An Eye to the Future; A Link to the Past

I love a costume party, but unfortunately this year, I see no invites coming my way. I chose to do my annual pumpkin carve instead, going on its fifth year now.

BUT, if I was going to don an alter ego, I love the Steampunk idea! Who doesn't love a corset paired with some combat boots, frilly skirt, mechanical jewelry and a top hat!!

 

I love the whole notion of this sub-genre of science fiction, as it is known. Its inspiration comes from industrialized Western culture, particularly during the 19th Century. Think of Jules Verne and all. But the Industrial Age really has its infancy in the 18th Century, around 1760-1780, in Britian.

In fact, though the Victorians love to claim the Age, one of the earliest recorded uses of the term "industrial" comes much earlier.A letter written July 6, 1799 written by French envoy Louis-Guillaume Otto,  announces that France had entered the race to industrialise.

In his 1976 book Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Raymond Williams (Englishman) states in the entry for "Industry": "The idea of a new social order based on major industrial change was clear in towns of Southey and Owen."

An increasing use of steam-powered engines allowed for the transition of hand production methods to the use of the new machines. The mass production of textiles was totally fueled by machines that could warp and weft faster than anyone could ever imagine. And people's living standards changed drastically, offering them more time to do other things at home and in the work place. I love the following statistic, "The living standards of the mass of the people in 1700 hardly differed from those living in Babylonia in 2000BC. In 1760, taken as the start of the Industrial Revolution, power was generated by water (70,000 hp), wind (10,000 hp) and steam (5,000 hp)." Can you image the difference?!

The population of Great Britain in the late 1700's was about seven million just before the start of the Industrial Revolution. During the Revolution, the population swelled to 12 million by 1811.

By the way, Jules Verne, with his eye toward the future, had written a remarkable book, published in 1880, called "The great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century", where he chronicled the efforts of French navigators of the 1700's across the globe and their profound influence on science. This is perhaps why Verne's and HG Wells' fiction is so compelling. The research was done!

Going Batty!

Here's another subject of interest for this Halloween Season: The Bacardi rum logo.

The other day I was in my local Von's, and saw a store employee wheeling a pile of Bacardi boxes through the market. My eye caught the logo: a black bat on a bright red circular field. Ahh! The Bacardi logo. Perhaps the Halloween spirit overtook me, but I immediately had to find out about it.

And, for my purposes herein, the Bacardi story goes back to just a little after the 18th Century, so I will consider it worthy of discussion.

The story involves Spanish wine merchant, Facundo Bacardi Masso, born in 1814 in Catalonia, Spain. He emigrated to Cuba in 1830. During this time, rum was made cheaply, not considered a fine drink. It was seldom served in upscale taverns. So Facundo tried "taming" the run by isolating a particular strain of yeast to use in his rum production. Though the company was not formally founded until later on, his new concoction was a hit, giving the rum its characteristic flavor.

Now, how he came up with the logo? When he and his brother Jose bought a distillery so they could turn their experiment into a business, they noticed fruit bats living in the rafters, and voila!

Bats get a bad rap, associated with witchcraft, black magic, darkness, vampires. In Shakespeare, the "Weird Sisters" in Macbeth, incorporate bats into their "toil and trouble" brew. In Western culture, bats are always associated with foreboding, bad omens, death and destruction. Even of late, with the Ebola scare, bats are shown to have a connection with the spread of the deadly virus.

Of course, it doesn't help their popularity when they have a rather ugly face, wings that have hooks, and a  draculesque-type cape in the way they can wrap themselves in their waxy wings. But, nevertheless, they do eat insects that we would rather not see around. The bats in Facundo Bacardi's rafters were probably doing him a favor. He probably thought so, too!  

Under the Influence

Well, I took the plunge once again, and got my flu shot. I continue to do this, though sometimes I have to question myself. Last Winter, I got extremely sick, out of work for a week, which is quite unlike me. I guess the shot can only cover so many strains.

Well, here I sit at my desk, "aware" of my left arm. It kind of aches, but not really. Kind of hot, but not so much. But, I know something is going on.

The flu, or influenza as it is formally know, comes from the Italian, meaning "influence", referring to the cause of the disease. The Italians felt the illness came on by unfavorable astrological influences. Later they amended the cause to unfavorable influences of the cold (cold weather), influenze del freddo.The word influenza was first used in English in 1703 by J. Hugger, at the University of Edinburgh, as he referred to the disease we know it as today. His thesis "De Catarrho Epidemio, vel Influenza, prout in India occidental sese ostendit" includes descriptions of symptoms, and a history of symptoms from other "flus" which were probably respiratory conditions. 

During the 1700's, at least three pandemics occurred (from 1729-1730; 1732-1733 and 1781-1782). In 1753 the well-known cookbook, "The Compleat Housewife or, Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion", methods for a cure are discussed, including making cold tablets. You can still get a copy of this book through the official site of Colonial Williamsburg. By the way, Here's a recipe for you!

Take pearls, crab’s-eyes, red coral, white amber, burnt hartshorn, and oriental bezoar, of each half an ounce; the black tips of crabs-claws three ounces; make all into a paste, with a jelly of vipers, and roll it into little balls, which dry and keep for use.

