1920 A.D.

Brinkley Girls & Doggies

2010-04-26T12:02:00.004+02:00

Nell Brinkley was an outstanding cartoonist of the 1910's and 1920's, finally gaining recognition (above all, thanks to the work of comics scholar Trina Robbins) for her "Brinkley girls", sparklingly cheerful and active flappers that looked pretty but acted courageously and independently in Brinkley's stunning one-page compositions and serial adventure stories.

I was leafing through Trina Robbins' edited collection The Brinkley Girls and discovered an obsession with dogs of all sizes, temperaments and breeds...

Miss Prudence Prim, in spite of her name, is a great flirt, but her doggy gets to kiss the handsome gentleman this time.

During the First World War, "Golden-Eyes" couldn't stay away from blood-curdling adventures in No-Man's-Land, always with her brave collie Uncle Sam by her side. Note how Nell Brinkely's persistently pretty style renders even the terrible and spiky-helmeted Hun hunky.

"Golden-Eyes" and Uncle Sam - her lover Billy is seen in the portrait, but look who gets the cuddles.

In "The Fortunes of Flossie", a seemingly silly flapper gets her future told by various Gypsies and sideshow shamans, but somehow the predictions always come true. The jealous Billy overhears how Flossie is promised a kiss by a stranger...

More baby dogs!

About Nell Brinkley at the Ohio State University Libraries website
And at Wikipedia

Junnu

2009-08-06T14:58:00.003+02:00

In the 1920's, comics were widely read by children and adults alike. Somehow, a collective amnesia ensued after WW2 in the Western world, and comics were increasingly demoted to "kid's stuff" and regulated as a potential threat to the child's development. (In Japan, comics were reborn as the modern manga instead, but that's another story.)

One of the most popular comics in Finland was the homemade "Junnu", written by Veli Giovanni (humour editor of the popular weekly Suomen Kuvalehti) and drawn by Alexander Tawitz and Poika Vesanto (who introduced speech bubbles)and later by Arnold Tilgmann. The following page is an example of A. Tawitz's artwork from 1929. It's a meta comic discussing readers' opinions of Junnu's personality - should he be nice or naughty?

Junnu, the protagonist, was a young man with a prominent nose and an eternal crush on the pretty Alli. Nice guy Junnu's everyday adventures recycled some ancient comic strip themes: his awkward attempts at romance would annoy Alli, which gave the dandy rival Tip-top-Olli an advantage. Junnu's little helpers, the mischievous twins Niku and Naku, would often cause more shenanigans. The Junnu stories are like a realistic version of Donald Duck's triangle drama, of course created many years earlier.

Junnu appealed to both children and adults. Junnu merchandise included a china set, a toothbrush set and tableware.

Junnu strips have been republished in the anthology Laikku 05 - Kotimaiset kuvasarjat 1900-1945. (Review in Finnish)

Sessue Hayakawa

2009-05-16T15:58:00.002+02:00

Sessue Hayakawa, originally uploaded by punalippu.

The Japanese-born Hollywood star in the silent film His Birthright from 1918.

John Held Jr.

2009-05-08T19:04:00.004+02:00

The Jazz Age cartoonist par excellence, with a handsome doggy (from the Condé Nast archives, which for some reason won't work in my browser right now).

"Show Monsieur the sights?"

2009-05-08T19:01:00.002+02:00

"Show Monsieur the sights?", originally uploaded by punalippu.

Very early cartoon by John Held Jr. in The New York Times, 1920. His style would develop in a completely different way during the twenties.

You can compare samples of his early and later work here.

Hero of the (r)Evolution

2009-04-16T20:34:00.003+02:00

Tennessee v. John T. Scopes Trial: John Thomas Scopes, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

During 1925, Watson Davis (1896-1967), Science Service managing editor, took numerous photographs while covering the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes trial as a reporter. In what was dubbed "The Trial of the Century," Scopes was tried and convicted for violating a state law prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution.

Nice glasses and boater. What's up with the stylish scientists 80 years ago? See previous post.

The Scientific Gaze

2009-04-16T18:13:00.002+02:00

Mildred Adams Fenton (b. 1888), originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

Mildred Adams Fenton (b. 1888) trained in paleontology and geology at the University of Iowa. She coauthored dozens of general science books with her husband, Carroll Lane Fenton, including Records of Evolution (1924), Land We Live On (1944), and Worlds in the Sky (1963).

She looks fantastic. I want to draw her.

Thragnar the Troll King and Dame Guenevere

2009-04-03T21:52:00.002+02:00

Thragnar the Troll King and Dame Guenevere, originally uploaded by punalippu.

By Frank C. Pape; from Jurgen by James Branch Cabell (1919).

I first found this picture more than 15 years ago in a German book, Lexikon der Symbole by Wolfgang Bauer, Irmtraud Dümotz and Sergius Golowin. It was used to illustrate (ironically, I assume) the threat of modern society against the sacrosanctity of the family...

Funny if you have read the original story, which it was used to illustrate. It is in the public domain, I believe; the entire text can be read at the University of Virginia's website dedicated to Cabell.

Just for fun

2009-03-12T00:20:00.001+01:00

Teinpä vähän pinssejä, originally uploaded by punalippu.

Even more Japanese doggies

2009-03-10T23:38:00.002+01:00

A TOT WITH TOYS in OLD JAPAN, originally uploaded by Okinawa Soba.

All black and white, of course. I'm beginning to think that the colour combination has a deeper meaning. Some of the doggies look like inuhariko (lucky papier mache dogs). Please click the picture for more information.

More Japanese Puppies

2009-03-10T19:22:00.007+01:00

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As a fan of black-and-white Japanese dogs, I was thrilled to find these images.

Cover of the Legend of the Eight Dog Warriors (Nansou Satomi Hakkenden), epic Japanese novel written in the period 1814-1842. (Image source)

The dog theme derives from the origin myth of the eight warriors; besieged by his enemies, warlord Satomi promises his daughter Fuse-hime in marriage to the warrior who can break the siege and bring him the head of his enemy. His faithful dog Yatsufusa obeys. In the strange marriage, Fuse-hime remains a virgin but becomes miraculously pregnant. Mortally ashamed, she kills herself, but her eight sons' (puppies?) spirits fill the jewel beads of her rosary and disappear. Eventually, the sons of Fuse-hime are born of human parents around the country, and the novel tells the story of their exploits and final reunion.

Yatsufusa and Fuse-hime. (Source)

Edit. The dog's name, Yatsufusa (八房), means literally "eight spots". According to the novel, he was reared by a tanuki (raccoon dog, a badger-like canine with a reputation for supernatural mischief) in the village of Inugake in the Minamiboso area. Tourists can visit important locations of the novel as if it were historical fact; there is even a memorial for Yatsufusa and the tanuki (read about the Hakkenden tour in English and Japanese).

Ukiyo-e Puppies

2009-03-02T17:58:00.013+01:00

One of Goldenbird's most popular characters (if not THE most popular ever) is Mochi, a little (though she seems to be growing at an alarming speed) puppy of shady Japanese origin.

Mochi is a 10-week-old Akita-ken (秋田犬), precocious and cheerful but also very sensitive. The Akita breed has a complicated history; back in the 1910-20's, it didn't exist in the shape as we know it today. Mochi's black-and-white colouring is evidence of that. Today, the Japanese breed standards exclude white dogs with black markings (pinto). This was not the case 100 years ago. There was no breed standard - but there was a growing notion of the Akita dog as an uniquely Japanese breed that deserved to be preserved. In 1931, the Akita-ken was declared a natural monument. The first official breed standard wasn't published until 1934.

The large hunting dogs of the Akita prefecture had attracted the attention of the Meiji emperor. In a famous and widely spread photograph, two Akita dogs are presented to the emperor. Both are black with white markings or vice-versa. This colouring was later judged to be un-Japanese, as a result of interbreeding with large, imported dogs from Europe and probably also China and Korea. Interestingly, recent studies on the dog genome have shown that the Akita, in spite of being a modern "reconstruction", retains ancient genetic material which makes it unique among breeds.

The group of 14 "ancient" breeds defined by this study includes mainly East Asian dogs such as the Shiba, the Chow, the Shar-Pei and the Siberian husky, which makes me believe that the "foreign" heritage in the Akita could be East Asian rather than European. Indeed, Tatsuo Kimura mentions in his "History of the Akita Dog" that as early as "A.D. 358, black pinto dogs resembling Japanese dogs of today are said to have come from Korea". "Ancient breeds" are human constructions - the natural state of dogs is to have puppies with any available and fit mate. The back-breeding of the 20th century Akita to an idealized primitive state is an impossible project. The result is certainly an attractive dog, but it is not any more authentic than the discarded bloodlines.

Old woodcuts from the Edo period and the Meiji era show that Japanese artists found pinto dogs attractive and worthy of depiction. These puppies are not necessarily Akitas; there are several smaller spitz-type breeds in more southern parts of Japan, such as the Shiba-ken and the Shikoku-ken, which might have been available as models.

Puppies by Hokusai Katsushika

A Winter Scene by Chikanobu (1890)

Playful Puppies by Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)

Two Puppies Playing by Koga Iijima (1900)

Yoshioka Ichimisai’s daughter Sono (from the series Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety of Our Country) by Kuniyoshi (1842-1843) (See the Kuniyoshi Project)

Mother, Child and Pups by Utamaro (1753-1806)

Puppy Playing With Geta (EDIT: at closer inspection it appears to be a zori) by Seiho Takeuchi (1906)

Puppies and Snail by Sekka Kamisaka (1909)

These last puppies represent two of the standard colours for Akita-ken today. The third permitted colour is the impressive brindle. The pinto pattern is permitted in the American Akita standard. This breed descends from dogs that were imported to North America (and Europe) before the implementation of the modern Japanese standards.

For most people in Japan today, a pinto Akita looks unfamiliar. The black-and-white Akita lives on as a small lucky papier mache figurine: Inuhariko (犬張り子), a gift for expectant mothers and newborn babies. I like to think of Mochi as Mayann's own live inuhariko.

Sources:

Northland Akitas: Akita Learning Center (Lots and lots of interesting information)
The New York Times - Science
Kyototraditions.com
The Daily Yomiuri/Yomiuri Shimbun

Art galleries:

Arts and Designs of Japan
Japan Print Gallery
The Kuniyoshi Project

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The Finnish Valentino

2009-02-15T14:55:00.002+01:00

Theodor Tugai alias Teuvo Tulio, originally uploaded by punalippu.

This is a tinted version of a photo found in an article by Anu Koivunen on the concepts of stardom and women as consumers of film and filmstars in the 1920's, which features our favourite Finnish Tatar in a major role.

Under the name Teuvo Tulio, Theodor Tugai became an influential film director who put a passionate stamp on the Finnish film industry in the 1930's and 1940's. His early career as "the Finnish Valentino" is less well known. In Mustalaishurmaaja ("Gypsy Casanova", 1929), the 16-year-old Tugai plays Gypsy leader Manjardo. Koivunen describes how the camera focuses on him as on a beautiful object, with closeups of his half-shut eyes. His makeup and costume are chosen to accentuate this - dark skin, enhanced lips, jewellery, accentuated waist, occasionally shirtless... You get the picture.

But to be a desirable object for women - paradoxically put his masculinity into question. Watching and looking is an act of power, to be looked at is to become passive, traditionally feminine. But Manjardo does both. In the movie plot, he is a fiery character who is forced to accept an arranged marriage. He is an ethnic other who is both attracive and repellent (although his love interests in the movie are all "Gypsies", too - Koivunen hints that it would have been less acceptable to show "Finnish" women openly desiring a man). Two women, Glafira and Akris, fight for his attention, but the film finds a more conventional solution - Manjardo ends up with the motherly and caring Esmeralda, who tends to his wounds.

Next time, I will write more about the reception of Tugai's film persona among film critics, and the decline of the "Valentino" type.

Source:
Anu Koivunen: "Näkyvä nainen ja 'suloinen pyörrytys'", Vampyyrinainen ja Kenkkuniemen sauna - Suomalainen kaksikymmenluku ja modernin mahdollisuus ["Vampire Woman and the Sauna of Kenkkuniemi - The Finnish 1920's and the Possibility of Modernity"] Ed. Tapio Onnela, SKS, Helsinki 1992

Cross-posted at Chirayliq

The Waitress

2009-02-07T23:45:00.006+01:00

Cover of the magazine Ukiyo (うきよ), 11/1921. (Found here)

The word ukiyo is probably familiar to many in the compound ukiyo-e, "images of the floating world". Ukiyo means thus floating world, but the cover reveals through subtle hints that this is a new world - the old-time bijin (美人 - "beautiful person", the female subject-object of countless ukiyo-e woodcuts) has changed into a modern girl (モダンガール), a waitress at a Western-style café.

(Waitresses at Café Printemps, 1922; source)

That is my guess; the little clues consist of her laced apron combined with a fresh blush, a matching comb and a coquettish gesture. She resembles the Taisho era popular image of the café waitress, which still lives on in Japanese pop culture. For a basic introduction to the café boom in 1910's and 1920's Japan, see Elise K. Tipton's article "Pink Collar Work" in the excellent journal Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context.

(Two Taisho era waitresses; more images here)

In some ways, the café waitresses carried on the geisha tradition of providing inspiring company, selling a romantic fantasy over a cup of coffee or tea. Because they were associated with modernity and Westernization, but perhaps even more because their customers were poor students and aspiring intellectuals, the waitresses were often ridiculed and depicted as prostitutes (and some of them doubtlessly had to be; their salaries were extremely low, and Tipton has some interesting stories about waitresses trying to organize themselves and join the labour movement). (Some examples of cartoons here.) Today, the "maid café" fad plays on similar strings - it is the fleeting dream that is desirable, not the fulfillment of desires. In this case, nostalgia enhances the value of the fantasy. Because the 21st century waitress is no longer a threat to the social order, the early 20th century waitress is seen as an innocent and plucky character in a historical romance. She is even desirable (and marketable) as a costume, like other characters from bygone times: the samurai, the ninja, the courtier.

A Taisho waitress costume from a contemporary costume rental service.

Gekkan Manga-Man

2009-02-07T01:30:00.004+01:00

月刊マンガ・マン
("Monthly Manga-Man")
Published in 7/1930, Tokyo.
I would love to know more about this publication. (Found here)

Sinekli Bakkal

2009-01-24T18:28:00.004+01:00

Truth always beats fiction, but this time, fiction beats fiction... or maybe I'm just so fine-tuned to the 1920's and -30's that this is bound to happen.

