Music Hath Charms

 

It's a nice portrait of a musician,
made more interesting because this older gentleman
holds an unusual coiled brass instrument. 
It may look like a French horn, but it really isn't. 
Its shape has a superficial similarity
but it has a smaller bell, is only half the length of a horn,
and its three piston valves are played
with the right hand, not the left. 

 

 Though instruments like this
are often mistaken for a French horn,
and once were even marketed as a replacement for one,
it is not a horn.
It's called a Mellophone,
sometimes known as a Concert or Circular Alto.

In the early 20th century the mellophone was a popular brass instrument
that occupied a position in a band just above the voice of a trombone.
The way the bell twists sideways to the left
gave it a less strident sound than a euphonium or tenor horn,
and its wider mouthpiece and short cylindrical bore
made it easier to play than the horn.

 

 

1901 Lyon & Healy Band Instrument Catalog

The original mellophone design, illustrated here from two band instrument catalogs, followed the basic twist of a French horn but the orchestral horn has its valve keys arranged for the left hand while the bell rests on the knuckles of the right hand and send the sound behind the player giving the horn a characteristic veiled sound. A mellophone player didn't put their hand into the bell but instead held it by the tubing braces so the bell was pointed to the left. The horn is also over 12 feet long and in a lower key than the mellophone. Since brass band music of the late 19th century used a number of instruments pitched in different keys, the mellophone was fitted with extra plumbing bits so it could substitute for a variety of parts. Unfortunately this feature also made it terribly out-of-tune.

 

 

1927 Sears Roebuck Co. catalog

In the early 20th century this kind of mellophone was offered by hundreds of band instrument companies in a variety of finishes. Based on the pattern of plumbing in the photo, I believe this gentleman's engraved  silver-plated mellophone was sold by the Carl Fischer Music Co. of New York City. Today it would be considered an old fashioned instrument and is now obsolete in bands. However a modern mellophone design was developed in the 1950-60s that bent the bell forward like a trumpet so it could be used in a marching band. Many high school and collegiate horn students are forced to learn this instrument in order to play it just for outdoor football shows and parades. The new design gives the mellophone a small improvement in sound, but it is strictly a marching instrument that has found no place in concert bands or orchestras.

 

This concludes the esoteric musical section of my story. 

 

 

This rather unassuming photo postcard of a mellophone player might have been relegated to the catchall category in my collection of "unknown musician" except that the man took the time to sign his name to his portrait.

 

 

"Music hath charms—"
but—?                 
Otis Dockstader
Nov. 28-1917

 

 

 

There is nothing on the back of the postcard
and it seems very likely that this photo was a gift sent with a letter.
Fortunately the name is unique enough that it didn't take long
to find Mr. Dockstader living in Elmira, New York.
 

His three-piece suit and neatly trimmed beard fit his occupation–architect.

 

1890 Elmira NY city directory

 

Born in September 1851, Otis Aldebert Dockstader was the son of a farmer living in Charleston, Pennsylvania. Evidently his parents recognized his potential to have a future beyond farming as Otis was educated at nearby Wellsboro Academy and then Michigan University Academy, followed by post-graduate courses at Cook Academy where he studied civil engineering. (All this information comes from his obituary.)  As a young man after the Civil War, Otis worked for the U. S. Coast Survey, the official maritime and coastal chartmaker for the nation which in this era attracted a number of scientists and naturalists.

 

In 1877 Otis Dockstader secured a position as a draughtsman at an architect's office in Elmira, New York, about 40 miles northeast of Charleston, PA. Following a break of a few years when he was employed as a civil engineer on the Erie railroad, in 1883 Otis returned to Elmira and became a partner with architect Joseph H. Pierce. 

 

In 1890 their architect firm of Pierce & Dockstader produced a brochure of their work called Modern Building which is stored at the Internet Archive. This was also the same year that the partners split up and by a curious coincidence the copy of the brochure found at the Internet Archive is the one Otis Dockstader used to promote his own work. It has Dockstader's rubberstamp on each page and his editorial changes handwritten on the forward material. The brochure is illustrated with plans, drawings, and photos of 21 residential houses, 8 churches, and two schools that Otis Dockstader claimed full or part credit for designing during this period of his career. 

