Scribal Terror

My Photo

About

Recent Posts

  • Mass Formation Psychosis https://www.reddit.com/r/IntellectualDarkWeb/comments/q4tuwv/a_conversation_on_mass_formation_with_mattias/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
  • Resist
  • There will be no coming back from this
  • Everybody Knows
  • From Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Gulag Archipelago
  • From Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerles
  • Petty and Cacciopo on Low-Level Argument Processing
  • On the Stupidity of Crowds
  • The Grosse Wedding Party (1910)
  • Aunt Ida

Categories

  • Architecture (11)
  • Creative (4)
  • Culture and Customs (4)
  • Destinations (1)
  • Education (2)
  • Entertainment (23)
  • Family (49)
  • Family and friends (2)
  • Food and Drink (98)
  • Games (3)
  • Health (2)
  • Herbology (1)
  • History (20)
  • Home and Garden (17)
  • Language (110)
  • Literature (21)
  • Logic (3)
  • Math (5)
  • Medieval (49)
  • Meteorology and Space (29)
  • Military (23)
  • Music (43)
  • Nature (18)
  • Philosophy (8)
  • Poetry and Reflections (28)
  • Politics (4)
  • Postcards (14)
  • quiz (8)
  • Religion (37)
  • Renaissance (2)
  • Science (96)
  • Sixteenth Century (16)
  • Travel and places (1)
  • Twentieth Century (8)
  • Weblogs (27)
  • Weird (16)
See More

Archives

  • November 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2015
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • July 2010

More...

Subscribe to this blog's feed
Blog powered by Typepad
Member since 12/2004

WWI postcard?

Rengsdorf

Rengsdorf2_5

This postcard is a bit of a mystery. It's from my collection of cards from the early twentieth century, most of which date around 1910-1912. This one has a handwritten date of April 6 but no year and no postmark, so it was probably sent inside a letter, and from the context, I believe it must date from World War I, possibly after the Armistice when the American Expeditionary Force was preparing to leave.

One of my grandmother's brothers brought home a beautiful set of rose-pattern Havilland china from his stay in France during the Great War. I inherited it from my mother; the advantage of being the last of the family -- I got everybody's stuff. The card isn't signed, but I presume it comes from that great uncle (last name, Meyers or Myers) simply because I don't know of anybody else on either side of the family who was in Europe at the time.

The caption reads: Tailly / Zum Lazarett umgewandelte Kirche. I've identified three French cities named Tailly: one on the Cote d'Or, one in the Somme, and one in the Ardennes. I think I can rule out the Cote d'Or -- this has to be somewhere near the fighting, and somewhere pretty close to Germany because the rest of the caption is in German -- it translates as "a military hospital in a converted church." The Tailly in the Ardennes is closer to Rengsdorf, Germany, which is the name of the town that the card was evidently sent from -- it's written above the date.

The message reads:

Dear Friends

Well we pack up
All of our things Monday
For the first time in a long
Wile and we must do this
Every day untill we leave
Here they say the weather
Is fine and I say Good Luck to
All

It sounds to me as if this was written by a soldier. Do you agree? Also, do you have any idea why the picture of a church in a French town would have a German caption and be sent from a town in Germany?

The card was printed by a German company, Schaar & Datke, located in Trier.

March 20, 2008 at 07:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

St. Patrick's Day postcard (c. 1910)

Eire101

The message on the back says, "To John from mother with love." It has no address or postmark, so it probably came over in a letter to my great-aunt Laura's husband John Jameson from his mother in Ireland. The dates of most of the postcards in this collection are 1910-1912.

I would have to guess that the pot is boiling over a turf fire:

Turf, known also as peat, is partially decomposed vegetable matter, an early form of coal. Farmers who cut their own turf must devote about a week each spring to harvest enough sod to last a winter. A culture has arisen around turf cutting. Sleans (turf-spades) differ from area to area and a person's religion, we are told, can be determined according to whether he digs with the right foot or left. A turf cutter is expected to leave a "straight face" in the cutting bank for the next cutter, reinforcing a sense of community responsibility. The entire family takes part in turf cutting, the weaker members stacking the heavy sods on their ends to dry. A broken back, a girl from Kerry alleges, was preferable to a broken sod. After a summer of drying, the turf bricks are hauled on the back of a donkey to the east side of the home for protection from the elements. Before turf was made available commercially, a wet summer meant a cold winter, for 50 days of clear weather are needed to dry the turf harvest.