One of the main characters of my comic Goldenbird is a fledgling Catholic deacon and Venetian native called Falco Peregrini. Some weeks ago I made a goofy "what-if" drawing where he is dressed up like a Turkish (late Ottoman era) scribe, inspired by the popular song "Katibim". I just love to play dress-up with my characters...

Today I was googling around for references to the name "Peregrini", which is pretty rare as an alternative spelling for Pellegrini. And what do I find? Sinekli Bakkal, a Turkish novel from 1935, dealing with typical Modernist issues of emancipation, faith and Westernization. The main character is the Italian pianist Peregrini, an ex-priest (!) who has left the "cold spiritual climate" of the West. In late 19th century Istanbul, he learns to know Rabia, a hafiza (reciter of the Holy Quran), who shares his love for music and artistic beauty, as well as the preference for simple life and the common people under the oppressive regime of the Sultan.

The writer Halide Edib chose a very independent path for the protagonists of Sinekli Bakkal. Instead of going with the flow of cultural Westernization, so politically correct for Turkey during the Atatürk years, she chose to show "Easternization" as a path to personal fulfillment and freedom. Rabia is an independent and well-respected woman due to her artistic skills and learning; the unbeliever Peregrini converts to Islam, and they marry... happily ever after? I don't know - I haven't read the novel myself (goes on the never-ending list)....

Screencaps from the 1967 movie version, found on a Turkish forum. Rabia is played by Türkan Soray and Peregrini by Ediz Hun (the guy who looks like Omar Sharif!). Note the fez (outlawed in 1925).

There's a mixed bag of literary analyses and articles online:
Nationalist Theory in the Writings of Halide Edib (Duygu Köksal)
An Epic for Peace (Hülya Adak)
Das Patriarchat entlässt seine Töchter (11/10 2008, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
Memoirs of Halide Edib (Google Books)

I haven't found a discussion of Halide Edib's choice of the name Peregrini yet, but I'd like to think that she had similar thoughts as I: Peregrinus means wanderer (or stranger) in Latin, and it is the source for the word pilgrim in many languages.

Rote Rosen für die rote Rosa

2009-01-15T21:13:00.002+01:00

A red rose for "Red Rosa", originally uploaded by Turukhtan.

Summer in Germany (1927)

2009-01-13T22:34:00.001+01:00

Summer in Germany (1927), originally uploaded by Susanlenoxx.

It's winter and I'm growing nostalgic...

Sverige på 1920-talet

2008-11-26T13:18:00.004+01:00

The website of Swedish national television has an archive of historical film clips, among them a lovely collection of fashion shows and programs from the 1920's to the 1960's. That's what I call public service.

Journalfilmer från Småland i SVT:s arkiv! Se bl.a. när Värnamo blir stad 1920, köp grisen i säcken på Jönköpings marknad 1908, och bevittna ungdomens förfall på folkdansläger i Tranås 1925...

(från historia.ainurin.net)

Brideshead Revisited

2008-11-24T12:42:00.005+01:00

I find it sad, but also somewhat amusing, that contemporary Hollywood producers are more conservative than British upperclass Catholic converts in the 1940's; compare the current film version of Brideshead Revisited with Evelyn Vaugh's novel from 1945.

In the original, Charles is fascinated by the aristocratic Marchmain family, especially the younger son Sebastian. In the movie, focus is shifted from their ambiguous relationship to a kind of triangle drama between Charles, Sebastian and the latter's sister Julia, who enters Charles' life much later in the novel. According to the producer, this was done because "the theme of love across a religious and aristocratic divide has contemporary relevance".

Poppycock, I say. It is threatening to mainstream Hollywood that a relationship between two men (regardless of the sexual content) could be of equal worth to a relationship between a man and a woman; the heterosexual romance has been elevated to the highest possible fulfillment of a plot (a relatively modern development; see Jonathan Ned Katz's brilliant The Invention of Heterosexuality).

The novelist himself, with a deeply religious message to boot, lets Charles state: "Charles's romantic affection for Sebastian is part due to the glitter of the new world Sebastian represents, part to the protective feeling of a strong towards a weak character, and part a foreshadowing of the love for Julia which is to be the consuming passion of his mature years." Thus, I see his view of love between men as rather pre-modern; an introduction to love, a rite of passage perhaps, but not the ultimate fulfillment. However, in contrast to the hegemonic narrative of modern Hollywood, heterosexual love does not bring this ultimate fulfillment either. Vaughn's goal is love divine, in the selfless act of forgiving and letting go, not in the selfish act of possessing another human being.

Even though I cannot call myself a theist, I don't think much of this current idolizing of romantic love as the magical cure of all evils; as anyone who is or has been in a relationship knows, dreaming of love is easy, living with it is hard work.

Luckily I discovered the ITV series from 1981 first, with a young Jeremy Irons as Charles. Just as you think it cannot possibly get any campier, enter Anthony! (I wish I could be there.)

From the LIFE photo archive

2008-11-23T22:07:00.010+01:00

Google has made the incredible photo archives of LIFE magazine digitally available to the general public. Many of the photos have never been published before and include works by celebrities like Alfred Eisenstaedt, less-known photographers like Hugo Jaeger (colour photos of the Third Reich, a creepy experience), and unknown illustrators. Here are some of my favourites in no particular order, perhaps they give an impression of my main interests :)

Helsinki; in front, the Russian Orthodox church, in the back, the Lutheran Helsinki Cathedral. I bet the photographer chose this angle because of the "red scare" during the general strike in Finland in 1949. An anecdote about Ronald Reagan tells that the President during a visit in Helsinki quipped, "I can see Russia from here!"
Date taken: August 08, 1949 * Photographer: Mark Kauffman

Ella Fitzgerald at "Mr. Kelly's" nightclub in Chicago, 1958. Photographer: Yale Joel

Jesuit novices contemplating their breviaries at Los Gatos Novitiate a.k.a. Sacred Heart Novitiate, San Jose, California. There are many more beautiful photographs from their vineyards and the varied work of the novices by Margaret Bourke-White. Date taken: October 1953

Carl Mydans, who also documented the Winter War from the Finnish side, took beautiful colour photographs of Venetian life in the 1940's.

This is adorable. A man is combing his girlfriend's hair in Italy, 1963. The photograph Paul Schutzer clearly enjoyed documenting Italian masculinity since there are many charming photographs of men doing nice things like dancing, mountain-climbing, relaxing or just goofing around. It is nice to rest one's eyes on those pictures after an overdose of full-colour Nazi and Fascist parades...
Tragically, Paul Schutzer was killed while covering the Six-Day War.

From peace to war, and to yet another war: This photo was taken in Khe Sanh, Vietnam, by Larry Burrows in 1968. The American soldier under siege is gently holding a native puppy. I hope they both got away alive; the photographer himself died while covering the invasion of Laos in 1971, when the helicopter he was flying in was shot down by North Vietnamese forces.

Anita Berber

2008-11-22T23:15:00.001+01:00

Apropos.

Gotthard Günther

2008-11-21T14:32:00.002+01:00

Was ist der Mechanismus, der den Schein produziert, der unser Denken immer wieder irritiert? und zwar in einer Art des Betrugs, der „unhintertreiblich“ ist, wie Kant wörtlich sagt. Der Schein entsteht, wenn ich über das Subjekt rede, denn ich kann nicht anders über das Subjekt reden, als dass ich es als Gegenstand nehme, das heißt, indem es Objekt für mich wird, und damit nicht mehr das ist, was es ist. Das Reden, Urteilen über ein Subjekt verkehrt es in sein Gegenteil. Selbst wenn ich diesen Schein für mich aufgedeckt habe, unterliege ich ihm weiter, kann nicht heraus aus ihm.

Claus Baldus, Gotthard Günther: Phaidros und das Segelflugzeug: Von der Architektonik der Vernunft zur technischen Utopie, Aus Gesprächen mit Gotthard Günther, aus: DAS ABENTEUER DER IDEEN, Architektur und Philosophie seit der industriellen Revolution, Internationale Bauausstellung Berlin 1987, S. 69-83

Berlin & Paris

2008-10-22T19:03:00.005+02:00

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Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt, 1927 (see DrMabuseDerSpieler for more)

A rather more conservative travel film of Paris in the 1920's (part 2; see travelfilmarchive for more).

I've been to Paris once; to Berlin, at least 5 times. Some people claim that you have to choose between France and Germany, you can't keep both (as lovers??), but it would be lovely if Paris could give me a chance again. I'm sure Berlin won't mind, she loves Paris, too.
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Unknown Finns with Dogs

2008-10-20T21:00:00.011+02:00

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Found here: Tuhat tuntematonta (1 000 Unknown People)
An online exhibition of old photographs by The National Board of Antiquities, Finland.

Salvation Army?

My favourite, she reminds me of all women in my family...

This dog looks like our Priska (1973-1989).

Cute!

Serious family.

Finally, not a dog, but a kitty and her elegant owner.

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Between Seasons

2008-10-19T06:29:00.000+02:00

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Farewell summer...

Welcome, winter.

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Strike Is Begun In Paris Theatres

2008-10-18T12:04:00.000+02:00

News from Paris 88 years ago, found in The New York Times (October 18, 1920)

Actors and Stage Hands follow the Example of the Opera Personnel.
STARTED BY AUTHORS' UNION
Actors Espouse the Cause of Young Playwrights, Who Say Managers Have Boycotted Them.

[Being a bit of an anarcho-syndicalist at heart, I find the French tradition of strikes somehow endearing and encouraging. Here in Scandinavia, workers on all levels tend to take their rights for granted, and do not always realize that they are the result of blood, sweat and tears of many generations before us.]

The decision to strike was take at a secret meeting of the State Federation Committee yesterday, but it was then too late to put it into operation at more than one or two theatres. At one, the Dejazet Theatre, notice was received early, and the curtain never rose. The audience waited for a quarter of an hour and then became impatient. Behind the scenes hot discussion and argument were going on, and, seeing that there was no other way out of the difficulty, the manager announced to the audience that there would be no performance and that money would be returned at the door.

[One can only imagine the response he got from an average crowd of disappointed Parisians. Of course, the drawback of striking is the public inconvenience, which is (in France's case) almost proverbial in Europe.]

At the Cluny Theatre matters were more advanced when the strike began. The play was in the middle of the second act when the order was received, and at one, disregarding the audience entirely, actors, stage hands and the whole personnel decided to quit the theatre. Immediately the curtain was rung down, and for some minutes the audience was left wondering what had happened. Soont he playgoers grew restless [...] Men brandished their sticks at the stage, on which the manager stood alone trying to explain what had happened, and the shrill criticism of women deprived of their pleasure drowned his words. It needed several police officers and a speech from the Police Commissioner to clear the theatre, and some actors and actresses were subjected to a good deal of rough treatment.

[Oh lala, "shrill" women deprived of their "pleasure"... can't have that, can we? This was a strike in support of a union of authors, which had been treated unfairly by the leading organization of dramatic authors, probably an older, guild-like organization. Andy would approve this kind of solidarity between unions. I wonder if he would try to persuade Mayann and Lou to join the strike. He certainly wishes that they would join a union, maybe the IWW, where all kinds of workers are welcome, or start their own.]

Kohtalon kolmas hetki

2008-10-11T19:29:00.002+02:00

Aarno Karimo - Kohtalon kolmas hetki, originally uploaded by punalippu.

1920's nationalist science fiction...

In a future world, set in the 1960's but strangely similar to a steampunk version of the 1910's (airships! duels! evil emperors! damsels in distress!), Finland is overrun by the reborn Russian Empire. A brave Finnish officer goes undercover and succeeds in defeating the Empire with the help of superior Finnish technology - with just a bit of help from the descendant of Genghis Khan and his countless Mongol hordes...

What could have been a great pulp story (with unusually positive roles for Tatars and Mongols) is unfortunately marred by a racist and antisemitic subplot. Karimo didn't want to depict the Russians as noble and worthy enemies. Instead, he pre-echoed the Nazi argument that Russians were a slave race, led by evil Jewish leaders, destined to be destroyed.

Still, it's a unique piece of work, one of the sources that inspired me to draw Goldenbird.

Veli Giovanni Rotundassa

2008-10-08T16:16:00.005+02:00

Jos olette Helsingin tienoolla, käykää, hyvät ihmiset, Kansalliskirjaston Rotundassa ihailemassa Veli Giovanni-näyttelyä.
Veli Giovanni (synt. Hillari Johannes Viherjuuri, 1889−1949) oli muun muassa pakinoitsija ja pilalehtitoimittaja, mutta hänen suurin saavutuksensa on nerokas keksintö, itse sana "sarjakuva". Veli Giovannin ansiosta suomella on neutraali sana tälle paljon parjatulle taidelajille. Hupisarjakuvien lomassa hän käsikirjoitti myös parisuhdetarinaa Junnusta ja Allista 1920- ja 1930-luvulla, jota Suomen Kuvalehden lukijat seurasivat innolla kuin televisiosarjaa ikään. Veli Giovannin sarjakuvat olivat sopivia koko perheelle, kuten myös oheiskrääsästä käy ilmi. PopuLaarilla (hieno blogi, jota valitettavasti ei enää päivitetä) on myös vähän raflaavampi kansikuva Veli Giovannin "Pilajuttuja ja piirroksia"-lehdestä. Miksi kansalliskirjasto mainostaa näin hauskaa materiaalia tylsillä ja huonolaatuisilla kuvilla?
Näyttely on esillä 1.8.−5.11.2008. Vielä ehtii!

Celebrating my soon-to-be Ph.D.

2008-10-01T17:10:00.006+02:00

- Dad, I got my degree now.
- Well done! Now you can start looking for a man who can cook, tend to the children and keep the house in order.

From the satirical magazine Kurikka, Finland 1926

The Race to Shambhala

2008-09-30T20:09:00.009+02:00

Buddha the Conqueror (Nicholas Roerich, 1925)

What is Shambhala? A prophecy? A spiritual state? A war cry?

Ancient Buddhist texts of Mongolia predict a time when the whole world will be consumed by suffering - war, injustice and cruelty. Only in mysterious Shambhala will the Buddhist tradition be preserved. A barbarian overlord will attempt to subjugate the world, and the female Buddha, Arya Tara, will reincarnate as his queen. When he imagines to have achieved supreme dominion, the queen will reveal the existence of Shambhala to him. Unable to resist his desire to conquer, he will attack, and face the meritorious reincarnated Shambhala warriors in a final battle.