These were substantial structures that followed the new American arts & crafts style. Here are some examples of Otis Dockstader's early architectural work with descriptions taken from his brochure.

 

 

No. 21 Half-tone from Photo

Built in Elmira, N. Y. in 1886

Semi-detached or "double house."  Each side has vestibule, hall, parlor, sitting-room, dining-room, pantry, kitchen, and store-room on first floor; three chambers, balcony and bath-room on second floor; two finished rooms in attic, furnace room, laundry and vegetable room in basement. Finish, oak and pine on grain. Plumbing, very good. Furnace heat. Brick-veneer, first story; frame shingled and sided above. Slate roof. Can be built for $5,500; might cost $7,000.

* * *

 

No. 50
Frame house built at Troy, Pa. in 1886

Has port cochere, ample porches and balconies, vestibule, hall, parlor, sitting-room, library, bathroom, pantry, kitchen, six chambers and large attic. Finished in native woods on grain. $14,000. Reasonable limits of variation in cost, $10,000 to $14,000.

 * * *

 

 

No. 33  “Half-tone” from Photo
Frame house built at Corning, N. Y.. in 1888.

Has same number of rooms on each floor as No. 32, and same accommodations, with billiard-room in attic, and laundry in basement. Cost, same as No. 32, $5,000 to $7,000.

 

 

1889 Shingle Victorian – Corning, NY
Otis Dockstader, architect
Source: Oldhousedreams.com

 

* * *

 

No. 121

Congregational church built at Berkshire, N. Y., in 1889. Parlors part of old church. Brick veneer with Warsaw bluestone sills, buttress blocks, etc. Ventilation special and very good. Finished in pine painted. Best modern oak pews. Interior and decorations unusually fine. Furniture complete, except organ. Cost to date, including carpets, cushions, etc., $8,200. New, would cost, complete, $9,000 to $12,000.

First Congregational Church, Berkshire, New York

* * *

 

 

 

No. 124

Brick veneer church for Parkhurst memorial, Presbyterian church at Elkland, Pa., built in 1889-90. Auditorium seats 300. No gallery. Sunday-school rooms and library over parlors and kitchen, and open into auditorium same as parlors. Finish, native woods on grain. Furnace heat. Ventilation good. Cost not yet fully determined; between $10,000 and $14,000, including organ and all furnishings.

 

 

Parkhurst Memorial Presbyterian church, Elkland, Pennsylvania
Source: Google Maps 2018

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

No. 122.

Stone church now building for Baptist church at Batavia, N. Y., 1890. Auditorium without gallery seats 450; with gallery would seat 600. Has four vestibules, choir and organ loft and choir-room, over two robing rooms and baptistry. The parlor has six Sunday-school rooms opening off, three on each floor, with gallery on second floor. Library over side vestibule, and infant department over pantry and kitchen. Parlor is lighted by clear story windows over dining-room, and will be used for Sunday-school assembly-room. All doors separating Sunday-school rooms and parlors, slide up into pockets, allowing the classes to take seats in their own rooms and take part in general exercises without change. The baptistry is arranged so as to conceal candidates except during the act of baptism. Parlors open into auditorium. Heating and ventilation not yet determined. Will cost complete, including carpets, organ fixtures, etc., about $28,000. Limits of variation in cost, $27,000 to $40,000.

 

 

First Baptist Church, Batavia, New York
Source: Google Maps 2021

 

 * * *

The other houses and churches in Otis Dockstader's 1890 brochure are equally interesting and handsome designs. They demonstrate an imaginative and detailed approach to creating functional buildings that fit naturally into their urban or suburban locations. [I should also add that I live in a large antique house in the historic district of Asheville, North Carolina which was designed by Richard Sharp Smith (1853–1924). He was an English architect who came to Asheville to work on the famous Biltmore House of George Washington Vanderbilt II. Smith stayed in Asheville and introduced an English Arts & Crafts style architecture to Western North Carolina.]

 

When this collection was made in 1890, Otis Dockstader had already established himself as a successful architect. Over the next few decades he would go on to design many residential, commercial, and civic buildings throughout New York, Pennsylvania and other Northeastern states. 

