CARMEN DE FOYA : PRETTY SPANISH DANCER : COURTED BY A KING (1906)

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)

 

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Published in: on January 7, 2020 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF MISS BERTHA OLIVER: PARIS MUSIC HALL PERFORMER

This vintage real photo postcard features stage performer, Miss Bertha Oliver. She is beautiful and has a wonderful smile. This photograph was issued for Alhambra, a popular music hall in Paris, France. This postcard portrait was expertly taken by the celebrated French photographer, Paul Boyer (1861-1908). He photographed many famous people during his career. This postcard is published by Societe Industrielle de Photograpie (SIP) of Rueil, France and was part of a series (no. 1009). The postcard has excellent clarity and is in very good condition (see scans).   (SOLD)                                                                               

Published in: on October 25, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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BEAUTIFUL STAGE ACTRESS DENISE ORME (THREE VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARDS)

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The top vintage real photo postcard features stage actress Miss Denise Orme. She is very attractive and beautifully dressed. She is wearing a fur stole and and fur muffs. She has a lovely hat and wonderful smile. Miss Orme’s given name was Jessie Smither, and was later known as Duchess of Leinster. Denise Orme (1885-1960) was an English music hall singer, actress and musician who was a regular performeer at the Alhambra and Gaiety Theatres in London during the early years of the twentieth century. Her mother was a professor of music. She trained for her theatrical career at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. Her stage debut was in 1906 in the chorus at Daly’s Theatre in London. Later that same year she appeared in the title role of “See See” at the Prince of Wales Theatre. In 1906 she participated in gramophone recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado”. Her marital history reveals that she had a predilection to choosing husbands that were “rich and famous”. She was married to an English Baron, A Danish millionaire, and an Irish duke. She was the maternal grandmother of Aga Khan IV.who is the current Imam of Nizari Ismailism which is a denomination of of Ismailism within Shia Islam with 15 million adherents. He is also a British business magnate. Miss Orme’s photographic portrait was taken by the Foulsham and Banfield Studio. Foulsham & Banfield were well known celebrity photographers. Frank Foulsham and A. C. Banfield operated a studio in the 1900’s through the 1920’s. The postcard was published by Rotary Photo and is part of the Rotary Photographic Series (#4098 Q). The postcard has a postmark from London, England, and dated 1907. The postmark date reveals that this portrait of Miss Orme was taken at the beginning of her stage career. In the message section of the postcard, the sender asks the receiver, “What do you think of Denise?”. In addition, the sender asserts on the front of the postcard “Nice hat, isn’t it?”. I have to agree; not only is Miss Orme lovely, so is her hat…….  The second postcard shows the beautiful and well dressed Miss Orme peeking out from behind a curtain. The photographer is Alexander Bassano (1829-1913) who was a leading royal and high society photographer located in London. This postcard, like the first was published by Rotary Photo and is part of the Rotary Photographic Series (no. 1933 I)……. The third photo postcard portrait of Miss Orme presents a close-up profile view of this stunningly pretty young actress. Like the first two photo postcards, this one is also published by the Rotary Photo company and is part of the Rotary Photographic Series (no. 4098 M). The photograph was taken by “Play Pictorial” which was an English theatre magazine published in London between 1902 and 1939. The publication provided a pictorial presentation of West End theatrical productions with each issue focusing on just one play.

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REVERSE OF FIRST POSTCARD

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REVERSE OF SECOND POSTCARD

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REVERSE OF THIRD POSTCARD

Published in: on October 3, 2016 at 11:56 am  Comments (2)  
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TWO RISQUE IMAGES OF A LOVELY BALLERINA PLAYING CUPID (TWO-SIDED CABINET CARD PHOTOGRAPH)

This cabinet card is quite unusual in that it has photographic images on both sides of the card. A very pretty ballet dancer is from the Alhambra Ballet production of Cupid is pictured in each image. In one photograph her legs are crossed while in the second photograph her legs are open and her undergarment is visible through her transparent tutu. The cabinet card is risque for it’s era. The Alhambra was a theatre in London, England. It was opened in 1854 as “The Royal Panopticon”. A circus ring was added and it was reopened in 1858 as the Alhambra. The theatre stage hosted music hall acts, aerial acts, ballet, light opera, and other events. The theatre was closed and demolished in 1936. This cabinet card features a dancer from the ballet, Cupid which opened at the Alhambra on 5/24/1886. The principal dancer in this production was Emma Bessone, and research reveals that the ballerina in this image is likely Emma Bessone. She was an Italian dancer who trained at La Scala and became prima ballerina for both the Maryinsky and Bolshoi companies in Russia. The photographer of this cabinet card was Samuel A. Walker whose studio was located in London.

Published in: on October 11, 2010 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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