"Shambhala Rising" by Konchog Norbu (my summary)

Mother of Genghis Khan (1933)

We raised the yellow flag
For the greatness of the Buddha doctrine;
We, the pupils of the Khutuktu,
Went into the battle of Shambhala!
(Mongolian song from 1919)

Gesar Khan (1941)

Let us die in this war,
To be reborn
As horsemen of the Ruler of Shambhala.
(Mongolian song heard by Nicholas Roerich in 1924)

The Command of Rigden Djapo (1933)

Near Karakorum and on the shores of Ubsa Nor I see the huge multi-colored camps. ... Above them I see the old banners of Jenghiz Khan, of the kings of Tibet, Siam, Afghanistan, and of Indian princes; the sacred signs of all the Lamaite Pontiffs; the coats of arms of the Khans of the Olets; and the simple signs of the north-Mongolian tribes. .... There is the roar and crackling of fire and the ferocious sound of battle. Who is leading these warriors who there beneath the reddened sky are shedding their own and others’ blood? ... I see ... a new great migration of peoples, the last march of the Mongols … (Ferdinand Ossendowski in 1924)

Song of Shambhala (1943)

There is a lot of weirdness about Shambhala...
Foreign Myths about Shambhala by Alexander Berzin
The Heir of Genghis Khan, a.k.a Storm over Asia, a Soviet silent movie with themes from Mongolian myths and Western ideas about Mongolia
The art of Nicholas Roerich
***

Ein Sturm weht vom Paradies her

2008-09-22T16:47:00.001+02:00

(previously published @historia.ainurin.net June 13, 2007 at 5:40 pm)

"Es gibt ein Bild von Klee, das Angelus Novus heißt.

Ein Engel ist darauf dargestellt, der aussieht, als wäre er im Begriff, sich von etwas zu entfernen, worauf er starrt.
Seine Augen sind aufgerissen, sein Mund steht offen, und seine Flügel sind ausgespannt.
Der Engel der Geschichte muß so aussehen.
Er hat das Antlitz der Vergangenheit zugewendet.
Wo eine Kette von Begebenheiten vor uns erscheint, da sieht er eine einzige Katastrophe, die unablässig Trümmer auf Trümmer häuft und sie ihm vor die Füße schleudert.
Er möchte wohl verweilen, die Toten wecken und das Zerschlagene zusammenfügen.
Aber ein Sturm weht vom Paradies her, der sich in seinen Flügeln verfangen hat und so stark ist, dass der Engel sie nicht mehr schließen kann.
Dieser Sturm treibt ihn unaufhaltsam in die Zukunft, der er den Rücken kehrt, während der Trümmerhaufen vor ihm zum Himmel wächst.
Das, was wir den Fortschritt nennen, ist dieser Sturm."

***

Paul Klees Bild hat einen tiefen Eindruck auf Walter Benjamin gemacht. Mir macht seine dramatische Gleichnis einen noch tieferen Eindruck. So kommt mir auch, nach sechs Jahren von Geschichtsstudien, mein Geschichtsbewusstsein vor, wenn ich es in einem Bild zusammenfassen könnte. Ich will, wie jedeR HistorikerIn, so gern Muster und rote Fäden finden, so gern die Fakten ordnen und die Quellen analysieren, so gern die Welt etwas heiler machen. Aber wenn es eine Wahrheit gibt, dann ist es das, was der arme Engel sieht, immer und ewig weitergeht, und das, was wir HistorikerInnen machen, ist nichts anderes als was die Trümmerfrauen in Deutschland 1945 machten - überleben, Tag für Tag kämpfen in unserer kleinen Welt, belächelt und bemitleidet von denen, die glauben, die Zügel der Geschichte in det Hand zu halten. Aber auch sie werden eines Tages wie Stoppeln vor dem Winde und wie Spreu, die der Sturmwind wegführt.

Walter Benjamin
Über den Begriff der Geschichte, These IX a.a.O., S. 697f. 1940
(Quelle)
(Angelus Novus, von Paul Klee)
(Mehr über Walter Benjamin - 1892-1940)

Lloyd George, Millerand, and doggy

2008-09-06T00:34:00.002+02:00

Lloyd George, Millerand, and doggy, originally uploaded by punalippu.

At Hythe in May 1920, these two gentlemen raised the war repair payments for Germany by yet another few billions.

From Illusionernas årtionde by Rütger Essén, Bonniers (Stockholm 1940)

Interesting Blogs

2008-09-01T23:12:00.002+02:00

Added some new internet friends to the blogroll:

The Flapper Girl - Feminism, fashion, 1920's, music, culture... In Croatian.

Modärna Tider - Style, events, literature, moving pictures... In Swedish.

How come those people 80 years ago still seem so terribly ahead of their time? For I assure you, I and my friends are not love with the original modern times because we are nostalgic (well, maybe a little), but because we are the very opposite of conservatism...

Though, what's wrong with conserving the good stuff? Maybe it won't taste as fresh... but it will cheer up long winter nights.

La minute heureuse

2008-08-30T22:54:00.002+02:00

Lyckans minut, originally uploaded by punalippu.

Another discovered French Art Deco artist from Kjell Strömberg's nostalgic "Paris i närbild" (1934).

Jean Dulac (1902-1968)

Born in Lyon, France. Worked as a painter, sculptor, and illustrator. Studied at the Beaux-Arts, Paris. As a printmaker, Jean Dulac produced copper engravings, etchings, and pochoirs. For erotic works, Dulac used a pseudonym, Jean de l'Étang.

A l'ombre du Sacre Coeur

2008-08-30T13:23:00.003+02:00

I skuggan av Sacre Coeur, originally uploaded by punalippu.

In the shadow of Sacre Coeur, drawing by Roger de Valerio (1886-1951).

Petit curriculum vitae d'artiste (because it is almost impossible to find info on the net):

Né à Lille, il fait des études d'architecture aux Beaux-Arts à Paris.
1911-1914 : directeur artistique du journal Le Matin
1917 : Il entre chez l'éditeur de musique Salabert, où, jusqu'en 1924,
il réalise plus de 2 000 couvertures.
1926 : conseiller artistique chez Devambez
1932 :à la tête du journal Le Rire
1936-1940 : directeur associé des Editions Perceval
1933 : Il donne des cours à l'Ecole technique de publicité
1940 : Il se retire à Belle-Île et se consacre à la peinture (nus et fleurs), puis à l'illustration de livre (le Surmâle de Jarry)

Picture from Swedish author Kjell Strömberg's Paris i närbild (1934)

Edith Södergran

2008-08-27T16:03:00.003+02:00

***

En fågel satt fången i en gyllene bur
i ett vitt slott vid ett djupblått hav.
Smäktande rosor lovade vällust och lycka.
Och fågeln sjöng om en liten by högt uppe i bergen,
där solen är konung och tystnaden drottning
och där karga små blommor i lysande färger
vittna om livet, som trotsar och består.

"En fången fågel", ur Dikter (1916)

The Pomeranian Menace

2008-08-24T13:39:00.007+02:00

It is a little-known fact that humanity was entirely at the mercy of small fluffy canines after the disastrous First World War. Weakened and disillusioned, mankind was an easy prey to the fuzzy but lethal persuasive powers of the Pomeranian. Jean Harlow, above, happily accepted her fate.

The Pomeranian takeover did not proceed as smoothly as their silky little ears between cuddling fingers. Here, brainwashed Pomeranian slave Harold Lloyd is trying to smuggle a secret agent of the conspiracy into the United States. Do not fear - no uniform, no mustache makes a man immune to the hypnotic skills of the cunning canine.

Now who's the femme fatale? As we can see from her smug smirk, this Pommie has Pola Negri completely under her spell.

"Now repeat after me, Norma sweetie; liver paté for breakfast, then walkies, a pig ear to nibble on, then chicken breast for lunch, a siesta before afternoon walkies... do I need to write it down for you?"

Norma's sister Constance Talmadge awaiting orders.

Parisian Hat

2008-08-23T22:52:00.005+02:00

***

Just had to add this portrait to the series of Yosano Akiko posts. Yosano bought the hat in Paris in 1912.

Utsusemi

2008-08-23T22:03:00.006+02:00

***

Utsusemi is a beautiful manga serial by Visual Kei artist Nheira, inspired by Yosano Akiko's tanka collection Midaregami (1901).

Yosano Akiko was a feminist poet, daring to ascribe passionate emotions to women, spurring them to act in matters of love and politics. While the modern comic is very beautiful, it switches the woman's position from subject to object - the stepsister seems unaware of her older brother's feelings. I doubt that this was Yosano's intention. Her accompanying poems sound, to me, written from a specifically female perspective, daring to approach the lover (of indeterminate gender) fully aware of hope and danger.

Hot blood flows underneath my soft skin.
But you only talk of morality and do not touch my flames of passion.
Are not you lonely?

Translation from the Utsusemi site.

Incidentally, I wonder if it isn't the same poem as this one, from Mike Lidgley's blog.

やは肌のあつき血汐にふれも見でさびしからずや道を説く君

Having never felt
the hot tide of blood that throbs
beneath this soft skin
even you who seek the Way
must know what you are missing.

It is interesting to compare the translations, and both make me think of Falco, of course. But the poem ends with the pronoun "kimi" - a form of honorific "you" that is mostly used by young men. This would seem to undermine my theory of an active female voice! Perhaps Yosano felt that a change of grammar was necessary to empower a new female voice - perhaps an "anata" was too deferential. "Kimi" is used by young men to men and women alike, if they are of the same status. "Anata" refers to a husband or a lover. But I don't know enough about early 20th century Japanese to argue this.

Yosano Akiko

2008-08-23T21:32:00.005+02:00

***

与謝野晶子
(1868-1942)

The day the mountains move has come.
I speak, but no one believes me.
For a time the mountains have been asleep.
But long ago they all danced with fire.
It doesn't matter if you don't believe this,
my friends, as long as you believe:
All the sleeping women
are now awake and moving.

Published in the women's magazine Seitô, 1911

Top 3 Swedish Poets

2008-08-22T21:09:00.011+02:00

***

Dan Andersson (1888-1920)

När de gamla såren heta tära,
när din kind är vätt av ensamhetens gråt,
när att leva är att stenar bära
och din sång är sorg som vilsna tranors låt,
gå och drick en fläkt av höstens vindar,
se med mig mot bleka, blåa skyn!
Kom och stå med mig vid hagens grindar,
när de vilda gässen flyga över byn!

"Gässen flytta", ur Kolvaktarens visor (1915)

Harry Martinson (1904-1978)

Har ni sett en koltramp komma ur en orkan -
med bräckta bommar, sönderslitna relingar,
bucklig, stånkande, förfelad -
och med en skeppare som är alldeles hes?
Fnysande lägger den till vid den soliga kajen,
utmattad slickande sina sår,
medan ångan tynar i pannorna.

"Har ni sett en koltramp..." ur Spökskepp (1929)

Joe Hill (1879-1915)

My will is easy to decide
For there is nothing to divide
My kin don't need to fuss and moan
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."
My body? - Oh. - If I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again
This is my Last and final Will
Good Luck to All of you

Joe Hill

Paolo Garretto

2008-08-14T00:19:00.015+02:00

More of a 30's guy than 20's, but nice to look at...
Paolo Garretto was an Italian artist who became famous for his stylized caricatures of famous people in the 1930's and 1940's. His career started in 1928, and he was published in the British Caricature of Today magazine and the Italian satirical magazine Pasquino. He was recruited by Vanity Fair as cover artist (the portrait to the right was taken for VF by Lusha Nelson). The New York Times tells in its obituary from 1991 about his life's trials:

When World War II broke out, Mr. Garretto, an Italian citizen living in the United States, was interned as an enemy alien and deported to Italy. He was approached by the Nazis to produce caricatures of President Roosevelt and other Allied leaders. When he refused, he was interned as a political prisoner in Hungary from 1942 until the end of the war.

Interestingly, Garretto did several rather nasty caricatures of Roosevelt while in the USA. As a cartoonist myself, I find the principle sound. As long as he was not allowed to lampoon Mussolini, why should he attack the president of a state that granted him the freedom to do so?
Here are some of Garretto's portraits of my 1920's favourites, more at cartantica.it

Comrades & mortal enemies, Trotsky and Stalin

Marinetti and Marconi, bringing in the machine age

Former subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka and von Stroheim

And finally my top picks, d'Annunzio and Atatürk! I love that bald owlish head and those lynx eyes.

Fashions Summer 1920

2008-08-09T17:02:00.007+02:00

Some illustrations from The New York Times, June-July 1920. Artist unknown - for some reason I suspect an early John Held Jr, but he did illustrations in a completely different woodcut style for the NYT before he started drawing bobblehead flappers. Will post some of those later.

La Mamma di Falco

2008-08-08T21:18:00.004+02:00

Eugene de Blaas (1843-1931) - A Young Beauty (1882) Oil on panel.

I imagine Falco's mother would look something like this... a few years before he was born.

Eugene de Blaas was born in Rome of Austrian parents. The family moved to Venice, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when father Karl became a professor at the Venice Academy. Consequently, Eugene studied under his father and Venetian masters, and became an expert of the "Venetian genre" - meaning art aimed at the wealthy upper-class tourists flooding the city. Today, his art may be viewed as quaint and picturesque; he depicted idealized townsfolk and street life, preferably beautiful young women in various everyday activities. He became very popular, especially in Britain, and became a professor at the Academy like his father.

Sheet Music Covers

2008-08-03T01:19:00.001+02:00

Originally published on historia.ainurin.net (May 25, 2007)

Sheet music published in the early 1900's has wonderful graphics. The covers range from modern, colourful and stylized art deco to faintly yellowing pastels and filigree fonts from the art nouveau period. Sometimes they feature cartoon characters or rough ethnic stereotypes, sometimes photographs of famous performers. Beautiful women are the most common subject, but there are a lot of other interesting images as well: political propaganda, ideal landscapes, flowers, humorous situations, satirical comments on trends, etc.

I have collected links to some of the best sheet music archives here for our browsing convenience.

UCLA Music Library: APAM
Archive of Popular American Music (my favourite)

Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University:
19th and early 20th century American sheet music

Perfessor Bill Edward's ragtime collection (with midi files)

Brown University Library Digital Collection:
African-American Sheet Music 1820-1920
(This is an odd one. Many of the covers are very racist and many of the songs are so-called "coon songs" performed by white minstrel singers in blackface. But some of the items in the collection have been created by African-American musicians, for example St. Louis Blues by W. C. Handy. Often black artists also performed minstrel songs in blackface for white audiences. It's hard to find a fitting description for this collection.)