 

In 1875 Otis married Olive Mary Kelley and together they had six children, two daughters and four sons. The third son, Ernest A. Dockstader, born in 1890, would join his father's firm as a partner sometime after 1914. Sadly Otis lost his wife Olive who died in 1902 and when he remarried in 1905, his second wife, Narcissa Eva Martinette , died just three years later in 1908. The following year in 1909 Otis married Helen M. Huntington who unfortunately died in 1924. All of this family information was taken from two family trees found on genealogy websites. 

 

On 25 February 1929, Otis A. Dockstader died at his daughter's home in Schenectady, New York. He was age 77.

 

 

One of the constant themes that runs through my stories on this blog is the nature of how an identification of a subject can change how we view a photograph. If Otis had sent his postcard portrait without his name, which would not really be required if it was sent to someone he knew well, then it would just be a picture of an old man with an odd musical instrument. But by signing his photo and adding a date we discover that Otis A. Dockstader, architect, was someone who earned the respect and admiration in his community and profession and clearly had a lasting impact on society.

Though I have been unable to find Otis's name directly connected to a musical group, I do know that in 1917 there were nine bands or orchestras performing in Elmira, NY, which then had a population of around 40,000. The Elmira theatre had a resident orchestra. There was also a women's orchestra; a so-called "colored brass band"; a band made up from Elmira's Polish immigrants; a band from the Elmira Masonic Lodge; and four professional ensembles named for their bandleaders. And of course not listed were numerous school and church music groups.

 

I don't believe that Otis would have posed for such a formal portrait with an instrument if it was not his own, and besides, a mellophone is not a typical photographer's studio prop. It's fascinating that this man wanted to be remembered for his music making, not for his knowledge of engineering and construction. 

 

Another bit of good luck for this story is that Elmira's newspapers are all digitized on Newspapers.com. Otis regularly saw his name appear in the papers in regards to his building contracts and advertising. But there were personal reports that seem worthy of including in this short biography.

 

 

 

Elmira NY Star Gazette
4 December 1908

On an afternoon in December 1908, Otis Dockstader was leaving a shop in Elmira when  he saw that a spirited team of horses driven by a farmer had run over his bicycle. Mr. Docksteader immediately jumped into the street and seized the horses' bridles. Even as they reared onto the sidewalk he maintained control. A woman who was just then about to get into the buggy was saved from injury, and another woman on the sidewalk with a baby carriage narrowly missed being trampled by the horses. Mr. Dockstader explained that the farmer was driving a half broken colt who became frightened by a passing street car. The rim on one of his bicycle wheels was cracked but there was no other damage.

 

It's not often that I find someone in a my photo collection who qualifies as a genuine hometown hero.  Even more rare is finding someone who shares my passion for getting the best fuel economy possible.

 

 

Portland OR Oregonian
25 September 1921

In September 1921 it was reported in newspapers around the country that on a recent trip, Otis Dockstader, an architect in Elmira, NY had driven a long trip in his Maxwell automobile. Keeping careful records he determined that he had used 40 gallons of gasoline for the 1,055 mile journey which came out to 26.4 miles per gallon. This nearly matched a Maxwell salesman in Modesto, California who recorded 27 miles to the gallon over a shorter trip. This compared favorably to the Maxwell company's advertised claim of only 22 miles per gallon. 

 

The Maxwell Motor Company was founded in 1904 in Tarrytown, NY and was one of the first car companies to market to women and promote women drivers. The company moved to Michigan in 1914 but was unable to meet expectations. By 1921 financial circumstances forced a sale to Walter P. Chrysler who stopped manufacturing Maxwell cars in 1925. 

 

Woman's Home Companion
October 1916

There is one last bit of context for this postcard photo that intrigues me. The short quotation Otis inscribes below his photo is part of a longer line written by the English playwright William Congreve (1670–1729) for his 1697 play "The Mourning Bride".

“Music has charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”

The line appears in the opening part and is often misquoted as "Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast." This is incorrect though the meaning is roughly the same giving music a power to charm even the roughest of people.   [Another famous misquoted line comes from the same play by Congreve. "Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd." This is frequently shortened and misquoted as "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."]

 

We can't be sure which way Otis remembered this line, but the empty dash "— but—?" actually says much more when we consider the date, November 28, 1917. It was a Wednesday and the next day was Thanksgiving, a traditional time for family gatherings and community thankfulness. It was also a time of terrible turmoil in the world as of April 1917 America had just joined the great war in Europe.

