Wien on 17 March 1912.

Schönpflug's human characters are sketched in a cartoon style with expressions that make us laugh at their foibles or foolishness. But his horses are not just stage props or animal figures in the background. He drew horses  carefully to show their natural strength and beauty. Yet a closer look reveals how Schönpflug gives each horse a personality that is reacting to the silly moment that he is illustrating.      

In this era many more horses were used as common draft animals than as gallant cavalry steads. And soldiers needed training to learn to drive wagons pulled by teams of horses. In this picture we see a soldier trying ineptly to control his runaway wagon. The pair of horses look to be having some fun exerting their full power. The caption reads:  "Der Herrenfahrer." ~ "The Gentleman Driver."

This card was never posted but Schönpflug's signature has 908 for 1908.

In this painting we see another collision between old military conventions and  the modern machine. An officer's horse is suddenly startled by the sight and sound of an automobile bringing army couriers with a message. The caption reads: "Feindliche Pferdekräfte." ~ "Hostile Horsepower." The joke is that sometimes the worst threat can come from someone on your own side. The horse appears genuinely insulted by this mechanical menace. 

This card was also never posted but has 909 next to Schönpflug's signature. All of his postcards were published in a series of six or eight different cards each  connected by a theme like these pictures of army maneuvers. Schönpflug was especially careful to get military uniforms correct because I think he sold a lot of postcards to soldiers. The brilliant colors of his pictures was another reason I was attracted to his artwork. Until I saw his postcards I never appreciated the difference between Prussian blue and Austria blue, since that is a distinction hidden in black and white photographs. 

My last postcard shows a wild cavalry charge by Austrian, or possibly Hungarian, cavalrymen. But they attack a field of geese and pigs! The caption reads: "Durch dick und dünn!" ~ "Through thick and thin!" The horses look a bit unsettled to be partaking in this unfair assault on defenseless livestock. 

The card has a postmark of 23 January 1911 from some place in Austria. The sender has used every available space on the front and back for their message. I wonder if putting the stamp of Kaiser Franz Joseph upside down coveys some secret message or political statement. 

I greatly admire how talented artists like Schönpflug were able to depict moments that in his time were impossible for photography to show. His artist eye caught all manner of funny human conceits but I think he depicts horses with a higher level of respect, showing us their natural nobility and steadfast virtues. You can see it in their eyes.  

There are many more postcards
of Fritz Schönpflug's horses in my collection
which I expect will be introduced
whenever I get stuck for an idea to write about. 

For the full list of my stories 
on Schönpflug's art

click this <link>.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where the best road trips
are never the adventure we expect.

 

Music for a Bowling Green

 

Oswestry Advertiser
(Shropshire, England)
27 June 1866

The anniversary of the Llangollen
and Llantysilio Female Friendly Society

                            Will take place on June the 29th, on the Bowling
                            Green, at the Ponsonby Arms, Llangollen,
                            where Tea will be provided. The Denbighshire Brass
                            Band will be in attendance. 

Dancing will commence at half-past Four p.m. 

Admission to Tea and the Green 2s. 

Llangollen, June 11th, 1866. 

North Cheshire Herald
(Hyde, Glossop, and Dukinfield, England)
20 September 1873

Abbey Hey Garden
Near Fairfield Station, Goton.

Open for the Season

DENTON ORIGINAL BRASS BAND 

Every Saturday and Monday, 

WILL PLAY FOR DANCING. 

Bowling Green now Open for the Season. 

Admission, 4D. Each. 

H. Ackroyd, Proprietor. 

________________________

                                                John Ashworth begs to inform his 

                                                friends and the public generally that 

                                                he intends carrying on business on his own 

                                                account in Hyde.  Photography in all 

                                                its branches, including Portraiture, Landscape,

                                                Machinery, &c.  Copies enlarged and finished

                                                in Water or Oil, to the satisfaction of those who 

                                                may favour him with their patronage. 

Falkirk Herald
(Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland)
25 May 1878

CUMBERNAULD. 