The E. Azalia Hackley Collection
- was created in 1943 by a gift of material to the Detroit Public Library from the Detroit Musicians Association, a branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians. The Hackley was the first archive to document the contributions of Blacks to the performing arts.

The University of Chicago's library has a sheet music directory for those who hunger for more.

Cylinder Recordings

2008-08-03T01:13:00.002+02:00

Originally published on historia.ainurin.net (2006/10/30)

The Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the Department of Special Collections, Donald C. Davidson Library, University of California (Santa Barbara - phew, that's some name!) has made available an incredible amount of digital versions of cylinder recordings from the late 19th and the early 20th century. Browse through themes such as Jazz, Dance Bands, Swedish or Finnish or Japanese music, ethnic humor at the expense of Italians, Irish or Jews, and contemporary events such as the Great War or the Prohibition.

Thomas Alva Edison's invention, the phonograph cylinder (in wax and celluloid), was not easily defeated by the disc. Today, restoration is hard work, since celluloid deteriorates with age, and wax is notoriously fragile. Although Edison was not the only one to produce them, the age of cylinder recordings ended when the Edison Company left the recording business in 1929.

Goldenbird fans can enjoy the novelty jazz song that Mayann is singing on stage in chapter one: Jazz Baby, performed by Rachel Grant (a k a Gladys Rice) in 1919.
Afterwards, you may refresh your Italian with this basic lesson from the 1900's. It seems that it is rather difficult to catch a train directly to Milan. But it is a pretty language, no?

Takiji Kobayashi

2008-08-01T22:57:00.004+02:00

"1920s proletarian novel strikes chord with young underemployed" - The Japan Times, Friday, July 18, 2008

I first read about Takiji Kobayashi (小林多喜二 1903-1933) in the Finnish socialist literary magazine Kirjallisuuslehti (1934, p. 290). He was a politically conscious writer and dissident in imperial Japan, tortured to death by the police. His rediscovered novel, Kanikosen ("Crab-Canning Boat", 1929), deals with the difficult working conditions and labourers' collective struggle 80 years ago, and the modern-day part-time proletariat has discovered its relevance.

Shinchosha Publishing Co. said that in a normal year around 5,000 copies of the book would be reprinted. But this year, it has already printed nearly 380,000 copies.

The Japanarchy blog has a big post on Kobayashi, including many images of the manga based on Kanikosen. The comments include valuable discussions, too (how often do you see that?!). A must-read if you are interested in radical labour activism and Japan in the 1920's and 30's. Warning: The post includes some difficult photos of the deceased Kobayashi.
Here is a 10-minute clip from the 1953 movie by Sô Yamamura.

And here's an article by a guy who worked at fish-processing ships himself, and what he felt when he read the manga versions.

(Crossposted at Chirayliq)

The New Woman

2008-07-18T15:12:00.004+02:00

Famous Bolshevik feminist Alexandra Kollontai wrote an article in 1918 about "the New Woman" as a literary character in her revolutionary work The New Morality and the Working-Class. Some of her summaries of different "New Women" in contemporary novels remind me of Goldenbird characters! I haven't read any of the quoted books before, so I hope that this is a sign of "being in touch with the Zeitgeist", not plagiarism...
In Colette Yver's The Princesses of Science (1907), Kollontai finds a Goldie lookalike:

[...] the woman doctor Laucorojelo, the typical single woman, strides with sure step, her beautiful head held high. Science and the practice of medicine constitute the substance of her life. The clinical wards are at once her temple and her home. She fights for recognition and respect among her male colleagues; gently but unyieldingly she rejects all attempts to win her over to marriage. She needs to be free and alone for her beloved activity, without which she cannot live. She is severe in dress, she apportions her time strictly, she struggles to acquire a practice and experiences the triumph of self-love with the victory over her male colleagues as diagnostician.

Mayann is easily recognizable in the summary of Grete Meisel-Hess' heroine Maya in The Voice (Die Stimme, 1919):

The restless, temperamental Maya's impetuously pushes forward. She has an ironical disposition. To her, all experiences are but stages on the way to herself – to the shaping of her personality: struggle with her relatives for independence, separation from the first husband, a brief romance with an Oriental hero, a second marriage [Cut! Cut! Don't spoil the story for us, Comrade Kollontai!] until Maya finally finds the man who exhibits respect for her inner "voice," this symbol of personality, who recognizes her importance and knows how to create an inwardly free love bond about which Maya has dreamt all her life.
[...] Unconsciously, she follows Goethe's counsel: "to begin one's life anew every day, as though it were just beginning ..." "My stronger, more courageous will, which nothing could break, saved me – my unconscious will to self-preservation. It led me through life like a guardian angel," says Maya of herself.

But where's Lou?...
Although Kollontai made an important point about the "New Woman's" independent attitude in relationships with men, this "New Woman" still maintained relationships to men and was defined by them as modern and "single". Even the woman doctor mentioned above had a harmonious long-distance relationship, which transformed her to a "feminine" creature in private life. Thus, there is no place for Lou among Kollontai's "New Women", because Lou essentially refuses to be defined through heterosexual relationships. (She certainly has male friends like Andy, but she insists in treating them according to the rules of "male" friendship, whether they like it or not.) But Lou would never say: "I curse my female body; because of it you do not notice that there is still something else in me – something more valuable", as one heroine exclaims. She dresses in men's clothes to get attention, not to avoid it. This makes her a *real* New Woman in the sense of Kollontai's conclusion:

The influence of women earning their own livelihood spreads far beyond their own circle. With their criticism, they "poison" the minds of their contemporaries, they smash old idols, they raise the banner of revolt against those "truths" with which women have lived for generations.

La Siréne des tropiques

2008-07-17T23:42:00.004+02:00

From Josephine Baker's first movie, La Siréne des Tropiques (1927). Josephine played a native girl on a generic tropical island, who falls in love with the young French engineer played by Pierre Batcheff.
Found in an interesting article by Ylva Habel, film historian: To Stockholm, with Love: The Critical Reception of Josephine Baker, 1927-35

"If we adjust our tastes to those of the lower races, it will be the downfall of our culture," thundered an anonymous "letter to the Editor" in Stockholms Dagblad (23 July 1928), when Josephine Baker appeared in person on a Swedish stage for the first time in history. Another preached: "Don't we have enough leg-shows and flirtation in [Ernst] Rolf's and Karl Gerhard's revues [...]? … is there no longer any prohibition in Sweden against showing a woman's entire torso?" They did not stand unchallenged:

Why should our delight over the encounter with this deeply natural human being be interpreted as a sign of the depravation of our times?
[...] those who have the capacity to live in the present and to love its art forms, and in the best cases, its deep sense of decorum, should be glad to have known Josephine Baker, the international stage revue's most loveable child of nature.
(Signed 'Unbiased Theologian' - sounds like Falco, doesn't it!)

The confused but intrigued Stockholmers imagined Josephine as an unspoiled child of nature, although there were years of hard work behind her stage persona and performance. In the 30's, when she developed her look in a more divalike, chansonette-singer direction, some critics accused her of being crafty and manipulative (and indirectly admitted that she was an intelligent adult!). It is sad to note that even her most ardent admirers were affected by exotism that overlaps racism. It is difficult to find articles that gave a "human" image of her as an independent person capable of rational decisions and smart career moves without condemning her for crossing some invisible limit of acceptability.
What I find most interesting is how some reviewers depicted her as a messenger of continental European civilization to a peripheral, puritanical North. For these reviewers, she was not just a charming "primitive" - she was a symbol of Paris, city of lights. And that is exactly what she would become during her long career.

Headlines from 1920

2008-07-09T20:34:00.003+02:00

The Goldenbird story tales place on the exact dates of June 19th-23rd. The story this far has reached June 21st. What happened in the world during those three days? The New York Times free archive gives us some funny and thought-provoking headlines of the summer of 1920.

1920, June 19th
Goldenbird: The gang gathers in the politically disputed, Italian/Slavic resort Ginestra. Falco is scheming, Mayann is busy with her rehearsals and swimming lessons, and Andy and Lou paint the town red in the evening.
Meanwhile, in the real world:
D'ANNUNZIO STATES TERMS. Tells Giolitti He Won't Yield Fiume Till Independence Is Granted. - We all should know d'Annunzio and his Fiume escapades by now...
ITALIAN PRISONERS KILLED. Albanian Attacks Follow Assassination of Essad Pasha. - Some Albanian forces blamed the assassination on "Italian intrigue" and took out their anger on 330 POW's.
AIRCRAFT BUILDERS' TASK; To Convince People Planes Are Safe "... The next generation will know more about airplanes and flying than we do today of the automobile..." - Modern technology revolutionized communications, but Lindbergh's cross of the Atlantic was still far in the future.
ROOSTER FOR DEMOCRATS. Illinois Woman Declares Mule Isn't the Right Party Emblem. - I thought it was a donkey? Certainly wouldn't improve the quality of dirty political puns.
SEAMEN RESENT GERMANS. British Delegate at Conference Clashes with Teuton. - The International Seamen's Conference in Genoa, Italy, was disturbed by quarrels between the former enemies. NYT was slightly biased as well: "... a German delegate, with red upstanding hair and red pointed beard, rose with an arrogant air and delivered his speech in loud tones."
ITALY ASKS ABOUT SUICIDE. Government Wants Facts from Palmer About Red's Imprisonment. - This famous case involved the alleged suicide of anarchist Andrea Salsedo. As a worker for the political newspaper Cronaca Sovversiva he had been taken in for interrogations without arrest or warrant by the Bureau of Investigations in February 25. There, he was urged to reveal names and details about his comrades. His widow claimed that he had been tortured before he threw himself from the 14th floor on May 3. His case inspired anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti to organize protests, which would incriminate them further in the famous "trial of the century" 1920-1927.

1920, June 20th
Goldenbird: Falco is chased by mountain warrior monks in the Slavic hinterland, while Mayann continues her flirt with the swimming teacher, and Lou realizes her and Andy's adventures have had serious consequences.
Meanwhile in the real world:
WARNS OF FUTURE SHORTAGE OF OIL; Director of Geological Survey Declares That Consumption Has Overtaken Output. - 80 years ahead of his time!
HARDING THE HARMONIZER, GENEROUS AND LIKABLE; Republican Presidential Nominee Began as Poor Boy, Became an Editor, Has Ideal Home Life, Is a Baptist and Believes in Good Causes, But Plays Draw Poker - Warren G. Harding would become the next (and for some time, reputedly the worst) US president soon.
NEW IMMIGRANT TYPE EXCELS PREDECESSOR; Ellis Island Finds Proof in Decreasing Numbers of Undesirable Arrivals. - Didn't stop the US authorities from enforcing racially discriminatory immigration laws for the next few decades.
HARLEM LIBRARIES DRAW THE CHILDREN; Two Branches Crowded with Eager Throngs of Enthusiastic Subscribers. SOME ATTRACTIVE EXHIBITS Clubs and a Large Variety of Books for Youthful Readers Lure Young of Many Races. - Happy news from a part of New York City that would soon be the cradle of a great Africa-American cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.
GERMANS DEPRESSED OVER THEIR FUTURE; Looking Forward with Anxiety to the Outcome of the Spa Conference. PRICES STILL MOUNTING Workers Like the Republic, but Business Circles See Only Hope in a Dictator. Deny Planning Revenge. Sans Souci Beauty Unimpaired. Labor Likes New Republic. Big Crowds at Theatres. - Germans may have been gloomy, but many of the Allies still thought they were recovering a bit too fast, and were maybe even enjoying themselves secretly!
ALAND EXCITEMENT GROWS. - Sweden and Finland were having an argument about the Åland islands, which eventually became the first international dispute that the League of Nations managed to solve peacefully.
SIBERIAN PARLEYS BROKEN OFF; New State and Japanese at Odds Over Scope of Negotiations. - The "new state", the Far Eastern Republic, ended as a Soviet puppet state.
LITTLE THINGS FOR SUMMER; Collars, Guimpes, Scarfs and Bags Become Important Adjuncts to the Wardrobe Belts and Sashes. "... FEMININE wardrobes acknowledge no limit in accessories. And this season, perhaps more than ever before, has contributed beautiful and truly artistic "little things" as parts of the prevailing styles. What can add more freshness or charm to the general appearance of a costume than a crisp new collar or a sash?" - What is a "guimpe"? This? As an accessory lover, I am intrigued.

1920, June 21st
Goldenbird: Falco is back in town. After a skirmish with a pointy-eared Russian anarchist and Dr Shapiro, he is ready to face the greatest challenge of them all: Mayann the red-hot jazz baby.
Meanwhile in the real world:
OVERALL PARADE IN PARIS. Poets and Actresses Devote the Day to the Wearing of Blue Jeans. - They didn't have the vote yet, but they had the threads...
COLLEGE MEN URGED TO LEAD; Dartmouth Students Told of America's Mission In the World. - While Wilson's plans for an active US foreign policy were torpedoed by a widespread isolationist opinion, the theoretical idea of a universal mission takes hold - "a mission given by God for the sake of humanity".
OIL PRODUCERS SAY PRICES MUST RISE; Further Advances Are Needed if Healthy Competition Is to Remain. DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY. - It has returned to haunt us...
WELCOMED MEXICAN INVASION; Thousands of Families Crossing the Border to Till the Soil and Otherwise Build Up the Southwest 100,000 in the Northward Movement. Replacing the Drift to Cities. Entering the Sugar Beet Field. Qualities to Be Reckoned With Bilingual New Mexico. - More happy news, but we cannot escape the sad:
2 DEAD, MANY HURT IN CHICAGO RIOT; Sailor and White Civilian Killed and Colored Policeman Wounded by Negroes. AMERICAN FLAGS BURNED Police Reserves and Rifle Squad at Scene of Trouble Started by Parading Abyssinians. In the shadow of the horrific Red Summer of 1919, race riots continued to flare up locally in America. The mysterious "Abyssinians" of the article were a "return to Africa" movement inspired by Marcus Garvey, possibly "The Star Order of Ethiopia".