 

The Elmira newspapers that week were filled with news about the war. There were announcements about war bond drives; notices of soldiers called up; reports of suspected German sabotage; and detailed analysis of battle plans. Two months earlier in September, a short report said F. J. Pope, who worked at the office of Otis Dockstader & Son for the past two years, had been called up for army duty and left for camp.

Elmira NY Star Gazette
26 September 1917

Otis signed his full name, which is something a person would not usually do for a family member like a cousin or son. His abbreviated quote implies a question about the future, a question about music's ability to soothe a savage breast/heart or a beast/despot. Given that the next day was Thanksgiving, this small photo was surely intended as a thoughtful remembrance of the blessings of life and peace. 

 

I've no reason to connect this photo to Mr. F. J. Pope, but Otis's photo and inscription would certainly make a fitting gift for a valued apprentice or close friend who was about to go off to war. Perhaps Otis sent it to a fellow musician who was joining a regimental band, or maybe a business client who enjoyed music. But I think there is purpose and meaning in his quote and date, either for Thanksgiving or for the impending war that so many American men would soon join. It's an expression for best wishes for an unknown tomorrow from a man who knew how to plan for the future.  

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where you can never judge a photo by its color.

The Unknown Orchestra

 

 

Lacking any marks for who, when, or where
the fate of most vintage photographs
is reduced to basic curiosity.
Who are these people?

In my collection there are hundreds
of such anonymous photographs of musical groups.
Small clues in this grainy 10" x 8" print suggest
these musicians posed for a camera
at some vague time in the late 19th century
somewhere in the United States.
But finding their personal details
are regrettably impossible.
Were some of the men brothers?
Father and son?

 

 

 

 

 

A cello and a snare drum
are not out of place in an orchestra.
But what kind of orchestra would include
a double-bell euphonium?
A novelty solo instrument
usually found in brass bands. 

And what about the dog
lying down in front like a sack of potatoes?
What position did this canine
hold in the orchestra?

 

 

 

 

 

 Yet for sheer humor of the human condition
nothing beats a photo with funny face.
Any flutist with such a schnoz and mustache
must have been a remarkable character
even if it was a theatrical fake disguise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It's proof that even a photograph
of an unknown orchestra
can be a priceless artifact of music history.

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everything has gone to the dogs this weekend.

The Well-dressed Violinist

 

 The violin is a versatile instrument.
In the right hands it's
capable of playing sprightly folk dances
or impassioned classical concertos.

Yet for each kind of music
the violinist must dress the part,
and today I showcase
four musicians, all unknown,
whose elegant attire defines them
as no rustic country fiddlers
but as first-class orchestral artists.

 

 

 

 

 

The first violinist is pictured in a 3/4 pose cradling his violin in what I call the preparatory position, as if he was just about to walk on stage and is testing the tuning of his strings with his right thumb. Though he is not wearing a tailcoat, his striped bow tie and dapper white vest suggest he is dressed for a daytime concert. He also has a medallion pinned to his lapel that could be an award for some musical contest. Sadly the sepia photo does not let us know if it is a blue ribbon prize. 

 

It's a fine portrait mounted on a small carte de visite card from the studio of C. Hj. Leverin of Helsingborg, Sweden at "hörnet af"  (corner of) Bärgaliden & Storgatan. The cdv format was still popular in much of Europe for many years after it lost favor in America, so I think this photo dates to the 1900-1910 decade.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The next violinist is seated looking directly into the camera lens. He holds his violin as if to display it for the viewer's inspection. He is also wearing a fine suit with black bow tie in what is probably concert attire.

His photo is also a carte de visite, taken in Warren, Ohio by L. M. Rice, "Duplicate orders filled at any time." My estimate is that this cdv dates from around 1875 or 1880. The photographer,  Luther Melville Rice (1826-1913), began working as a daguerreotypist in Leicester, Massachusetts in 1852. Sometime in the 1860s, probably after the war, he moved to Ohio where he operated a studio in Warren for many years until his death in 1913. This information comes from a former Sepia Saturday member, Any Jazz, whose superb website, CabinetCardPhotographers.blogspot.com  has examples and working history of hundreds of early American photographers.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

My third violinist is dressed in classic formal wear of white tie and tail coat. This gentleman also clasps his violin in a preparatory manner. 