                                Opening of the Bowling Green. — The opening 

                                of Cumbernauld Bowling Green took place yesterday 

                                (Friday) under favourable circumstances, the weather 

                                on the whole being fine and turned out great suc-

                                cess.  J. W. Burns, Esq. of Kilmahew and Cumber-

                                nauld, was expected to be present at the opening, but 

                                unfortunately he could not come.  In his absence 

                                the president of the club, Mr. Meikle, factor, in a very 

                                neat and graceful speech, performed the ceremony of 

                                opening the green for the season.  The green being 

                                in fine condition several splendid games were in-

                                dulged in the members present, and during the 

                                afternoon the Camelon Brass Band discoursed some 

                                lively airs, while dancing was kept up with great 

                                spirit until late in the evening. There was a large 

                                gathering on the green at the opening.

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald
(Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland)
4 September 1880

BOWLING. 

                            Opening of the New Largs Green. — The new 

                            green, belonging to the Largs Bowling Green Com-

                            pany (Limited) was opened on Saturday afternoon. 

                            About three o’clock a large company of ladies and 

                            gentlemen assembled the green.  Mr W. Stirling, 

                            chairman of the directors, declared the green open, 

                            and while it was not in good playing order, still it 

                            was, as an old bowler had once said,  “Alike for ane 

                            alike for a’.”  Commissioner Peter Watson, president 

                            of the Allanpark Club, thanked the members of the 

                            newly formed club for Inviting them oat to the new 

                            green, which has now been finished, and would by 

                            another year be one the best greens in the country. 

                            Thereafter sides were drawn by the above two gentle-

                            men—24 men a-side—and the green opened with a

                            friendly game.  When all were in rinks, Mrs Patrick, 

                            wife of Mr James Patrick, writer, threw the first 

                            jack and bowl amidst the cheers of the spectators. 

                            The Largs Brass Band, under the leadership of Mr

                            Charles Denny, was present, and performed a selection 

                            of music during the game.  At the close of the match 

                            it was found that Mr Stirling’s side were victors. 

                            Several complimentary speeches were afterwards 

                            made, and the healths of the ladies proposed.  Mr 

                            Brown, of Millport, replied for the strangers.

Fourteen men and boys stand in a line at the edge of a curb which might be mistaken for a street pavement if were not for the balls scattered in front of them. These are balls used in the game of lawn bowling. Called bowls, they were traditionally made of a heavy, dense hardwood that is shaped (biased) and weighted inside so that they follow a curved path when being rolled towards a smaller white ball called a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty". The player's object is to get their bowls closest to the jack or to knock their opponent's bowls away from it. The game is played on a bowling green which is typically a square or rectangular lawn of fine close-mown and level rolled turf. 

This brass band's photo is a small carte de visite photograph which has no mark for the photographer and no annotations for location, date, or the name of the band. My estimate is that it was taken sometime around 1865–1880. However since it came from a British dealer I'm confident that it is of a British group, though they might easily be a Welsh, Scottish, Irish, or English brass band. 

The subtle clue of the balls was unusual to see in an early group photo like this. I wondered how common it might be for a brass band to appear at a bowling green and it seems that the answer is—very common. In the second half of the 19th century many British inns, pubs, and recreation parks added a bowling green to their amenities as a way to entice more clientele. A performance of a brass band became a popular summertime attraction with the public. The greens were also used for dancing, though I suspect all the divots and hollows created by hobnailed shoes must have greatly annoyed the groundskeepers and the bowls players.

I could not find any modern examples
of a brass band performing at a lawn bowling match.
But since the band in the photo is silent I found
some early silent films that demonstrate
this sport of lawn bowling.

This first one dates from 1927 and has a short description:

"Fighting their battles o'er again — but on the bowling green.

Naval pensioners meet and defeat Chelsea pensioners at bowls."

This second short film is also from the British Pathé archive

and was produced during World War One.

It is entitled "Wounded Soldiers Bowling Contest (1914-1918)."

The precise location is unknown
but it was certainly filmed somewhere in Britain.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where regulation white tennis shoes are required footwear. 

A Soldier's Boots

 

In August 1914 the Imperial German Army mobilized  3,822,450 soldiers who were then ordered to attack on two fronts, eastwards to Russia and westwards to France. Every man needed a uniform, a helmet, a field kit, a gun, and a pair of boots. By late summer the Kaiser's quartermasters would issue around  7,644,900 boots. They would need a lot more. It was going to be a very long march.  