"Characterology - An Exact Science"

2008-07-08T20:17:00.007+02:00

L. Hamilton McCormick (author, inventor and scientist, 1859-1934) supplied his law and architecture studies with extensive travelling in America, Europe, and Northern Africa. He married an English lady and his three sons were all officers in the Great War. An inventor, art collector and sculptor, he also participated in the war effort as a government adviser on various topics (financial matters, but also submarines).
Among his most peculiar and perhaps most futile efforts was a book and educational course on "Characterology" (Chicago, 1920). The character analysis system, "an attempt to produce a scientific, objective system to assess an individual's character", was based on physiognomy and phrenology, the notion that physical traits reflected inherent and acquired traits in the human character. One of McCormick's novel principles was that the human faces could be divided into two basic categories, the convex "masculine" face (sloping forehead, protruding nose, receding chin) and the concave "feminine" face (protruding forehead and chin, small and upturned nose). All people exhibited mixtures of these extremes, and achieving the perfect balance through careful selection of spouses was one of McCormick's main ideas.
This sounds all cute and entertaining, of course, but McCormick managed to spice it all up by adding the usual racial stereotypes into the mix. The extremely detailed classifications of different nose shapes, for example the "Roman", the "Aquiline", and the "Semitic", are infused with moral judgments, but the author saw no need to supply any empirical evidence to prove his claims.
Because I am a pictorial artist and hobby caricaturist, faces and body shapes are very interesting to me. McCormick's book is fun entertainment and a typical sign of its times. When I read it, I realized how much I have been using these physical stereotypes, which have been perpetuated in the last 100 years' explosion of mass culture. Here are some examples of how McCormick's analyses fit the characters of Goldenbird. The physical features are listed according to McCormick's ranking of their importance for the character.

Falco Peregrini

* BRUNET type: "Dark skin, hair and eyes refer to passive love or the desire to be loved, and to an acute sense of taste and appreciation of flavors, and for this reason brunets make excellent cooks." (He hasn't had the chance to show off those skills yet, if he has any...)
* FACE: broad at the top, narrowing down ("wedge") - "memory, bookishness, power of imitation, the facile acquisition of languages, and the love of acquiring knowledge from all sources" (Certainly applicable.)
* EYES: "The keen, sparkling 'black' eye is as aggressive among eyes as the Roman nose is among noses; its glance is so penetrating that it might almost be likened to the thrust of a sword-blade. The 'villain in the play' is represented with a swarthy complexion, piercing black eyes, heavy, coarse eyebrows and coal black hair." (Maybe this is why some of my readers have initially "read" Falco as a villain character, although he hasn't really been up to any wickedness until now...)
* NOSE: aquiline; "arched, so that from root to tip it exhibits a gradual and continuous outward curve... if large and forceful denotes many of the traits which belong to the Roman (aristocratic, commanding, aggressive) and Semitic (suave, clever, calculating) varieties but it is usually more refined..." - "Small men frequently have large, forceful noses, and thus the weakness attendant on a diminutive physique is compensated for by aggressiveness and strength of purpose exhibited by the large size of the nose; for strength of purpose is more potent than physical strength in most contentions in life." (Falco would attribute that to the grace of God, not his nose...)
* HAIR: "Black hair, like all brunet signs, suggests Southern descent, the Phlegmatic temperament, passive affection, memorizing power and love of music; it also signifies religious tendencies, love of brilliant colors, judgment of flavors, lethargy, lack of initiative, a tendency to follow rather than lead, and to accept the views of others but not to originate." (Etc., etc... You be the judge.)

Andy Kurikka

*BLOND type: Although McCormick usually describes blonds as "forceful and assertive", the Scandinavians are an exception to the rule: "the extremely cold climate ... develops lethargy... due to the inactivity which accompanies the long winter months." (Poor Finn, he can't get anything right, can he!)
*FACE: A square face expresses wilfulness, perseverance, and obstinacy. "Pronounced breadth of jaws indicates an unchangeable, stubborn mind, and is hence contrary to reason and sound judgment". (If Falco represents the over-civilized Southerner, Andy is clearly the primitive Northerner. Not unintentionally...)
*EYES: Small eyes see less but comprehend more. "Blue eyes are original, energetic, and practical ... they evidence a selective or poor memory and also concentration of purpose, energy, reasoning capacity, shrewdness and sound judgment. Blue and black eyes are antagonistic between members of the same sex but are attractive to the opposite sex. ... Grey eyes ... lack the depth and warmth of the black and the sympathy of the blue. People who possess this variety are inclined to be calculating, systematic, and matter-of-fact." Eyebrows: "Thick, bushy eyebrows ... bespeak masculine traits, as well as a severe, uncompromising nature and conceit."
*NOSE: The "Retrousse", upturned nose, "a feminine type of nose, is often associated with a high vertical or projecting forehead or a projecting chin... the high forehead referring to memory, conscientiousness, and an absorbing mind, the projecting chin to wilfulness, obstinacy, economy, passive or receptive affection, and memory, the prominence of the chin balancing the lack of force suggested by the concave nose. ... When the phlegmatic temperament is present, the Retrousse refers to a serious, non-demonstrative, reserved and non-energetic character."

Is Falco the charismatic little tyrant, and Andy the stubborn but docile foot-soldier? I think they are the most obvious stereotypes in my character gallery. In another post, I will take a look at Mayann and Lou. Read McCormick's book here, if you can stomach it.

Rohrpost!

2008-07-07T19:39:00.004+02:00

...so lesen sich die Liebesbriefe von Franz Kafka, die er 1920 seiner Freundin Milena schrieb, wie ein Relikt aus längst vergangenen Tagen: "Komme ich nach Wien, schreibe ich Dir einen Rohrpostbrief", ließ der Dichter seine Liebste wissen. Und: "Hast Du Donnerstag noch keinen Rohrpostbrief, dann bin ich nach Prag gefahren."

More about pneumatic tubes: In Paris, in Prague, in London and other cities.

Berliner Polizisten

2008-07-06T14:19:00.002+02:00

Berliner Polizisten, originally uploaded by punalippu.

Berlin cops, 1930's style. I love this uniform!

By Walter Trier, from the children's book Pünktchen und Anton by Erich Kästner.

The Europe of Goldenbird, Part 2

2008-07-04T01:59:00.004+02:00

I can't sleep anyway, so... here goes.
Yellow star: Location of Ginestra, the stage of Goldenbird.
Red stars: Hometowns Paris, Warsaw (Goldie's), Tampere (Andy's).
Blue outlined stars: Where I want to set more stories. France, Berlin, Istanbul, the Crimea, Helsinki, Moscow, secret Finnish military bases in Petsamo...

The Europe of Goldenbird

2008-07-04T01:58:00.002+02:00

Europe after the Great War, originally uploaded by punalippu.

Europe after the Great War. From Illusionernas årtionde by Rütger Essén, Bonniers (Stockholm 1940)

The Poet-Dictator and his Legionaries

2008-07-02T00:00:00.006+02:00

The Poet-Dictator and his Legionaries, originally uploaded by punalippu.

From "Världen sedan 1914" by T. Vogel-Jørgensen (Swedish edition), Natur & Kultur 1939

No bucket jokes, please...

Jazz in Scientific World

2008-06-22T13:35:00.005+02:00

In the New York Times, November 16, 1919, prof. Charles Lane Poor, professor of Celestial Mechanics at Columbia University, explained Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity:

When is space curved?
When do parallel lines meet?
When is a circle not a circle?
When are the three angles of a triangle not equal to two right angles?
Why, when Bolshevism enters the world of science, of course!

In the early days after Einstein's discoveries, people were very confused about the meaning of the word "relative" in that scientific context. It simply did not mean that "anything goes" or that "there are no rules" (just as bolshevism was confused with anarchy). Similarly, jazz was interpreted as "chaos in music", although jazz bands always were integrated in particular historical and cultural contexts, and therefore as relative (in the true meaning of the word) as the laws of physics.

"For some years past," Professor Poor said the other day, after reading the cable dispatches about the Einstein theory, "the entire world has been in a state of unrest, mental as well as physical. It may well be that the physical aspects of the unrest, the war, the strikes, the Bolshevist uprising, are in reality the visible objects of some underlying, deep mental disturbance, world-wide in character. This mental unrest is evidenced by the widespread intent it social problems, to throw aside the well-tested authors of Governments in favor of radical and untried experiments."

Professor Poor dismissed Einstein's theories as "psychological speculations and fantastic dreams". He compared them to some rivals of Newton, who had tried to find other explanations for the moon's motions than the forces of gravitation - "during a time of profoud mental and political unrest". Newton had prevailed, and he would prevail against these new "speculations" as well, was the Professor's conviction. Einstein's notion of a fourth dimension was the final blow: the professor felt as if he had been "wandering with Alice in Wonderland and had tea with the Mad Hatter".

Interestingly, the article nowhere mentions jazz, except in the caption. Perhaps it was added in order to excite the reader. If there was any conceivable connection between jazz and bolshevism and physics, only a die-hard anti-semite could have spotted it.

It is important to remember that Einstein was not alone - many scientists had co-operated with him, contributed to his results and pointed out mistakes: Max Planck, Henri Poincaré and Hermann Minkowski, among many others. As Einstein's genius became more and more recognised, the critical tone changed. I was amused to find another musical reference in Martin Gardner's popular book about the theory of relativity from 1962, Relativity for the Million. According to Gardner, the theory had the same effect on the world as the new dance fad, the twist, which invaded the American dance halls in 1962! Some danced the twist with enthusiasm, some were deeply shocked and indignated (as our prof. above), and others complained that they were too old to learn it. (Perhaps people in the 1960's had forgotten all about how shocking jazz used to be?)

Further reading: Albert Einstein, Relativity: The Special and General Theory. New York: Henry Holt, 1920 (online at Bartleby.com)

Un poco di carità

2008-06-07T00:04:00.005+02:00

Not related to the 1920's - but still fun from a Goldenbird perspective. No less than THREE of my favourite Italians of all time, in the same film clip, all dressed up as monks, too!
Il monaco di Monza (1963) was an Italian comedy, apparently not a very memorable work from any angle except this novelty scene, inspired by the new trends in pop music. In order of appearance: Don Backy, Adriano Celentano, and later, the great Totò himself, uncharacteristically the voice of order and reason. "Basta! Basta!"

On the Antonio de Curtis (aka Totò) website, there are a lot of stills and some quotes about the movie. It was a parody of "La monaca di Monza", the story of a nun featured in the Italian classic novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi). The story of the noblewoman turned nun and her secret love affair with a dangerous nobleman has been filmed at least 5 times (once for TV), turned into a play, a fumetto, and much more. (Here's some info about the real monastery in Monza.)

What a turn of events - from 17th century tragedy to 1960's silliness. (Italy in a nutshell?) Not to lose the thread, I end by recommending my favourite YouTube videos with the three gentlemen separately.
Don Backy sings "Poesia" in 1966
Adriano Celentano sings "Azzurro" and "Preghero" (Stand By Me) in the 1960's
Totò playing a rather d'Annunzian type in 1962

***

Falco's Patron Saints

2008-06-01T13:43:00.007+02:00

I finally decided on Falco's full name: Falco Demetrio Luigi Maria Peregrini. (Complete character profile here.) Much like Rudolph Valentino, he has a lot of names, some given by family tradition, others by his mother's fancy (i.e., mine!).
His name, even before he became an Italian seminarian of the 1920's, has always been Falco or Falk, or a variation thereof. This is my own pure fancy - originally he was invented as the companion of a character with the name Wolf, in a Nordic fantasy setting. Falcon and wolf make a handsome and symbolic pair! (See also, Volkov the anarchist: here and here.)

There are several half-mythical Falcos in the Patron Saint Index that I usually consult on these matters. The only verified saint is Saint Falco of Maastricht, whose feast day is February 20th. Spelled "Falko", the name is of Old High German origin and is still in use in Germany and Austria. It means "falcon", obviously... I've chosen the name not because Falco has anything to do with Maastricht (although I remember having some very intense visual experiences while browsing a photobook about the city as a small child), but because the falcon has great spiritual significance in the poetry of both W.B. Yeats and Gerard Manley Hopkins, as a double symbol of the soul in search for God - and Christ himself.

The next name, Demetrio, points to the east. I wanted Falco to have a Byzantine connection, and I like the name Demetrius (or Dmitri) because it is derived from "Demeter", the ancient Grecian mother goddess. It is actually more common in the south of Italy, where the Greek city-states maintained colonies for centuries. Saint Demetrius of Sermium, a.k.a. Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-Streamer, is revered in the Eastern church. He was a soldier and a deacon (like Falco) and was martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Maximian, 306 AD in what is today Serbia. His relics were said to emit holy oil. He is a patron saint of crusaders and a protector against evil spirits. The details of his life can only be guessed from the pages of the fabulous Golden Legend.

Luigi Maria just sounds nice together. I checked the Patron Saint Index for both "Luigi Maria" and "Louis Marie", and found two inspiring men of the 19th and the 18th century, good role models for an aspiring priest. Falco is still trying to discern his true vocation. There is so little time and so much to do - what kind of mission does God want him to focus on? The layman Luigi Maria Monti (1825-1900), beatified as recently as 2003, found his vocation in active charity. He was born in a poor family in northern Italy and worked as a craftsman while also organizing prayer groups. His greatest work was in the field of nursing and medicine. He founded a congregation with the purpose of providing health care for sick and poor people, especially victims of epidemics.

Saint Louis Marie de Monfort (1673-1716) was canonized in 1947, so he was also not officially venerated during Falco's early years. However, his devotion to Mary was very influential. His vocation focused on spiritual development. He wrote an interesting guide on Marian devotion that I'd like to recommend here, although he warned that it should only be shared with people "who deserve to know it because they are prayerful, give alms to the poor, do penance, suffer persecution, are unworldly, and work seriously for the salvation of souls". You have been warned!

The Secret of Mary - by Louis Marie de Monfort

Disclaimer: I'm not Catholic or Christian myself, but I try to remain faithful to the time period and cultural mindset that I depict. These are all my own interpretations, however.

Ruth Bayton

2008-05-24T15:08:00.002+02:00

Ruth Bayton, originally uploaded by punalippu.

Photo: d'Ora, Vienna. From the cover of Swedish photoplay magazine Filmnyheter, 1928:1.

Ruth Bayton is practically unknown on the great internet, but my guess is that she was a British black dancer. There's an interesting article about black artists in 1920's Britain that mentions her, available on Jstor (if you have access to this database).

I'd really like to know more about her, so if you can help, I'd be happy...

Alfred Abel

2008-05-19T22:22:00.008+02:00

I first encountered him in Metropolis (1926, good article at cyranos.ch). Abel played the future industrialist Joh. Fredersen, father of the young hero, who orders the creation of an artificial woman in order to provoke the oppressed workers into a fatal uprising. (I've always wondered why the robot woman is supposed to subvert the peaceful preaching of Maria, although the real Maria keeps the workers lulled in a state of passive hope, most useful to the rulers.)
Abel's gaunt look was very impressive, and his acting was wonderfully tactful (compared to the rest of the cast). Turns out that he was rather cute in real life, although the eyebrows were part of the mask. Behold:

What a striking difference!