This cdv was produced by at the studio of Georg Meyer in Braunschweig, Germany at Bankplatz No.3. The city of Braunschweig is in north-central Germany, east of Hanover, and is known in English as Brunswick. My guess is that this photo dates from the 1890s. 

 

It's interesting that in this era photographers all around the world tried to assure their clients of the same things. Herr Meyer adds a message on his business imprint, "Die Platte bleibt für Nachbestellungen aufbewahrt." — "The plate (negative) is kept for re-orders." I've often wondered how many clients took advantage of this courtesy to have duplicates made and how long might a photographer be expected to store a negative since these were usually made of fragile plate glass. 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

My last violinist is seated in a thoughtful pose looking like the intermission may have run too long. His violin is also tucked under his elbow with the bow caught by his index finger. The fabric of his black suit is so artfully draped that he could almost be modeling it for a haberdashery. His stached high collar, cuffs and white tie practically gleam. It is a very superior portrait.

This photograph is larger than the previous photos in a cabinet card size mount from Brown's Art Studio in Wyoming, Illinois. I was unable to find any information on this photographer, but the quality of the camera image and the style of card mount are likely from around 1895 - 1900. 

It should not have escaped anyone's notice that all four men have splendid long mustaches that mimic the curves of a violin. For a comparison of 'stache styles check out my story from June 2016, Grandfather's Mustache - part 1. Please be patient. I promise to post more grandfather's mustaches soon, as well as more well-dressed violinists too.

This was supposed to be my contribution to Sepia Saturday
but it seems the proprietor has closed his public house for the weekend.
Hopefully it will re-open soon.

 

 

 

 

A Pair of Kings

They were once the most recognizable men in the world.
A trimmed beard and a upturned mustache representing
the two great world powers of their time.

 

 

 

Everyone knew who they were
because their faces appeared on items
people handled every day:
coins, stamps, tins of tobacco,
boxes of tea, and postcards.

 

 

They were kings,
royal sovereigns, heads of states,
and indeed, emperors too,
commanding their nation's vast colonial empires.

 

 

They were born to a life
of immense wealth and supreme privilege,
yet obliged to follow the ancestral rules
of their realm and of their class.

 

 

Any personal ambitions they may have held
were rigidly constrained by the enormous responsibilities
embodied in the imperial crown
that their people bestowed on them.

 

 

Their subjects saw them as figureheads of a nation,
and this role came with a wide variety of costumes.

Today I present a series of postcards
of a  pair of  kings,
Edward and Wilhelm. 

 

 

My first royal postcard is a photo of His Majesty King Edward VII, (1841 – 1910), produced by the Rotary Photo Co. Ltd. of London. It's an unusual portrait of King Edward as he is dressed in a simple wool suit with a cane and a homburg hat, a hat style he popularized in the 1890s. One might easily mistake him for a businessman, a doctor, or an academic. In January 1901 Edward succeeded his mother, Queen Victoria, after her death ended a reign of nearly 64 years. 

The publisher of this unposted card, the Rotary Photographic Co., was founded in 1898 as a subsidiary of a German printing company, the Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, which developed an economical bromide process for reproducing photos onto calendars, brochures, and postcards on massive kilometer-long rolls of special photo paper. The British Royal Family became a popular feature for the company which produced a wide range of novelty real photo postcards featuring royalty, politicians, and theatrical celebrities. Unfortunately the craze for postcards began to decline in 1910 and with the outbreak of war in 1914, the company's fortune declined. Its assets were liquidated in 1916.

 * * *

 

 

My second king is Kaiser Wilhelm II, (1859 – 1941), pictured here wearing a formal dinner jacket instead of a military uniform. Wilhelm assumed the title of Kaiser and King of Prussia in June 1888 after the death of his father, Prince Frederick William of Prussia, who tragically reigned for only 99 days before succumbing to throat cancer. Frederick's wife and Wilhelm's mother was Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest child of Queen Victoria. So Wilhelm was Edward's nephew and he grew up very close to the British Royal Family. Both Wilhelm and Edward were at Queen Victoria's bedside when she died in 1901.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, age 12
seated, C. Brasch, Berlin
Source: Wikimedia

Sadly, as a result of a traumatic breech birth, Wilhelm's left arm was about six inches (15 cm) shorter than his right. The photograph above was taken when he was a boy, age 12, and shows the withered effect of his left hand and arm. He managed to conceal this difference in later photos by always holding something in his left hand. The gloves seen here became his standard prop, sometimes changed to a cane or a sword hilt.  