Sounds like something out of Harry Potter's Potions class to me!

Here's to Horatio!

Well, my friend over at http://dressedintime.blogspot.com reminded me that yesterday was Trafalgar Day! A day to honor Lord Horatio Nelson's victory at the famous battle of Trafalgar, in October 1805! As she is the consummate seamstress, she sent along something She KNEW I would enjoy. A wonderful Trafalgar quilt she found on line with the famous saying on it, "England expects every man to do his duty". Signal flags were run up that day before the battle....Nelson's message to his men.
This past summer, I cross-stitched an Iphone case with the same message!

Early Vampire Craze

Generally, we associate Dracula with Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic novel, but the compelling idea of the undead, the thought of eternal, though damned, life of drinking the lifeblood of the innocent, goes way back. In fact, the first fiction of this type is rooted in the vampire craze of the 1720's and 30's. Interestingly enough, the interest led to the exhuming of two "suspected" vampires, Petar Blagojevich and Arnold Paole, in Serbia, during the Habsburg monarchy. Of course they would be Eastern Europeans!

One of the first works to really have an impact is the short German poem, "The Vampire" by German writer, Heinrich August Ossenfelder, penned in 1748. The poem, is shown here, below:

My dear young maiden clingeth
Unbending. fast and firm
To all the long-held teaching
Of a mother ever true;
As in vampires unmortal
Folk on the Theyse's portal
Heyduck-like do believe.
But my Christine thou dost dally,
And wilt my loving parry
Till I myself avenging
To a vampire's health a-drinking
Him toast in pale tockay.

And as softly thou art sleeping

To thee shall I come creeping

And thy life's blood drain away.

And so shalt thou be trembling

For thus shall I be kissing

And death's threshold thou' it be crossing

With fear, in my cold arms.

And last shall I thee question

Compared to such instruction

What are a mother's charms?

Then there is the poem "Lenore" by Gottfried August Burger (1773), and "The Bride of Corinth" by Goethe (1797). Ahh, those Germans!

For the good of the season, you might want to look these up on-line, or better yet, buy them for your library! There's something about opening up a book, smelling the paper (or parchment, better yet), and letting the spirit of the story or characters out, that you just can't get with a Kindle!

All for a mere $85,000!

Once, years ago, I visited Bauman Rare Books in the Venetian Hotel and Casino here in Vegas. It's an incredible family-owned book store, one of three locations - New York, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. I can totally understand the first two cities, but Vegas? Well, we have more culture here than one would think, or at least the hope of real culture. That's why I try to support anything of this nature that comes to town. But, that's a story for another day.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and put my name on their mailing list, and ever since, I receive lovely catalogues of books available to purchase. well, I am certainly flattered, but they are way beyond my purchasing power! At least for now.....one can always hope! Bauman sells historic books, first editions, anything unusual, etc.

Recently, their catalogue featured Sir Isaac Newton's "Opticks,: Or, a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light". This book was printed in London for Sam. Smith and Benjamin Walford Publishers, in 1704. Leather bound (calf back), red morocco spine label, a quarto (a book produced from full 'blanksheets', each of which is printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves). It is a first edition, and its price is a mere $85,000! Wow! It has 19 copper-engravings. It was in the collection of William A. Ole, a distinguished collector and bibliographer, but now it will make it's way to another lucky book-shelf in due time.

Newton was a physicist and mathematician, and lived from 1642 - 1726, to the ripe old age of 83. His theory and this book was ground-breaking. Everyone thought light was white, but he proved that assumption wrong, that "white light, far from being simple, is a compound of many pure elementary colors which can be separated and recompounded at will”.

So, if you are willing to put out a "bit" of cash, you might like to add "Opticks" to your library. I know I would!

The Wren Men!

I have been listening to a lecture series on London, and at this point in time, the subject is the fire of 1666. It was major! Wiped out the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants, 87 churches, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Though there were only six verified deaths, it was probably because the deaths of poor and middle-class folks were not recorded, and those who died by incineration left no recognizable remains.

And so, famous architect Christopher Wren was engaged to re-build St. Paul's, the largest, tallest and most important landmark in London. Wren was born in October 1632 and died in February 1723. The rebuilding of St. Paul's took place right away. By a week or two after the fire, plans were in the works. Wren lost no time. Actually he worked out a plan to rebuild the city as a whole, but his plans were rejected, until a rebuilding act was passed in 1667 put him on the job when the King's Surveyor of Works died. By 1670 the pace of building was well under way. Wren was 48, and did not see the opening of the cathedral until he was 65.

Still, there was no dome yet complete. It would be 1710 when the it was finally topped off, but it was Wren's son, Christopher, that was at the ceremony. He was trained as an architect by his father, and saw the completion of the great work! Finally, in 1711 the elder Wren was paid the half of his salary that would come with the completion of the project, a 36-year labor of love. 