Abel (1879–1937) was not only a successful and well liked actor in film and theatre (as early as 1914, he had performed in every theatre in Berlin), he was also a director and producer. His first film part was under the direction of theatre wizard Max Reinhardt (I found a book about him in Berlin last December). Besides Fritz Lang (Dr. Mabuse, Metropolis) he also worked with F. W. Murnau and Ernst Lubitsch - names that really should make your modern little hearts beat faster. Interestingly, he began his career by studying gardening and artistic drawing... and his own production company was called Artifex Film (something interesting for my mother!). He also had a well-kept wardrobe:
As usual in this blog, he died far too young, after a longer illness in 1937. He just escaped the claws of the Third Reich; his daughter Ursula, who was also pursuing a career in acting, could not produce proof that he was "Aryan", and she had to give up her dream. Without the proper pedigree, an actor was not accepted. Abel's father was a peddler, Louis Abel, married to Anna Maria Selma in Leipzig. Their names and trades would make them suspicious in the eyes of later generations. All clues pointed to a Jewish origin.

Sources: Wikipedia
Filmportal.de
film.virtual-history.com

I suppose that accusation was a sign of posthumous anti-Chirayliqism (as experienced by certain Russian actors, who, being too handsome, were accused of belonging to various politically incorrect ethnicities).

Zu Tee und Tanz

2008-05-17T21:14:00.003+02:00

Zu Tee und Tanz - Band 11
Originally uploaded by punalippu

I found this amazing Weimar era music album in a local second hand book store. It's a potpourri of fox trots, tangos, schlagers and operetta hits.

"Wann kommst Du zu mir?"

Text von Karl Farkas; Melodie von Franz Steininger. 1927

Wo ist die Frau, die heutzutag'
dem Andrang wehren kann?
Sieht sie nur halbwegs aus,
sieht sie ein jeder an.
Der Smoking-Dandy wandelt sich
zum Liebesseladon
und macht ihr gleich die Proposition:

Wann kommst Du zu mir?
Wann kommt die Stunde, die uns vereint?
Ich sehn' mich nach Dir,
wenn Nachts der Mond in mein Zimmer scheint!
Die wahre Licht, die uns selig macht,
wird durch die Nacht erst an den Tag gebracht.
Kommst heut Du zu mir,
dann bleibst Du sicher bis morgen hier!
Wann ...

Man denkt natürlich nicht daran, daran zu denken je,
und sagt dem Rendezvous im vorhinein ade.
Doch andern Tages kommt ein Briefchen rosa oder blau,
und drin steht: "Hochverehrte, gnäd'ge Frau!

Wann ...

Puppy & Girl

2008-05-17T15:20:00.003+02:00

Washington, D.C., 1920. "Miss Marie Smith." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. Found on Shorpy: The 100-year old photo blog.

La Campana di San Giusto

2008-05-08T22:58:00.010+02:00

The Italian bersagliere is flirting with Valona (Vlorë in Albania) and makes Trieste jealous. A cartoon from the First World War.

1915. Seductive Trieste is tempting the bersagliere, whose hands are tied by Italy's neutrality. But not for long...

To understand a bit about the world of Goldenbird, one needs to know a little bit (or a lot?) about Italy's adventures around the Adriatic Sea in the 1910's and 1920's. Italy was originally neutral, due to its agreements with Austria-Hungary and Germany, but joined the war on the side of France and Britain in 1915 in the hope of gaining some so-called irredenta - external territories inhabited by Italian-speakers and claimed by the nation. In the world of Goldenbird, Ginestra is one such town, situated somewhere between Trieste and the Istrian peninsula, a multi-ethnic relic of the former Empire with a mixed population of Italian- and Slavic-speakers (perhaps also some unevacuated Austrians and Hungarians, as well as Romanian workers, thrown in for good measure).
Sung by the immortal Caruso, this is the liberation song of the former Austro-Hungarian Free Imperial City of Trieste, annexed by Italy in 1920.

La Campana di San Giusto

Per le spiaggie, per le rive di Trieste
suona e chiama di San Giusto la Campana:
l'ora suona, l'ora suona non lontana
che più schiava non sarà.

Le ragazze di Trieste
cantan tutte con ardore:
O Italia, o Italia del mio cuore,
tu ci vieni a liberar!

Avrà baci, fiori e rose la marina,
la campana perderà la nota mesta;
su San Giusto sventolar vedremo a festa
il vessillo tricolor.

Le ragazze di Trieste...

On Mustaches

2008-05-06T20:46:00.006+02:00

A mustache-themed post at the lovely film star blog Allure inspired me to scan these images of silent film star David Powell, from an article about him in the Swedish photoplay magazine Filmen (1920, No.5), which included some musings on the subject of mustaches. Since many of Goldenbird's male characters have mustaches, I have given the subject a lot of thought. Mustaches are historical phenomena of great social and political import.

The 19th century could be considered the golden age of facial grooming. Looking at the 20th century, we see a continued interest in mustaches during the first decades, but gradually, mustaches fall out of favour. In the latter half of the century, the beardless mustache is more and more associated with subcultures or "others", non-Europeans. Why did it happen? I can speculate on several reasons. The mustache has always been a symbol of privilege. In many European armies of the 18th century, only officers were allowed to wear a mustache. With the democratization of Western culture, the mustache acquired a taint of aristocracy and backwardness (one might ask why the moderniser Kemal Atatürk, for example, shaved off his mustache). On the other hand, mustache-wearing has been seen as obligatory for men in many Southern European countries - as well as Arab, Turkish, and South Asian cultures. For example, in Italian regional proverbs, the mustache is a symbol of sexual prowess, and it is not surprising that the celibate priests were not expected to sport them (full beards are a different story - with a full beard, you're a patriarch, a revolutionary, a mystic, larger than life!). Perhaps the decline of the mustache was a new phase in the development of the Western bourgeois masculine ideal, as it became a trait of villains, often foreigners.

One thing is sure: The mustache had a rocky career in the dream world of Hollywood, often opposite to its popularity in the "real" world. Behold mild-eyed, Scottish-born Welshman David Powell (below, with Billie Burke).

"- Well, a mustachioed gentleman never looks quite correct, according to many. 'That's no good,' I once heard a couple of ladies utter when my likeness appeared on the screen. My acting was obviously of less importance. Due to the mustache, I was impossible from the very beginning. - On another occasion, I heard an older gentleman make the assumption that I surely was the villain of the drama - 'look at the whiskers'. The comment was incorrect, since my act at that occasion did not include any rascality or roguishness. - However, in a few of my latest films, The Firing Line and The Teeth of the Tiger - the latter currently in production - I believe that my mustache will be in harmony with the characters that I will play. In the first, I have to fall nobly in action; it is the prerequisite for the happiness of the heroine, Irene Castle, with Vernon Steele. And in the latter one I am very cruel; according to the script, I have to look like I had seven human lives on my conscience."

- David Powell, Filmen 1920 No5 (my translation)

NB: In both of the films that Mr Powell mentions, he played characters with French names - in the latter, the great Arsène Lupin himself!

Straw Hat Season

2008-05-05T23:38:00.004+02:00

Street Scene: 1921 (From Shorpy, the 100-year-old photo blog.)
Falco is wearing a straw hat in Goldenbird #1. Back in the beginning of the century, it was the standard summer headgear of men, in Europe as well as in America. Just do a search in the New York Times archives on "straw hat season", and you will reveal the importance of a cultural institution, as well as the controversy that it could spark among well-behaved citizenry, especially if the holy limits of June 15th and September 15th. A sample of headlines follow...

KILLED IN STRAW HAT ROW.; Man Shoots Another Who Destroyed His Out-of-Season Headgear.
October 9, 1911, Monday [...more...]

FIRST STRAW HAT OUT; And Honeysuckle Blooms in Jersey, with Mercury at 70.
January 21, 1913, Tuesday
WASHINGTON, N.J., Jan. 20. -- It is straw-hat season here now. J. Clark Axford, a local business man, set the fashion by driving around town to-day with the Summer headgear adorning him. He was laughed at for the most part, but nobody could deny that there was nearly as much excuse for the light covering as in the middle of Summer. [...more...]

THE STRAW HAT SEASON IN ITALY.
To the Editor of The New York Times:
In pointing out that the Italians are a highly civilized nation, would it not be of weight to adduce the fact that in Italy men continue to wear straw hats as long as the weather justifies them? - LOUIS HOW. New York, Sept. 20, 1917. [source]

CITY HAS WILD NIGHT OF STRAW HAT RIOTS; Gangs of Young Hoodlums With Spiked Sticks Terrorize Whole Blocks. VICTIMS RUN THE GAUNTLET Youths Line Car Tracks and Snatch --Mob of 1,000 Dispersed on Amsterdam Avenue.
September 16, 1922, Saturday
Gangs of young hoodlums ran riot in various parts of the city last night, smashing unseasonable straw hats, and trampling them in the street. In some case, mobs of hundreds of boys and young men terrorized whole blocks. Complaints poured in upon the police from men whose hats were stolen and destroyed. But as soon as the police broke up the gangs in one district, the hoodlums resumed their activities elsewhere. [...more...]

Whew! And people complain about today's youth. Among other interesting tidbits of straw hat related information: the trimmings were often made with "glycerined ostrich". "Anomalies in Millinery" is a lovely headline, too. I must remember to use it somewhere.

The Sin in Syncopation

2008-05-04T22:27:00.004+02:00

Welfare workers tell us that never in the history of our land have there been such immoral conditions among our young people, and in the surveys made by many organizations regarding these conditions, the blame is laid on jazz music and its evil influence on the young people of to-day. Never before have such outrageous dances been permitted in private as well as public ballrooms, and never has there been used for the accompaniment of the dance such a strange combination of tone and rhythm as that produced by the dance orchestras of to-day.

Certainly, if this music is in any way responsible for the condition and for the immoral acts which can be traced to the influence of these dances, then it is high time that the question should be raised: "Can music ever be an influence for evil?"

Anne Shaw Faulkner, The Ladies Home Journal, August 1921 (pp. 16-34.)

Mrs Faulkner goes on to list several reasons to why jazz is evil, and the first reason is the most blatantly obvious one: because people think it is. Of course, not any kind of people. Clergy don't count - they can't be expected to approve of dancing generally. Jazz is recognised as an evil influence by the proprietors of "large dance halls" and "big country clubs", but interestingly also in "big industry", where it was claimed that workmanship and efficiency declined after the workforce had enjoyed jazz.

"Jazz" was defined differently in the early 1920's; for some, it was a very vague term, applicable to almost any kind of "out-of-tune" music, or syncopated rhythm. The latter is also common in many varieties of folk music around the world. Mrs Faulkner focuses on this trait:

Syncopation, this curious rhythmic accent on the short beat, is found in its most highly developed forms in the music of the folk who have been held for years in political subjection. It is, therefore, an expression in music of the desire for that freedom which has been denied to its interpreter.

Both Russians, Poles, Hungarian Gypsies and African-Americans share this historical experience. But is there also a universally human appeal in the rebellious, sinful syncopation? Is that why the workers become less efficient? Mrs Faulkner tries to exorcise jazz by explaining it, by dissecting it and analysing it to bits and pieces, but in the end, there's only strangeness and weirdness left. And when she cannot explain, she conjures up new demons.

Jazz originally was the accompaniment of the voodoo dancer, stimulating the half-crazed barbarian to the vilest deeds. The weird chant, accompanied by the syncopated rhythm of the voodoo invokers, has also been employed by other barbaric people to stimulate brutality and sensuality. That it has a demoralizing effect upon the human brain has been demonstrated by many scientists.

Mrs Faulkner now attacks the elusive jazz devil head-on, summoning "many scientists", the authorities of benevolent "white" magic, to her help. The "black" magic of jazz threatens not only workplace efficiency and public morality. It threatens the very foundation of bourgeois civilisation. Young people have become "imbued" with the spirit of rebellion - with jazz - "that expression of protest against law and order, that bolshevik element of license striving for expression in music".

And now we come to a piece of popular science that was quite en vogue in the early 20th century, and that I hope to return to in a future post. It is also vital to the later development of the storyline in Goldenbird.

The human organism responds to musical vibrations. This fact is universally recognized. What instincts then are aroused by jazz? Certainly not deeds of valor or martial courage, for all marches and patriotic hymns are of regular rhythm and simple harmony; decidedly not contentment or serenity, for the songs of home and the love of native land are all of the simplest melody and harmony with noticeably regular rhythm. Jazz disorganizes all regular laws and order; it stimulates to extreme deeds, to a breaking away from all rules and conventions; it is harmful and dangerous, and its influence is wholly bad.

Curious preferences, just a few years after the horrors of the Great War! No wonder that people should be trying out these new vibrations, after witnessing what the regular beat of marches and hymns could lead to! But Mrs Faulkner fears something else than war: she fears "degeneracy".

A number of scientific men who have been working on experiments in musico-therapy with the insane, declare that while regular rhythms and simple tones produce a quieting effect on the brain of even a violent patient, the effect of jazz on the normal brain produces an atrophied condition on the brain cells of conception, until very frequently those under the demoralizing influence of the persistent use of syncopation, combined with disharmonious partial tones, are actually incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, right and wrong.

Or - could it be - that syncopation and disharmony, those musical methods of rebellion, simply fan the flames of discontent with the present state of things and reveal the artificial nature and natural artificiality of society? There is a battle between two modern worlds - the good, hierarchical, efficient and regular world of Mrs Faulkner and her scientist sorcerers, and the evil, rebellious, crazy, disorderly, sexually charged and racially mixed world of jazz musicians and dancers.

I fear that "good" won the battle by taming the "evil", de-clawing it and fattening it on dollars if it conformed, banishing it into oblivion if it rebelled. But rebellion will always find a way...

Bathing Beauty

2008-04-28T00:28:00.004+02:00

The cover of Goldenbird #1 is inspired by this cover illustration for Judge magazine by Robert Patterson (1898-1981). I found this short info about the artist online:

After studying at art at the Chicago Art Institute and in Paris, Robert Patterson began his career as a cartoonist for Judge and Life, and on the staff of French Vogue. He has done illustrations for some dozen magazines, for advertising and other media and for numerous books, and is a portrait painter as well. He edited, as well as illustrated, ON OUR WAY, a book for teenagers. With his wife and son and daughter, Mr. Patterson lives in Easton, Connecticut.