A single leather hide was typically large enough to make 3 to 4 pairs of boots. So a lot of cows and pigs  gave up their lives to shod the soldiers of World War One. But leather was used for many other things besides footwear. Countless leather harnesses, reins, belts, and straps were needed for millions of mules and draft horses who hauled artillery and supply wagons, not to mention saddles for cavalry mounts. 

This postcard photo shows six German soldiers repairing boots, a saddle and other leather gear. Across the top is a caption:

Handwerkstube im Feldzug  1914/15
~
Crafting Workshop on Campaign  1914/15

The numbers 2/5i may refer to the soldiers' company and regiment. The card was never mailed and has no marking to identify the location. 

In this photo five German soldiers relax on the ground of a forest glen. They are playing instruments—violin, zither, posthorn (a coiled up trumpet), and two guitars—as if they were entertaining a picnic. Two men sit cross-legged showing the hobnailed soles of their boots. A board in front of them has a message written in chalk.

Erinnerung an Aldersbach.  1916.
~
Remembrance of Aldersbach   1916 

Aldersbach is small town in the Bavarian district of Passau in Germany, not far from the Austrian border. The card was also never posted and has no other marks. The location may not be where the soldiers actually are. If they were a Bavarian unit, it might be where they were from. 

A larger group of ten soldiers appears on this next photo of a similar forest scene. Several men hold the same instruments as in the other photo except that instead of one violinist there are two mandolinists positioned with their instrument's peg-end pointed at the camera, almost like how a rifle is held. In the center one man grins as he sits astride a child's hobby horse. All the men have removed their tunics and rolled up their shirt sleeves for some kind of sweaty work. A caption is written on a rectangular wooden board.

"Die Lünftigen Brüder" von Stube 16 
~
"The Merry Brothers" of barrack room 16   

The word "Lünftigen" is not in German dictionaries that I could find. Two other words have nearly the same spelling. Künftigen means future and fünftigen means fifth but those words don't make sense with what we see in the photo. However with the help of Claude, my A.I. assistant, this could be a dialect spelling of Lustigen, the German word for merry, jolly, or funny, which seems more appropriate for these fellows.

Sharp-eyed readers will have spotted several similar faces in the three photos, the most striking being the man with a leathery bronze complexion, dark eyes, and a very broad mustache. It's a surprising coincidence for me as all three photos were purchased at different times, but I'm convinced this soldier and a couple of his comrades appear in all the photos. One subtle clue is the board used for the captions in the last two photos appears to be identical, as does the little pocket posthorn and the turned rod on the zither. 

The soldier in this postcard is not, as far as I can tell,  a member of the Merry Brothers, but he is occupied repairing boots. Six to be exact, not counting his own. It's a clever image produced by a German publisher as a postcard for the troops. In the top corner is a printed caption:

 Der Regimentsschuster
~
The regiment shoemaker

Other than these scenes of soldiers at work and recreation, everything else about them must remain unknown. What did they know of digging trenches in in the fields of Flanders or hauling munition wagons over the vast plains of Poland? Yet not all soldiers served in combat. Battles are often won or lost based on the simplest of military duties like feeding soldiers or refitting a boot heel. So it's not surprising that a regiment might assign a special unit to repair boots. No doubt these men knew about the terrible affliction of "trench foot" which caused thousands of casualties in all the armies of WW1. They understood how heavy ill-fitting boots brought on severe blisters, even gangrene, which could lead to amputations. So I think these soldiers took pride in their craft, confident that a hobnail was just as important as an artillery shell. 

By the end of the war in November 1918, Germany had called up over 13 million men to serve in its army and navy.  Around 2 million were killed, roughly 15 percent, and that is not counting other non-combat deaths from disease and accidents. 

These are army boots from a different war. My father, Lt. Colonel Russell Brubaker wore these during his service in Vietnam. They didn't get abused much, as fortunately during most of his time there he sat behind a desk, though he said there were a few scary moments. These boots have been stored in my basement for 25+ years now and likely weren't worn in the previous ¼ century after my dad's retirement. These are lighter and better designed for a tropical climate than his older all-leather pair which he wore as an infantryman in the Korean War. As a kid I remember trying to learn how to polish those to a spit-shine level. They had smooth leather soles and extra long laces that were challenging for a 6 year old to weave into dozens of eyelets.