And as for the thatched cottage, here's what a scientific report on thatching has to say:

The evidence suggests that wheat straw was more commonly used than oat straw in many areas in the last century, along with barley and rye straw. Somewhat surprisingly, combined barley straw was still used in some areas until very recently. Truly appalling examples of straw thatching are not difficult to find in Ireland. Cases exist of newly applied thatch that could not withstand a winter without major repair, and the oat straw currently used rarely lasts for more than five to seven years. In contrast, straw roofs in Wales and Western England - districts with 'Irish' rainfall and shallow-pitched roofs - routinely last for 20 years with minimal maintenance. Ethnographic records suggest that roofs were expected to last from 10 to 15 years at the beginning of this century, and the reduced longevity is at least partially linked to the introduction of modern hybrid varieties with straw too short for use as thatch.

Unusual main coat and fixing materials survive in profusion; corrugated iron shields older base coats of heather in Wicklow and Antrim; decay-resistant eel grass (Zostera maritimus), collected in bulk on the shore after a storm tide, was used in a similar way in coastal districts in the North; the almost ubiquitous turf 'scraw'- whether exposed or underlain by a thin flecking of straw - provided a firm base for scollops throughout much of the country; marram grass cut on a sustainable basis from coastal dunes was used effectively on rope thatched dwellings in many coastal areas; and flax was widely used in parts of Ulster when the harvest could not be sold for the production of linen (and continues to be popular in some regions).

Water reed has been cut from beds along the River Suir in Waterford and Kilkenny for generations, but in this area it is applied in much the same manner of straw and is not dressed into position as in Norfolk-style water reed. In contrast to England and the Continent, however, native reed was generally considered to be inferior to straw for reasons rooted in population genetics as much as technique. Rapid improvements in the quality of domestic Irish reed could probably be achieved with relatively minor effort.

In general, the in situ, ethnographic and historical evidence suggests that 'traditional' lrish thatch once performed better than is commonly believed, and a relatively small number of material and technical changes could increase significantly the average longevity of such roofs while preserving the visual, technical and material continuity with ancient Irish thatching traditions.

The cottage itself was probably whitewashed mud.

Do you have any further information about this postcard -- including historical details about the image, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 16, 2008 at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

O'Connell's Monument in Autochrome

Dublin089

Dublin090

The picture of O'Connell's Monument on this postcard was created with an early color photographic technique called Autochrome, invented by the Lumière brothers:

Autochrome is an additive color 'screen-plate' process: the medium contains a glass plate, overlaying random mosaic of microscopic grains of potato starch, with lampblack  filling the space between grains, and an impermeable black-and-white, panchromatic silver halide emulsion. The grains are a mixture of those dyed orange, green and violet, which act as color filters.The plate is processed as a slide— that is, the plate is first developed to a negative image and then reversed to a positive image — and the starch grains remain in alignment with the emulsion after processing in order to allow the colors to be seen properly.

To create the Autochrome plates, a slightly concave glass plate was coated with a mixture of pitch (crude pine sap), and beeswax. The starch grains, graded to between 5 and 10 micrometres in size, were coated on top of the plate. The exact methods by which they were coated still remain unclear, although it is known that approximately four million grains per square inch coated the filter in a single layer. It was later discovered that applying extreme pressure to the plate — around 5,00 kg/cm² — would improve the quality of the image, as the starch grains would be flattened slightly, reducing graininess and transmitting more light to the emulsion. Lampblack was then applied by a machine in order to fill the clear spaces between the grains. After this, the plate was coated with shellac. This served to protect the color mosaic and provided a flat surface for the emulsion, which was spread on the plate once the shellac dried.

The individual grains give Autochrome photos a pointillistic effect, rather like a Seurat. If you click to enlarge the postcard, you can pick out individual grains.

The writing on the postcard says, "Miss Marie Meyers." That was my mother's mother's maiden name. She was born in 1892 and married when she was about sixteen, so that would date the postcard to 1910 at the latest.

The monument itself still stands in Dublin and memorializes Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, (1775-1847). OConnell is "remembered in Ireland as the founder of a non-violent form of Irish nationalism, and for the channelling of Irish politics by the mobilisation of the Catholic community as a political force, with the help of the clergy."

Do you have any further information about this postcard -- including historical details about the image, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 15, 2008 at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dornseifer survived

Flood13087_2

Flood13b088_2

This postcard not only commemorates the Cincinnati flood of 1913, it lets a valued customer know that Stanley L. Dornseifer (shown partially submerged in the photo) is still in business and has new goods to sell.

Dornseifer's shop was located at the corner of Hamilton and C.H.&D, which refers to the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad, so he was right by the tracks.

Dornseifer appears in an article in the New York Times in 1910 involving police investigation of a fall from a window.

Header

Here's where our hero, the tailor Frank Dornseifer of the above-mentioned Dornseifer tailor shop, enters the story:

Nyt_2

In case you want to know more about the chorus girl, etc., the full article (up to "Wearing Another Man's Clothes") follows:

Continue reading "Dornseifer survived" »

March 12, 2008 at 06:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wish you were there?