The illustrator is berhaps most famous for his work on the 1950's epic children's book, You Will Go To The Moon. At least, I think it's the same Rob Patterson.

Tonsure or not?

2008-04-25T22:32:00.003+02:00

I have wrestled with the problem a longer time. Properly, Falco ought to be tonsured, having already received minor orders. The tonsure during the 19th and early 20th century was not larger than a host (some orders used the measurement 'three fingers wide'). According to Wikipedia, "failing to maintain tonsure was the equivalent of attempting to abandon one's clerical state, and in the 1917 Code of Canon Law, any cleric in minor orders (or simply tonsured) who did not resume the tonsure within a month after being warned by his Ordinary, lost the clerical state". The tonsura (or corona clericalis) was, however, not required for clerics serving in countries with a non-Catholic majority population. Perhaps this is Falco's convenient excuse - his order expects him to serve in various countries, also such that target Catholics for persecution.

I have encountered the tonsure in anti-Catholic literature as well as nostalgic Catholic art. In German writer Eugenie Marlitt's novel Die zweite Frau from 1874, a Catholic priest is making an unwelcome advance at the noble Lutheran heroine. The scene could be described as exploitative - the lady is horrified, but also attracted by the priest's abandon of moral control. The sing that makes her break out of his spell is the sight of his tonsure:

Er trat plötzlich unter einem leidenschaftlichen Zurückwerfen des Kopfes auf sie zu und breitete niedersinkend beide Arme aus, um die Kniee der jungen Frau flehend zu umfassen — das grüne Lampenlicht floß grell über das marmorartige Oval seines Gesichts, über den leblosen weißen Fleck inmitten der dunkellockigen Haarmassen — ihr war, als zeige ein unsichtbarer Finger auf diesen Fleck als auf ein Kainszeichen — sie floh, während ihre schönen Hände wild nach dem knieenden Manne stießen.

The novel was written during Chancellor Bismarck's Kulturkampf ("culture struggle") against the Catholic church in the Second Reich, and is a clear example of literary anti-Catholic propaganda. There are more interesting themes in the novel (the "second woman" of the title is either the heroine, who marries a seemingly loveless and superior nobleman, or the nobleman's brother's Oriental concubine, who is the focal point of a conspiracy where the priest plays the villain).

The tonsure fell gradually out of use (except for a ceremonial cutting of hair during the ordination). As of 15 August 1972, first tonsure is no longer conferred, except for certain orders who retain the right. Some nice examples of tonsures can be spotted in the naivist painter Baldino's works.

Walter Trier

2008-04-16T16:58:00.003+02:00

Erich Kästner's books from the 20's and 30's have lovely illustrations. We got some of them (Emil und die Detektive, for example) from our dear old neighbour, Herr Dr. Rosenplänter, when we lived in Germany.
The illustrator was Walter Trier. He had to flee Germany with his family in 1936, because he was Jewish. I think I have a crush on him (he looks a little like Falco).
Trier was a prominent illustrator, but he also provided caricatures and cartoons for Simplicissimus, covers for the British magazine Lilliput, Allied propaganda flyers to be thrown over Germany during the war. He was offered work by Disney, but refused - he wanted to work under his own name. Shortly after emigrating to Canada, he died in his atelier 1951.
Some pictures:
A map of Europe in WW1
German boxer Max Schmeling
Hermann Göring paper doll "for the young"
Covers for Lilliput magazine (always with a man, a woman and a dog)
Some of Kästner's and Trier's books

Erich Kästner was forbidden from publishing in 1933, and his books were publicly burnt. He was hounded by the Gestapo, but he continued to write and publish his works in Switzerland, and he travelled to meet Trier in Austria in the 1930's. In 1943, he was no longer allowed to write, either. After the war, Kästner dealt with his experiences in pacifist books for children and adults. He continued to work together with his friend Trier.
You can follow Emil and the detectives' path through Berlin of 1929 in photos, drawings and maps here.

Fashionable

2008-04-13T23:24:00.004+02:00

"Le Bon Féminisme" - by Géorge Leonnec, 1922
From La Vie Parisienne, a humorous and fashionable French magazine with plenty of cheeky and masterful illustrations.

I have seen the accompanying "joke" in another reproduction of this image, and it went something along the lines:
Butch: - So, what do you think about feminism?
Femme: - I dunno, I just prefer men!

Har har.

This inspired me to sketch the first fashion styles for Mayann and Lou. See the latest version here...

Yumeji

2008-04-05T01:31:00.000+02:00

Trailer for the movie Yumeji by Seijun Suzuki (1991).
Takehisa Yumeji (竹久夢二, 1884–1934) was an artist of the Taisho era (大正時代, 1912-1926) in Japan. His paintings are very popular today; they are easy to find as prints and on postcards, stationery and apparel in almost any well-stocked department store or book shop. The last time I was in Japan, I bought several little sets of postcards and pens decorated with his melancholy, slender lady portraits.
There are at least four museums devoted to his works, in Okayama (his hometown), Tokyo (which also exhibits other artists such as Kasho Takabatake), Gunma (link goes to gallery) and Kanazawa.

Der Tor und der Tod

2008-03-31T20:01:00.003+02:00

Wie wundervoll sind diese Wesen,
Die, was nicht deutbar, dennoch deuten,
Was nie geschrieben wurde, lesen,
Verworrenes beherrschend binden
Und Wege noch im Ewig-Dunkeln finden.

- Der Tod über die Menschen. Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1893)
Holzschnitt von Frans Masereel, aus der Serie Die Stadt (1925)

Caged Bird

2008-03-18T23:15:00.004+01:00

Speaking of golden birds and caged birds... Here is Josephine Baker in 1934 (in the film Zou Zou)

For further reading:
The sad context of the scene.

Verschwörungstheorien

2008-03-18T15:24:00.002+01:00

Hast Du Angst, Erich? Bist du bange Erich?
Klopft dein Herz, Erich? Läufst du weg?
Wolln die Maurer, Erich - und die Jesuiten, Erich
dich erdolchen, - welch ein Schreck!
Diese Juden werden immer rüder.
Alles Unheil ist das Werk der .'..'. Brüder.
Denn diese Jesuiten, Erich - und die Maurer, Erich -
und die Radfahrer - die sind schuld
an der Marne, Erich und am Dolchstoß, Erich -
ohne die gäbe es keinen Welttumult.
Jeden Freitag spielt ein Kapuziner
mit dem Papste Skat - dazu ein Feldrabbiner;
auf dem Tische liegt ein Grand mit Vieren -
dabei tun sie gegen Deutschland konspirieren ...
Hindenburg wird älter und auch müder ...
alles Unheil ist das Werk der .'..'. Brüder.

Kurt Tucholsky an Erich Ludendorff, 1929

"I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings"

2008-03-17T00:37:00.005+01:00

Maya Angelou (1969)

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange sun's rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

***

For the enthusiastic student

(Painting by Laurel Lehman)

Sympathy

2008-03-15T17:06:00.006+01:00

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1899)

I know what the caged bird feels.
Ah me, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,
when the wind blows soft through the springing grass
and the river floats like a sheet of glass,
when the first bird sings and the first bud ops,
and the faint perfume from its chalice steals.
I know what the caged bird feels.

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
till its blood is red on the cruel bars,
for he must fly back to his perch and cling
when he fain would be on the bow aswing.
And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars
and they pulse again with a keener sting.
I know why he beats his wing.

I know why the caged bird sings.
Ah, me, when its wings are bruised and its bosom sore.
It beats its bars and would be free.
It's not a carol of joy or glee,
but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
a plea that upward to heaven it flings.
I know why the caged bird sings.

***

For the enthusiastic student

Painting by Iberia Lebel

The Caged Bird

2008-03-15T16:05:00.006+01:00

The previous posts have presented poems by Irish Nobelist and esoteric explorer William Butler Yeats, which have influenced me in the choice of my comic's title, Goldenbird. Even though I love his imagery, his philosophy remains alien to me, even though I can appreciate the longing for a perfect Platonic ideal on an intellectual level. Yeats' world-view is a very aristocratic one, however. Even though he supported the Irish revolution, he belonged to those interwar intellectuals in the West who feared the lowly "masses" and envisioned an apocalyptic clash of civilizations - it should not come as a surprise that Yeats appreciated Spengler (he thought that his wife, a medium, channeled Spengler even before Der Untergang des Abendlandes had been published).
It is easier for me to identify with the notions expressed in the "caged bird" tradition of the African-American writers. I have been taught to sympathize with the weak and the oppressed, and to feel joy when they triumph over their obstacles. This teaching is central to my world-view, even though my own childhood and youth was relatively privileged. I can't feel the same sympathy for old intellectuals lamenting the modern world (which Yeats did, but Spengler didn't) or the temptation to lump together individual human beings in sweeping, demeaning categories such as "nations", "races" or "civilizations". Those terms are like gilded cages for singing birds. And yet, how can the individual break free without the help of yet another imagined community? How can we avoid turning our liberation movements into gilded cages?
In the next posts, the "caged bird" poems will be explored. Before that, contemplate this painting by Harry Roseland (1868-1950). It often appears in sales lists of art reproductions, especially of African-American interest, sometimes advertised as genuine depictions of Southern AA life. However, Roseland was a white painter who never left Brooklyn. Are his paintings romanticized cultural appropriations? Does he romanticise African-American history, or are his paintings relatively "harmless" and even encouraging examples from an otherwise viciously racist period in history?
Cultural appropriation is a huge theoretical and practical problem. Some people would say that you cannot claim to say anything about people with other social and cultural background, whether you're an artist or a scholar. Needless to say, I disagree (why should I be confined to writing and drawing stories about myself and the handful of people who share my ethnic mix, when I don't even believe that this mix guarantees that we have anything in common...). On the contrary, I think that we need to increase the amount of people who explore other people's perspectives. But we should never forget the power relations that shape our relationships even now. Roseland's art may be sentimental and even deceitful when it serves to calm white consciences ("oh, the old days weren't so bad after all"), but "feel-good-art" can also serve the identity-building of the minority, and in effect, resistance towards the "superior" culture.
In the end, the artist's original purpose is not necessarily relevant to the interpretation of her or his work, but it is important to study the circumstances that influenced it. Why is it important? Because when we look at a picture or read a poem, we feel different things, depending on where we come from and what we have been taught. Whether we respect our neighbor's opinion or not, we benefit from studying its historical background. This ought to be valued in a society that claims to support freedom of expression, unfortunately it is often seen as a waste of time and "giving in" to the opponent's arguments. Freedom of speech is confused with freedom from listening...

Byzantium

2008-03-12T16:15:00.003+01:00

W. B. Yeats (1930)

The unpurged images of day recede;
The Emperor's drunken soldiery are abed;
Night resonance recedes, night walkers' song
After great cathedral gong;
A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains
All that man is,
All mere complexities,
The fury and the mire of human veins.

Before me floats an image, man or shade,
Shade more than man, more image than a shade;
For Hades' bobbin bound in mummy-cloth
May unwind the winding path;
A mouth that has no moisture and no breath
Breathless mouths may summon;
I hail the superhuman;
I call it death-in-life and life-in-death.

Miracle, bird or golden handiwork,
More miracle than bird or handiwork,
Planted on the star-lit golden bough,
Can like the cocks of Hades crow,
Or, by the moon embittered, scorn aloud
In glory of changeless metal
Common bird or petal
And all complexities of mire or blood.

At midnight on the Emperor's pavement flit
Flames that no faggot feeds, nor steel has lit,
Nor storm disturbs, flames begotten of flame, .
Where blood-begotten spirits come
And all complexities of fury leave,
Dying into a dance,
An agony of trance,
An agony of flame that cannot singe a sleeve.

Astraddle on the dolphin's mire and blood,
Spirit after Spirit! The smithies break the flood.
The golden smithies of the Emperor!
Marbles of the dancing floor
Break bitter furies of complexity,
Those images that yet
Fresh images beget,
That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea.

Painting by Nicholas Roerich, Corona Mundi (1921)

Sailing to Byzantium

2008-03-07T23:32:00.013+01:00

William Butler Yeats (1928)

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

The Second Coming

2008-03-07T22:48:00.009+01:00

William Butler Yeats
The Second Coming
(1919)

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Images:
Ando Hiroshige (1797–1858), Ten Thousand-Acre Plain at Suzaki Fukagawa, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo"

Walter Gramatté (1897-1929), Die Schwarze Sonne [3](1919)

See also: Der Untergang des Abendlandes

Der Goldvogel

2008-03-02T01:59:00.008+01:00

Some of my readers know that the Goldenbird is a symbolic object/creature in W.B. Yeats's Byzantine poems, of which I've written an undergraduate paper in English literature. Never mind that now; I have some German discoveries to share.

Let's start with a children's verse from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, by Ludwig Achim von Arnim (published 1805-1808).

Goldvogel, flieg aus,
Flieg auf die Stangen,
Käsebrode langen;
Mir eins, dir eins,
Alle gute G'sellen eins.

The web directory Zeno.org is great for literature and art searches. It contains a lot of hard-to-find, copyright-free German material, and works like an online library for a variety of purposes. Just for fun, I did a quick search for "Goldvogel". And what do I find? Not one, but two quotes from Das Kapital by Karl Marx!

In the children's rhyme, the goldenbird is asked to fly off and bring cheese sandwiches from the "pole" (perhaps like pretzeln, they were hanging from the bakery roof) to "me and you and all the good journeymen" - the goldenbird can satisfy the needs of the hungry (or merely peckish).Onward to Marx, Das Kapital Vol.II (The process of the circulation of capital, pp. 417-418):

"[Lengthy scenario where person I uses 500 pounds sterling to buy consuming goods from person II and could consider selling the goods back for 500, but that depends on whether there's a buyer; even though the goods are the equivalent of 500 pounds, I loses on the deal, while II gains; I'm really bad at economic theory as well as practise - and you should read the original if you must know the details...] – Die 500 in Produktionsmitteln aber, die I auf dem Hals hat, sind nicht in Warenform existierender Mehrwert; sie sind an der Stelle der vorgeschoßnen 500 Pfd. St. Geld da, die I besaß neben seinem Mehrwert von 1000 Pfd. St. in Warenform. Als Geld befinden sie sich in stets realisierbarer Form; als Ware sind sie momentan unverkäuflich. Soviel ist klar, daß einfache Reproduktion – wo jedes Element des produktiven Kapitals in II wie in I ersetzt werden muß – hier nur möglich bleibt, wenn die 500 Goldvögel zurückkehren zu I, das sie zuerst ausfliegen ließ."