Early in his military career my dad transferred from the U.S. Army's infantry corps to the transportation corps which is responsible for the army's logistical movement of troops and equipment. His work involved arranging plans for countless military trucks, amphibious ships, helicopters, and cargo planes to convey thousands of soldiers and their gear from one place to another in both peace and war. 

In the past few months the phrase "Boots on the Ground" has been so bandied about by dishonest politicians and asinine pundits that it has become an offensive cliche meme. Not only does the expression ignore the immense challenges that must be overcome to transport troops into remote foreign lands, it is cheap dehumanizing jargon that reduces soldiers into things. 

After the United States entered WW1 and later WW2, it took many months before our armed forces were assembled and ready to deploy. Generals and admirals knew then, as they should know now, that the success of any military action depends on meticulous planning. Failure to assess risk, map terrain, and identify enemy forces leads to increased casualties. It's a tragic consequence recognized by common soldiers in every war. How can any soldier be expected to do their duty if their boots are falling apart?

Next Monday will be Memorial Day, a public holiday established to honor and mourn the men and women who have given their lives in military service to the United States. It is fittingly a time of remembrance for the individuals we have lost in wars, but it should also be when we as a nation reflect on the tremendous cost of these conflicts. As citizens the best way to honor our fallen is to preserve our commitment to peace and reject all efforts to engage in another unjust and immoral war.    

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where everyone is hard at work
with no time for chitchat.

Invitation to the Dance 2

 

Hear that beat? Then move your feet! That's the basis for any dance form. But a dance can also be a form of display, a pageant of fashion and beauty. That's what this postcard shows in a drawing of an elegant couple dressed in clothing from the late 18th century. A gentleman wearing breeches, justacorps coat, and powdered wig leads a young woman in a huge gown as she swirls around for all to see. Is this couple taking a turn in a minuet?

Here is an example of a minuet performed in period costumes. A minuet was originally a French social dance for two people, usually written in a triple 3 beat time signature. 

The artist is Ferdinand von Řezníček (1868–1909) whose work I first shared on this blog back in January in Invitation to the Dance. Though born in a district of Wien, Austria, Reznicek studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in München, Bavaria, initially focusing on landscape art. But after his graduation he chose to remain in München finding work as a commercial artist for several German society magazines that were published there. In 1895 Reznicek joined a new satirical magazine called Simplicissimus where his drawings helped to make it a success across Germany and Austria. This postcard was part of a series published by the magazine and sold to the public beginning in about 1905.

 Simplicissimus
1 August 1905
Source: The Internets

This card was sent to Frau M. v. Eye of Berlin. The postmark is unclear but, as you will see, it was likely sent sometime around 1907-08.

* * *

The couple on this second card are from several decades later, perhaps, I think, the 1870s to judge by the bustle and hats. A young woman in a large hooped dress and blue bonnet gazes into the eyes of her beau who wears plaid trousers, suit coat, and a tall 3-liter top hat (fittingly called a Zylinder in German.) The way that they clutch each other looks like acceptable dance etiquette to me, but maybe she just tripped on her hem.  

Perhaps they are dancing a Zwiefacher, a southern German folk dance popular in Bavaria. It is characterized by a quick tempo and changing beat patterns that alternate between odd and even time signatures, changing from three to two beats per bar. Here is an example with a tune called "Alte Kath".

The front of the card has a handwritten date confirmed by the postmark of 22 February 1908. As with the previous card it was sent to Frau M. v. Eye. of Berlin. Her full address says "Berlin Halensee, Westfälische Str. 40/IV" which is a neighborhood in the the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, west of Berlin's city center.

 

Frau v. Eye's address in Berlin is still a residential and shopping area, though very much improved 120 years later.

40 Westfälische Str. Berlin
The entry door is next to the sign for Chang Thai massage

* * *

This couple are really stepping out with best foot forward. The gentleman is in tight breeches and a trim tailcoat without hat. His partner wears a light blue gown with several frilly layers but with much less fabric and undercarriage than the previous ladies' costumes.  

I think they may resemble a dance called the German Cotillion fashionable in the mid-19th century. The Cotillion originally was set for four couples in square formation, it followed a courtly version of an English country dance, the forerunner of the quadrille, which became the square dance in America. The German version of the Cotillion involved more couples and was a popular balls dance. Here is an example of which has dancers doing lively steps similar to the couple in the drawing.