The card was posted on 23 August 1910 to Peter Bruckwoldt, a Matrosen Artilleristen - a navy artilleryman in Cuxhaven in lower Saxony, situated on the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. This colorized photo of Kaiser Wilhelm was printed by the Neue Photographische Gesellschaft of Berlin, the same firm which owned the Rotary Photographic Co. in London.

 

Both kings posed for many formal photographs, but Kaiser Wilhelm was almost always dressed in a military uniform. His green quasi-formal attire, perhaps for a state dinner, is about as close to casual as he ever appeared in public. In my efforts to find other images of Wilhelm in civilian garb, I came across this next image that is nearly identical as my postcard. The main differences is that his jacket is now red and the chair has changed. This image is described as produced by the same Neue Photographische Gesellschaft Co. in 1906. The similarities are so close that I could believe they were both taken on the same day. Color photography was still in an experimental stage in the 1900s, so I believe both postcards were originally sepia-tone photos that were colorized by the NPG company's new printing technology.

 

Kaiser Wilhelm II,
postcard produced by
der Neuen Photographischen Gesellschaft Steglitz, 1906
Source: Wikimedia

* * *

The next image of King Edward has him dressed in a more kingly manner, but oddly in another country's military uniform. The postcard has a caption in French: Édouard VII, Roi D'Angleterre, but his uniform is Austrian. The three stars on the collar, the cuff braid, and toggle buttons are distinctive marks of a hussar in the Austrian-Hungarian empire. I found another version of this photo that was colorized and the tunic is a light Austrian blue. 

In May 1904, King Edward was awarded a title of Feldmarschall by the Austrian Emperor Franz-Joseph, so this French half-tone postcard probably dates from that year. The back of the card has an elaborate message in French that, I believe, makes no mention about the King on the front.

  

 

* * *

 

Likewise Wilhelm as was often required to don the military uniform of another country. Besides his numerous German honors, he accepted medals and ranks from 26 foreign countries, including Korea, Siam, Venezuela, and Hawaii. In this postcard the caption identifies him as just Unser Kaiser als „Spanischer General” – Our Emperor as Spanish General. The photography studio, T. H. Voigt of Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, is imprinted in smaller type with the year 1906. It's possible that Wilhelm is wearing the uniform of the Royal Spanish Dragoon Regiment "Numancia" which awarded him the title of Ehrenoberst or Colonel of Honor. 

The postcard is also marked as printed by Photochemie of Berlin. Though it was never mailed, it's worth pointing out that in 1906 a postcard needed to be labeled as such in 14 European languages. The printing process also added a side note of something called Papier Radium Brom. I believe that the paper is, supposedly, coated with Radium Bromide, a radioactive salt first discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898. This material was produced when they separated radium from uranium ore. Though it is extremely toxic and can explode under certain conditions, it marked an important step in developing radiochemistry and radiotherapy. However once the public showed an interest in this new "magical" science, the term "radium" was applied to all kinds of chemical processes like photo paper, in order to market a modern novelty.   

 

* * *

 

 

Kings commanded navies as well as armies and King Edward's valet probably kept a closet devoted to just naval uniforms. In this postcard he wears one of his commodore outfits and the photo is captioned simply as Edward VII. But the reason I bought it was because of the writer's extraordinary handwriting.

The back of the card is printed with just one label: Levelező-Lap and Czim, the Hungarian words for postcard and addressee. In fact the postmark is from Budapest and dated 901 Mar 2 in the Hungarian manner of year/month/day and leaving off the superfluous numeral 1. It has two more postmarks dated 4 March 1901 in Paris, and 5 March 1901 in Hyères, France on the Mediterranean coast. But the language of the writer is not Hungarian nor French. Can you figure it out?

 

 

This spiky cursive handwriting is in English.