The goldenbird is capital!

A few decades earlier, Marx wrote the following in a manuscript on "need, production and division of labour", pp. 547-548:

"... das Privateigentum weiß das rohe Bedürfnis nicht zum menschlichen Bedürfnis zu machen; sein Idealismus ist die Einbildung, die Willkür, die Laune, und ein Eunuche schmeichelt nicht niederträchtiger seinem Despoten und sucht durch keine infameren Mittelseine abgestumpfte Genußfähigkeit zu irritieren, um sich selbst eine Gunst zu erschleichen, wie der Industrieeunuche, der Produzent, um sich Silberpfennige zu erschleichen, aus der Tasche des christlich geliebten Nachbarn die Goldvögel herauszulocken – (jedes Produkt ist ein Köder, womit man das Wesen des andern, sein Geld, an sich locken will. Jedes wirkliche oder mögliche Bedürfnis ist eine Schwachheit, die die Fliege an die Leimstange heranführen wird – allgemeine Ausbeutung des gemeinschaftlichen menschlichen Wesens, wie jede Unvollkommenheit des Menschen ein Band mit dem Himmel ist, eine Seite, wo sein Herz dem Priester zugänglich; jede Not ist eine Gelegenheit, um unter dem liebenswürdigsten Schein zum Nachbarn zu treten und ihm zu sagen: Lieber Freund, ich gebe dir, was dir nötig ist; aber du kennst die conditio sine qua non; du weißt, mit welcher Tinte du dich mir zu verschreiben hast; ich prelle dich, indem ich dir einen Genuß verschaffe) –, sich seinen verworfensten Einfällen fügt, den Kuppler zwischen ihm und seinem Bedürfnis spielt, krankhafte Gelüste in ihm erregt, jede Schwachheit ihm ablauert, um dann das Handgeld für diesen Liebesdienst zu verlangen."

Juicy! Again, the goldenbird is money, capital that can be converted to a variety of goods. This text deals with the ideology behind the process - the first quote was part of the answer on HOW capitalism works, and this quote tells us WHY it works.

But what is my own goldenbird?...

More Fiume News

2008-03-01T19:34:00.007+01:00

These are all from Finnish newspapers 1919-1921 - the conservative, Swedish-language Hufvudstadsbladet, and the social-democrat, Finnish-language Suomen Sosiali-Demokraatti. As witnesses of their time, they are as much mirrors of opinion and ideology as reports of actual events...

Hufvudstadsbladet (1919.05.03)
The Fiume Conflict.
Reflections on Compromise.
London, May 3rd. (Reuter to STT)
To the Reuter telegraphs from Paris: In well informed circles in Paris this morning, it is proposed that the Fiume Question will be solved in a way that will satisfy Italy, accordingly: The port will become a free commercial port with complete freedom of trade for all nations. The city itself will be transferred to Italy. It is reported that Italy would be willing to offer Yugoslavia certain territorial concessions in the Dalmatian hinterland, including the city of Knin at the railway line from Sebenico.

Suomen Sosialidemokraatti (1920.12.29 p.4)
Fiume conquered.
(See previous post for full text)

Suomen Sosiali-Demokraatti (1921.01.10 p.3)
D'Annunzio still in Fiume.
Paris, Jan. 10th. (STT)
The latest reports from Fiume confirm that d'Annunzio does not intend to leave the city until the elections of the foundational council of the Free State. Certain sources judge it likely that the council will elect d'Annunzio as regent.

Suomen Sosiali-Demokraatti (1921.02.23 p.5)
Reaction in Trieste.
[first paragraph is illegible in my copy]
The Rome correspondent of the Kristiania ”Social-Democrat” has sent his paper a special telegram, wherein he describes the actions of the reactionary forces in Trieste, actions that are aimed against the working class. He mentions, among other things, that the history of the city in question has never before known such activity of forces of darkness as can be observed currently. The official Italy has not given liberty to the workers of Trieste, it has oppressed them and continues the oppression most shamelessly. The militias of Italy systematically and daily persecute the leaders of the working class and rob them of their property. House searches have become daily phenomena, and armed police rummage and sniff through every corner of workers' apartments. Mass arrests, too, are now everyday occurrences. The workers' halls of Trieste, Pola, Fiume and other cities in Italy have been leveled to the ground. Communist and socialist newspapers are being persecuted not only by legal means, but also with illegal methods, such as destroying and burning their offices. The consequence of this reactionary policy has been that Italy within one year has become more hated than Austria after 60 years. After the Italian annexation, the local population has not been able to voice its opinion in elections. Several political and administrative elections have been prescribed, but the Italian government does not dare to organize them. And meanwhile Italy sustains an oppressive regime, that any country of the slightest level of civilization would be ashamed of.

Notes: In the original article, the "militias" are referred to as "suojeluskuntalaiset" - the Finnish term for the white Civil Guard that functioned as a paramilitary force in Finland from 1917 to 1944, in support of the bourgeois government and often in conflict with the various socialist movements. No doubt, the social democrat newspapers wanted to reinforce the idea that the forces of reaction were similar in every state.
Italy is compared to Austria as a reminder of the fact that Italy's territorial claims around the Adriatic sea were not founded on primeval right, but historical circumstances. The "irredenta" had belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire before the war, and Italy's late alliance with the Entente was triggered by hopes that the areas with sizable Italian populations could be won. However, they had never been part of a political entity called "Italy" before. One could see the claims on Istria and Dalmatia as the final steps on the road of Italian national unification.
The mention of destruction of workers' halls is interesting. The Wikipedia article on Trieste mentions a Slovene community hall (Narodni Dom) burnt down by Italian nationalists in 1920. This could be interpreted as a conflict between nationalities (around 25% of the Trieste population were Slovenes). I wonder if other factors played a role, for example, were Slovenes more often of working-class background, and were socialist ideas more widespread among them? Which was more important, ethnic, ideological or social solidarity?

The Fiume Incident

2008-03-01T16:39:00.010+01:00

The beginnings of Goldenbird the comic can be traced to a dark and rainy autumn in 2005, when I was working on my Ph.D. thesis in Helsinki, collecting source material at the cosy, neo-classicist National Library. As I was scrolling microfilmed newspapers from the fateful years of 1920 and 1921, some small notices caught my eye.

Fiume conquered.
D'Annunzio wounded.
Rome, Dec. 28th (Havas to S.T.T.) According to received information, general Caviglia with his troops has marched into Fiume.
Rome, Dec. 28th (Havas to S.T.T.) Quarnero's government confirms the report on D'Annunzio's injury. In the hall, where the war council was holding its meetings, a projectile exploded, a splitter of which dealt a head wound to D'Annunzio.
Suomen Sosialidemokraatti 29.12.1920 (p. 4)

Havas is a French press agency, STT is the leading Finnish equivalent. "Quarnero", also known as Carnaro or Kvarner, refers to the bay in the Adriatic where Fiume (today Rijeka) is located. After taking charge of the city, il comandante Gabriele d'Annunzio and his collaborators declared the "regency of Carnaro" - that means, they would stay in charge until the King of Italy would assume his "rightful" role as the city's ruler. The regency's most notable product was its constitution, the Carta del Carnaro, which mixed influences from Plato's ideal state, futurist aesthetics, anarcho-syndicalism, proto-fascist corporativism, and aristocratic romanticism...

To the left, the banner of the regency of Carnaro. Pretty, isn't it? The worm Ouroboros, the Great Bear, and the motto: QVIS CONTRA NOS? "Who is against us?" - something for semioticians to mull on. The snake that devours its own tail could mean the cycle of life. In alchemy, it signifies that All is One - or a mystical treasure that has to be destroyed to be known. It reminds me of an early quote by Bakunin: "the passion for destruction is also a creative passion". Or the dark side of 1789, 1848 and 1917: the revolution devours its own children, in effect, devours itself.

This little renegade state, which lived on piracy and high spirits from Sept. 19, 1919 to Dec. 24-30, 1920, sounded like the perfect setting for some light-hearted Jazz age adventure-mystery-comedy story, I thought. However - I did NOT want to be historically correct. As a Ph.D. candidate, I'm already a slave to the sources - as a cartoonist, I want to create a story that won't educate the reader about Fiume or d'Annunzio, but that will be cute and a little bit nerdy entertainment. But if you want to know more about the murky depths of Goldenbird's historical background, you're welcome to this blog!

I've written more about d'Annunzio on the Goldenbird blog, the biographical essay Per Non Dormire and the bibliographical overview Dannunziana.

Francisco Possenti

2008-02-29T15:37:00.005+01:00

Although Mayann is Goldenbird's official leading lady, there is a certain gentleman who steals a lot of the attention. As a character, Falco Peregrini is not easy to write, since he is shaped by several experiences that must remain alien to me: early loss of parents, the minor seminary, military service at the Alpine front, prisoner of war in Austria, missionary work in Japan etc. Although he isn't based on any real-life person in the 1920's, I constantly discover real stories and ideas that support my work and teach me important lessons. One of these stories is the life of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, which I encountered today while searching for images of Pope Benedict XV (the things we do for procrastination...).

Francisco Possenti (1838-1862) was born in Assisi and grew up in Spoleto. As a young man, he was well-liked, fond of dancing, girls and hunting - but several tragic incidents in his family and a serious illness led him to religious life. He was educated by Jesuits and finally joined the Passionists. His monastic name was Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Having contracted tuberculosis, he continued on his spiritual path well aware of his imminent death. On February 27th, 1862, Gabriel passed away, only 24 years old. (Why must all the people featured on this blog die tragically?...) Several miraculous healings were attributed to him, and he was canonized in 1920 by Benedict XV, who promoted the young saint as an example for the modern youth. Gabriel was devoted to the Virgin Mary, as seen on the portrait. It is told that he died holding an image of her.

"Aveva occhi tondi, neri, assai vivaci e belli: sembravano due stelle."

This is the kind of role model that Falco has grown up with, although I suppose even his kindest superiors know that he himself is no saint material! St Gabriel's 41 resolutions are interesting reading if you want to compare Falco's strengths and weaknesses to the saintly ideal. It is evident that some resolutions are easier to keep than others...
Curiously, there is a society in the United States that tries to promote St Gabriel as a patron saint of handgunners. It seems that the reasons for this connection are pure legend. (Falco, with his affection for the Beretta 1915, would probably find it amusing, although disturbing - he is adamantly pro-life, after all.)

Bessie Coleman

2008-02-28T22:10:00.008+01:00

Just in case for a future story about aviation, I post this article, which originally appeared on the Goldenbird blog. (The comic would feature Mayann going to a pilot school in Paris, a mysterious Finnish ace, a spy plot that Falco tries to unravel, and some of our mischievous Italian friends...)

The first black American pilots were trained in France in the 1910’s and 1920’s. No American aviation school would accept them. Among these pioneers, Bessie Coleman was the first woman. She is another source of inspiration for Goldenbird's leading lady Mayann, and indeed for any pioneering woman in reality and fiction.

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta and grew up in Chicago in the 1910's. She became inspired by the stories of soldiers returning from the Great War in Europe. With her own hard-earned money (she worked as a manicurist) she wouldn't have made it far, but some well-off Chicago African-Americans provided her with financial support, realizing her PR value.
Learning to fly was a challenge for the nerves in 1920. One French school refused to enroll Bessie, because it had already lost two female students in deadly crashes. During her training at the Ecole d'Aviation des Frères Caudron, Bessie was shocked by the death of a fellow student. Her dream of flying would demand hard work and sacrifices from her in life.
In 1921 Bessie earned her flight certificate and returned to the USA, where a showbiz rumble was awaiting her. Throughout her career as a performer, she refused to attend aviation shows with segregated audiences. Tragically, her life ended much too soon, like Florence Mills's in the previous post. In 1926, one year before Mills, she died in a flight accident along with her mechanic.
Bessie Coleman left a legacy that was very much appreciated in the African-American community in her time (10,000 mourners attended her funeral in Chicago, and another pioneer, William J. Powell, founded the Bessie Coleman Flying School in her honour), but has only in the last decades become wider known. The first time I wrote about Bessie, a year and a month ago, I couldn't seem to find so much information about her. Now I have found not only one, but three inspirational children's books about her life! (Fly High - Nobody Owns The Sky - Fly, Bessie, Fly!) There is also a lovely action figure still available. The actress and professional storyteller Joanna Maddox also appears in one of her children's shows as Bessie Coleman.
For schools (and why not adults?), there's poet Nikki Grimes' Talkin' About Bessie, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, and decorated with multiple awards.

There are hints on the web about a biopic with Angela Basset, supposedly filmed in 1998 or 1999: Wings Against The Wind, with a dreamy cast of Danny Glover, Gerard Dépardieu, Don Cheadle and others. I don't know if this film was ever made, since there is no definite information about it anywhere. Pity!

Florence Mills

2008-02-28T16:13:00.007+01:00

The heroine of Goldenbird is the cheerful little jazz dancer Mayann Sparks. Like Josephine Baker, she was born in St Louis, Missouri, and naturally she has a lot in common with la Baker... especially her childhood. However, she is as much inspired by the trailblazers of la Venus Noire, who are less well known today. Florence Mills, "the Queen of Happiness", is one of them. Sadly, she died very young, but during her short life she became a star in America and Europe, and incomparably beloved in Harlem. There are no recordings of her voice, only contemporary descriptions: "like a hummingbird", "full of bubbling, bell-like, bird-like tones", "a tempestuous blend of passion and humour", "strange high noises", "an enraptured bird" ...

An American critic wrote: In her small throat she hides all manner of funny little sounds that flutter out like sparrows from an inexhaustible nest.
I imagine Mayann with a voice like that, which cannot be heard (she is a drawing, after all!) but that has a bizarre, magical effect on people.
Florence Mills was also a great dancer, and it has been said that the reason behind her reluctance to make recordings was that she preferred to interact with a live audience. In an age before modern sound production, before there even were microphones on stage, the studio environment must have felt uninspiring.

Empty Pockets

2008-02-28T00:58:00.009+01:00

Illustrations from Le Petit Journal Illustré.

Prices are high in France, February 1, 1920. Especially prices on imports are increasing. Important to remember when you make a story about the Roaring Twenties: they weren't so roaring for most folks, especially not in the early years. C'est la guerre!

How to be thrifty - stay out of cafés and dancings ('les dancings' were a popular form of entertainment, contrary to modern prejudice, the ordinary French have been pretty open-minded about Anglo-Saxon loanwords!). Be content with one serving of beefsteak. Have your old shoes fixed. More drastic: pour water in your wine and quit smoking! Is this France?