This postcard was also sent to Frau M. von Eye of Berlin. It is dated 24 April 1907 on the front message and this time the sender included his name—Alfred. 

I featured two of Reznicek's postcards sent by Alfred in my first story, Invitation to the Dance, and I have two more which I will save for another story on Reznicek's artwork. Clearly he bought a packet of this series and enjoyed sending them to Frau von Eye. I suspect he was her husband, but he might easily be her son, brother, or something else as the handwriting is so wrinkled that I am unable to decipher it to determine their relationship. 

* * *

This last couple are entwined so closely that I feel sure it must be a dance closer to 1900 than 1800. The gentleman is in formal white tie and tails and the woman has on an elaborate gown with an enormous feathered hat. Reznicek clearly attended many society balls and dance halls to sketch so many variations on steps and positions. 

The couple's posture and animation suggests to me a lively two-step dance like a polka. Here is an example, courtesy of YouTuber Jason Anderson, of a fast polka during the 2019 Ball der Pharmacie (Pharmacy Ball) in the Vienna Hofburg. Music: Tritsch Tratsch Polka by Johann Strauss Jr. 

This postcard was actually sent from Salzburg, Austria but the postmark on Kaiser Franz Joseph's stamp is faded. Like the other postcards it likely dates from 1907-08. 

I am not an expert on historical German terpsichore so the previous video examples are just my own left-footed amateur interpretations of Reznicek's dancers. I welcome any alternate suggestions or corrections.

* * *

 Simplicissimus
March 1905
Source: The Internets

My final Reznicek drawing of dancers is taken from a full page caricature used in the special Carnival edition of Simplicissimus from March 1905. I used it in my previous story on his artwork but at the time I did not research the cartoon's title and caption. I thought it was just a silly lampoon of a short man embracing a taller woman. This week I consulted my A.I. assistant Claude and asked him to translate the caption. The speaker is the tall masked woman.

„Sehgn S', döß hab' i glei g'sehgn, daß Sie a Preiß san.
Döß macht aber nix, wenn S' nur sonst an ordentlicher Mensch san!"

~
"You see, I could tell right away that you're a Prussian.
But that doesn't matter, as long as you're otherwise a decent person!"

Claude also gave me such a detailed description of the historical and political context of this illustration that I include it here as a demonstration of how the new Artificial Intelligence systems can help researchers like myself. There is more to this couple's dance than meets our eyes 121 years later.  

Claude:  This is a classic piece of Bavarian/Austrian humor. The dialect is distinctly Bavarian (note the phonetic spellings: "sehgn" for sehen, "döß" for das, "san" for sind, "nix" for nichts), and the joke hinges on the traditional rivalry and mild contempt Bavarians and Austrians held toward Prussians (North Germans). The title of the illustration is "Verbrüderung" — Brotherhood or Fraternization — which adds an ironic twist: the two are literally dancing in close embrace while the Bavarian woman offers this backhanded compliment to her Prussian partner. The humor is in the condescension wrapped in apparent goodwill.

The Bavarian dialect is quite thick here, which really does enrich the joke. Simplicissimus was a satirical Munich magazine, so Bavarian dialect humor appeared regularly in its pages — and poking fun at Prussians was practically a recurring sport for them.

The timing is also worth noting: 1905 puts this about 35 years after Bismarck's unification of Germany under Prussian dominance, a political reality that many Bavarians had never fully warmed to. The Kingdom of Bavaria had only reluctantly joined the German Empire in 1871, and cultural resentment toward the Prussian north lingered well into the 20th century. So this cartoon is tapping into something readers would have immediately recognized and enjoyed.

The title "Verbrüderung" makes it even sharper — it was a word associated with grand gestures of political and national solidarity, here deflated into a tipsy waltz and a gloriously patronizing compliment. Very much in the spirit of Simplicissimus, which delighted in puncturing pretension from all directions.

I can't resist adding one last video
of arguably the most celebrated dance couple of all time.
Here is the classic “Pick Yourself Up”
from the 1936 film Swing Time,
featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where Aunty Miriam and Uncle Frank
could do a turn or two.