Have you got already
the photo of the English
King?     Josephine Lucky(?)

I can't decipher the writer's last name
or the addressee except that the address
was sent through (Nice) France to Hyères.

What makes this card doubly special
is that when it was posted in Hungary on March 2, 1901
Edward has only been king since January 22
on the death of Queen Victoria.
His coronation was not until 9 August 1902.
This was likely a Hungarian postcard
hastily published to profit on
a likeness of the new English king.

 

* * *

 

 

The Kaiser had a closet of naval gear too, and here Wilhelm is posed on the deck of his imperial yacht, the SMY Hohenzollern II, dressed in a full length coat with white trousers, shoes, and hat. His yacht, which is a gross understatement common with monarchs, was launched and completed in 1892. The ship was 120 m (390 ft) long, with a beam of 14 m (46 ft) and draft of 5.6 m (18 ft). From 1893 to 1914 Kaiser Wilhelm made many trips on this yacht and altogether spent over four-years time on board her. Ironically in June 1914, the Kaiser's last state banquet before the war was on the Hohenzollern II at the Kiel regatta where he entertained officers of the British fleet whose ships had been invited to attend.

 

 

Imperial Yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II
Hohenzollern II in Venice, Italy. Photochrom print, 1890s
Source: Wikipedia

 

King Edward's royal yacht was the HMY Victoria and Albert. It was launched in 1899, but not completed until the summer of 1901 after Queen Victoria's death. It was a bit longer than the Kaiser's yacht at 128 m (420 ft) length overall, a beam of 15.2 m (50 ft), and a draft of 5.5 m (18 ft). King Edward used it for the first time in August 1901 when he sailed to Germany to attend the funeral of his older sister, Victoria, who was Empress Frederick, the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Considering the date on Edward's postcard in his commodore's uniform, it seems likely that the photo was taken when he was just Albert, Prince of Wales.

HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)
Source: Wikimedia

Collecting postcards of royalty was a popular pastime in the era of King Edward and Kaiser Wilhelm and it's amazing to see the number and variety of their portrait photos. This was, of course, in addition to their formal painted portraits and frequent photos in newspapers. Both men had grown up being in the public eye and clearly were comfortable in front of a camera. Countless images of both men show them at parades, regattas, banquets, hunts, spas, and other events where they are always dressed in splendid uniforms. 

Organizing the royal wardrobes was a major duty of any king's valet, but these few photos only suggest how large a task that must have been. Imagine learning the complex arrangement of ornaments, medals, and hats for each uniform. A Spanish sash was not suitable for a state dinner in Russia. An Austrian tunic made in 1880 might be a tight fit in 1905. No king ever  wasted time trying on clothes off the rack. It was always bespoke tailoring for a monarch. 

My own interest in royal postcards focuses on the ones that date from before World War 1. They represent so many elements of society, culture, and class that changed as a result of this terrible conflict. For example, here is a postcard of the four monarchs of the Central Powers in 1914-18.

Leaders of the Central Powers in 1915 (left to right)
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany;
Kaiser and King Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary;
Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire;
Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
Source: Wikipedia

Most of the Entente Powers such as Serbia, Belgium, Russia, Italy, and Great Britain were monarchies too. All of the monarchs and emperors on both sides held a range of autocratic power that was not always constrained by constitutions or legislatures. True democracies like France and the United States  were the exceptions. When the war ended in 1918, the age-old dynasties of Russia, Germany,  and Austria-Hungary all collapsed and were replaced by new republics with different political rules. The age of kings seemed finished.  

When we look at the rich accoutrements on Edward's and Wilhelm's uniforms, see the opulence on display in their royal households and imperial yachts, we are seeing images of two men magnified by history and time. Uncle Edward and his nephew Wilhelm were not self-made men who worked in order to achieve their position. We don't see the laborers who built their palaces and managed their hunting estates. There are no photos of servants mending Wilhelm's shoes or altering Edward's trousers. It was only by their family's royal fortune that they became sovereigns.

Today the world has evolved so that most democratic nations change leadership on a regular basis. However some countries are ruled by kings with a lifetime appointment and hereditary family power. And unfortunately some people in the world remain under the tyrannical domination of one man. The times may have changed but emperors still survive dressed in new clothes. 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where a every hand is a winner.