Eire084
Some of these old painted postcards are quite charming. Others make you wonder where the bodies are buried. Click to enlarge and take a look at the people's faces! What's the story behind this? Any ideas? Here's the message -- and I'm not making this up:

say will how
would you like
to be here i will
tell you all when
i see you
JJ

The caption at the top left says "Irish Farmyard / table d'hôte 2.80 Sharp". Does anyone know why the term table d'hôte would be used in this context? Is it a sarcastic reference to the pig swill?

Do you have any further information about this postcard -- including historical details about the image, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 11, 2008 at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Here's to the harp and shamrock

Eire083
Message: "To Laura  from Mag Jane with love"
Printed in Germany

And there's that jaunting car again!

Do you have any further information about this postcard -- including historical details about the image, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 10, 2008 at 07:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

O'Connell Bridge, Dublin

Dublin2070

The O'Connell Bridge was originally the Carlisle Bridge, constructed in 1791. It was modernized in the late nineteenth century and reopened as O'Connell Bridge in 1882, in honor of Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847). O'Connell "is remembered in Ireland as the founder of a non-violent form of Irish nationalism, and for the channelling of Irish politics by the mobilisation of the Catholic community as a political force, with the help of the clergy."

And, ah yes, this is the natural habitat of one Leopold Bloom -- it's the land of the Lestrygonians in Joyce's Ulyssees:

As he set foot on O'Connell bridge a puffball of smoke plumed up from the parapet. Brewery barge with export stout. England. Sea air sours it, I heard. Be interesting some day get a pass through Hancock to see the brewery. Regular world in itself. Vats of porter, wonderful. Rats get in too. Drink themselves bloated as big as a collie floating. Dead drunk on the porter. Drink till they puke again like christians. Imagine drinking that! Rats: vats. Well of course if we knew all the things.

Looking down he saw flapping strongly, wheeling between the gaunt quay walls, gulls. . . .

This unsent postcard is from Lawrence Publisher, Dublin.

Do you have any further information about the scene portrayed in this postcard -- including details of clothing, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 09, 2008 at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Phoenix Park, Dublin

Dublin072

This painted photo of Dublin's Phoenix Park is identified as B. & R's "Camera" Series No. 592 -- British Manufacture. Inland postage was 1/2d. and foreign was 1d.

The monument in the center is the Wellington Testimonial, a 205-foot obelisk commemorating the victories of the Duke of Wellington in the Napoleonic wars.

Phoenix Park itself is best known to history buffs for the Phoenix Park Murders: "the assassination in 1882 of the second and third in rank in the British Dublin Castle government of Ireland by the "Irish National Invincibles.'"

Do you have any further information about this postcard -- including historical details about the image, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 09, 2008 at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Erin in a horseshoe

Pats073

Patsb074_2

Published by Raphael Tuck and Sons, Art Publishers to Their Majesties the King and Queen. Processed in Saxony.

Raphael Tuck & Sons, publishers from the mid 1800's into the early 20th Century.  Raphael Tuck & Sons were proudly known to be the Publishers to Her [sic] Majesties the King and Queen, with printing houses in London, Paris and New York.

They began in London, England in 1866, selling pictures and frames.  Raphael Tuck was joined by his three sons in 1871 and published their first Christmas greeting card.

In 1893 they were granted a Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria. . . .

They entered the postcard market in the United States in 1900 with an office in New York.   American artists designed many of the postcards, but the cards were printed in Europe (Germany, Saxony, England) and then returned to the states for sale.

Unfortunately, like many other postcard printers and manufacturers of their time, the history, records, original paintings and postcards of Raphael Tuck & Sons were destroyed during the bombing blitz of London during World War II.

I think this particular card was purchased in Ireland and sent to the US inside a letter. (The mother of John Jameson lived in Ireland and frequently sent postcards to John and his wife Laura, my maternal grandmother's oldest sister.)

Notice there's no little missing chunk from the top of the map, as there is in a modern version, where Northern Ireland is represented as part of the UK. (Of course it was ALL part of the UK back then; the Irish Free State was declared in 1922, and the card is pre-WWI.)

Ireland

Do you have any further information this postcard -- including historical details about the images, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 09, 2008 at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Irish Jaunting Car

Dublin1069
Lawrence, Publisher; Dublin. Printed in Saxony

A jaunting (or jaunty) car is

a light, horse-drawn, two-wheeled open vehicle with seats placed lengthwise, either face to face or back to back . . . . Also called an outside car or sidecar, it was peculiar in that its seats ran longitudinally and the passengers' feet were placed on a footboard outboard of the wheels. Legend tells of the knights of Erin fighting battles in chariots arranged this way.

Do you have any further information about the scene portrayed in this postcard -- including details of clothing, etc.? Put it in the comments, please!

Anyone may feel free to use cards from my turn-of-the-century postcard collection as long as they remember to credit me (Gail Hapke) and Scribal Terror as the source.

March 08, 2008 at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Next »