Upon his death, Christopher Wren Sr. was buried in St. Paul's, with a great epitaph. Written in Latin:

SUBTUS CONDITUR HUIUS ECCLESIÆ ET VRBIS CONDITOR CHRISTOPHORUS WREN, QUI VIXIT ANNOS ULTRA NONAGINTA, NON SIBI SED BONO PUBLICO. LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE Obijt XXV Feb: An°: MDCCXXIII Æt: XCI.

and translated here:

Here in its foundations lies the architect of this church and city, Christopher Wren, who lived beyond ninety years, not for his own profit but for the public good. Reader, if you seek his monument – look around you. Died 25 Feb. 1723, age 91. 

Oktoberfest! It's that time of year, and our thoughts turn to lifting a good German brew and munching a large salty pretzel! Prost!

I was listening to some streaming German polka music this morning on tv, and I caught sight of a side bar that mentioned that the first Oktoberfest celebration was in 1810. And, the history is interesting.

Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become king Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildurghausen on October 12, 1810. All of Munich was invited to attend the festivities on the fields in front of the city gates. The fields were named after Therese, called Theresa's Meadow, and the citizens having had a wonderful time, decided to commemorate the event each year. Horse races were added (a tradition that lasted to 1960). In 1811, an agricultural show was added to promote Bavarian farmers. In 1816 carnival booths appeared, with prizes given out. In 1819 Munich's founding citizens took over the fest, making it officially an annual event. The first festivals saw an attendance of around 40,000; today it is an occasion celebrated world-wide.

It now starts in late September in Germany because of the better weather, but always flows into October. Cancelled 24 times due to cholera epidemics and war, it still endures, and for whoever attends, it makes everyone want to be German for at least a day!

Zum Wohl! (Cheers!)

The Plague!

It's October, and you know what that means. Time to think about the macabre, watch horror flicks, read Gothic tales, embrace the suspenseful, ponder the scary, all in preparation of the climax of Halloween!

Right now, one of the most scary things we can imagine is the outbreak of the Ebola virus. It started out as a small outbreak, building slowly, then more rapidly and farther reaching. And, now it has reached our shores here in the US. It is something, even with our contemporary precautions and haz-mat suits, to be taken very seriously. In our quest to combat illness, we have perhaps distributed way too many antibiotics, and we now have resistant strains! These germs are more powerful and take more effort to eradicate!

The plague, or bubonic plague, is a deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia Pestis, named for French biologist Alexandre Yersin. Previously known as the Black Death, the word plague comes from the Latin meaning PLAGA or "blow or wound". I guess all the black, bleeding sores would seem like blows or strikes to the body.

I think back to the Black Plague in the 15th Century in England, and how, without benefit of our medical knowledge now, it wiped out hundreds of thousands of people.

For our purposes herein, I looked into the 18th Century, and their were plagues, indeed! At the beginning of the 1700's, plague was prevalent in Constantinople and along the Danube. By 1703 it caused great destruction in eastern Europe, spreading westward to parts of Germany and even as far as Scandinavia. Along the way more than 283,000 people died. In Sweden, more than 40,000!

In 1713, it spread through Austria and Bohemia, but then disappeared in Europe after a great hurricane in February 1714. Back again in France from 1720-22, with a contagion coming with a ship to port in Marseilles. Over the course, eventually 89,000 died, causing England, neighbors across the channel, to institute the idea of enforced quarantines and published pamphlets on the disease and what to watch for.

Finally, in 1743 in Sicily a famous plague outbreak is known not only for fatalities, but for the theory of contagion. Sicily was free of plague from 1624, and they were proud of their efforts to arrest the disease with quarantines. Then, in 1743, a ship arrived from Corfu, with some suspicious deaths. They burned the ship and its cargo, but soon after, a suspicious form of the disease was noticed in the hospital in the poorest part of town. The plague's tool was close to 50,000 lives, and then became extinct! Here, perhaps, was the first indication that dirty and flea-infested conditions might promote disease!

The famed Venetian carnival mask with its long beaked nose is the "Il Doctore", coming from the mask that was worn by doctors coming to visit the sick. Along with a long leather coat, the physician wore the mask which contained herbs in its nose. Breathing the herbs created a filter, it was thought, for the doctor against the germs emanating from the patient and the room!

Boston's Long Wharf

While in Boston, we visited the Museum of Fine Arts twice, because once is really not enough! Every time you go, there is something new or wonderful to see, something one didn't see before.

This time I found a wonderful painting by Fitz Hugh Lane called Boston Harbor, painted in 1850. It got me to thinking about the history of Boston harbor.

Boston's Long Wharf was build in from 1710 to 1721, and it was considered the busiest pier in the busiest port in America in Colonial times. It extends nearly a half mile into the harbor. Originally, it was built from the shoreline of Faneuil Hall and was 1/3 mile long. It extended into deep waters and thus allowed larger ships to dock and unload directly to warehouses in the area. It was constructed by Captain Oliver Noyes, and was considered the focus of the great harbor. It was originally known as Oliver's Dock!

Painter John Singleton Copley spent his childhood on the wharf where his mother had a tobacco shop. A famed tavern called the Bunch of Grapes was located there as well. In 1760 the Gardiner Building, once home to John Hancock's counting house was built, still standing today as a restaurant!