
The pretty woman in this vintage real photo postcard is the Spanish dancer, Carmen De Foya. “The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Activity (1905) reported on the De Foyas “consderable grace and skill” when she performed at the Alhambra theater in London, England. Her photo accompanied the article. “The San Francisco Call” (1905) labelled her a “famous Spanish Dancer” and announced her London appearance. The newspaper also added that when De Foya performed in Berlin, she danced at a function attended by the Kaiser. The German leader not only complimented De Foya, but also gave her diamond earrings. It is reported that the pair had an interesting exchange about marriage. When De Foya stated she wanted to get married, the Kaiser suggested that she marry an Englishman because they make the best husbands. “The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News” (1905) described De Foya’s act as “poetry in motion”. “The Esoteric Curiosa” (2014) tells a racy story about Miss De Foya. It seems Spain’s King Alfonso XIII nearly went to “the limit of foolishness” over “little Carmen de Foya”. She “knew how to make eyes at a King without getting into trouble”. One night at the Madrid Opera, she kicked her satin toes right at him. The next day King Alfonso sent her flowers and a card. The card said “The loveliest flowers of Spain, to Spain’s loveliest” The King was a known womanizer and he often acted on impulse. In an effort to avoid scandal, Defoya left the next day for Paris. Another version of this story has the two romantically linked. The photograph of Miss De Foya seen on this postcard, was taken by Leopold Reutlinger, a very well respected talented photographer based in Paris. One of his specialties was theatrical photography. The postcard was published by Societe Industrielle de Photograpie (SIP) of Rueil, France. The card is part of a series (no. 1309). The postmark indicates it was stamped in Arente (Italy) in the year 1906. (SOLD)
