#Knickerbocker Group

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

WALWORTH STILSON

The Writers of Knickerbocker New York is an essay on the Knickerbocker Group of writers by American essayist Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916). The Knickerbocker Group included such writers as Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryan, James Kirke Paulding, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Joseph Rodman Drake, Robert Charles Sands, Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, and Nathaniel Parker Willis, all of whom are discussed in Mabie's essay, which was published in 1912 by The Grolier Club of New York in an edition of 303 copies.

For the publication, the Club commissioned American artist Walworth Stilson (1874-1962) to produce these eleven wood-engraved head and tail pieces for each of the book's chapters. Surprisingly little is known about Stilson and his career beyond his immediate family, his 2-year attendance at the Detroit School of Art, his work as an illustrator only up to 1912, a studio fire some time before 1925, and his death in 1962; a remarkable lack of information for a man who lived to be 88 years old. Still, we find these engravings to be quite charming.

Our copy, another gift from our friend Jerry Buff, who is also a Grolier Club member, bears bookplates from two other notable collectors:

The American adventurer and book collector Cortlandt F. Bishop (1870-1935);

and Harold Hugo (1910-1985), longtime administrator and president of the Meriden Gravure Company and a board member of the Stinehour Press since its founding in the 1950s. Hugo's bookplate is a wood engraving by noted South African-born British calligraphic wood engraver Leo Wyatt (1909-1991), who has signed the plate.

View more posts with books donated by Jerry Buff.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[blazefirefox]

BEHOLD, MORE ENA OCS

I was rewatching the Dream BBQ announcement trailer when I noticed one of the spinning ENAs had the exact same colors as ThEna, just swapped, so I got the idea of making ENA OCs based on the other ENAs seen.

Here are my first three, the spooky siblings (based on color scheme), Enette, Enalise, and RegEna (left to right). I created GEna to complete the trifecta lol

Individuals + their "serial numbers"

Extra Info:

This group of sibs work with the ENA seen in Dream BBQ, under Froggy. They're pretty much the closest things she has to friends in her workplace, and they enjoy her company (GEna doesn't show it much tho)

Enatte (ENA-8532-01):

Orange - Efficient; the oldest ENA of any batch is expected to excel and be an example for their sibs, but this was driven into 01 more, as her batch was the first completely functional trio of ENAs that were created for a while. Unlike her sisters, 01 fully enjoys her job, even respecting Froggy a great amount. Her voice headcannon is Ben Balmaceda (specifically Kaveh from Genshin Impact, mostly just Ben himself).

Saffron - Mischievous; after years of conditioning to be a golden example for all Worker ENAs, her desires to be free and do what she enjoys culminated in her troublemaker side, which 01 does a good job repressing until she's off from work. The most important thing her siblings know about this side is that she usually goes along with what shenanigans they do. Her voice headcannon is Brianna Knickerbocker (specifically Hu Tao from Genshin Impact).

RegEna [GEna] (ENA-8532-02)

Purple - Haughty; she loves her older sister, she really does. But 02 hates how seriously she expects them to take this stupid job. Before they matured, 02 was known for her mean streak, often taking out her frustrations of the world on younger ENAs that were unfortunate to come her way. It wasn't until she accidentally hurt her younger sister that she started calming down. Now, she just a normal asshole. Her voice headcannon is Ryan Sean O’Donohue (specifically Demyx from Kingdom Hearts).

Orange - Guilty; when the sibs were assigned to work under Froggy, 02's siblings noticed that her other side became more downcast and self-deprecating, bursting into tears and continually apologizing for how she acts when her dominant side is in control, especially to 03. The youngest ENA in question does not know how to feel about this. Her voice headcannon is Erica Mendez (specifically White Lily Cookie from Cookie Run: Kingdom).

Enalise [Lisa] (ENA-8532-03)

Saffron - Thoughtful; unlike her older sisters, who either love or detest their job, 03 usually doesn't pay any mind to it, and does an average job. She actually is drawn to the oddness of the world around her, what secrets they hold, why things work like they do. She can't help but feel envious of Scholar ENAs since they have the access and knowledge 03 so desperately wants. Her voice headcannon is Khoi Dao (specifically Albedo from Genshin Impact).

Purple - Judgemental; experiencing 02's behavior before their full maturity shaped 03's annoyance into a need to reprimand everything she does and to communicate what 02's problem is in her own way, thus her snappy, but kind of well-meaning side. 03 is less shameful of this side than others think she should be, as the youngest ENA believes that "she was made the way she was, and she's going to let what emotions slip through happen." Her voice headcannon is Brittney Karbowski (specifically Mio from Ghost Stories Dub).

Next is Enaline, based on the ENA in the second picture on the right!

Alt. Outfit + her old Worker look

Extra Info:

Created as a Worker ENA, Enaline would become a Runaway after her other sibs went "missing under mysterious circumstances" and she "saw something she shouldn't have", as she puts it. Not much is known about her past other than this, as she soon becomes unresponsive after giving up too much information. She's mostly seen hanging out in the Karaoke Bar AthEna (ThEna) works at, and is very social, depending on which side is dominant.

Enaline (ENA-7450-03)

Sky Blue - Carefree; after experiencing The Horrors™, Enaline decides that she won't let her past and regrets tie her down, so she up and leaves the Sector she grew up in and ended up settling in the area overseen by The Clown. She is very jovial in this state, being more of an 'act first think about the consequences later' kind of ENA. Her voice headcannon is Kieran Regan (specifically Shikanoin Heizou from Genshin Impact).

Salmon - Existential; despite her attempts, Enaline can never fully leave behind the cause of her upturned life, and when she thinks about that, she becomes unpleasant (at least that's what she thinks). The former Worker feels a constant dread tugging at her in this state, something she can't remedy no matter what she does. All Enaline can do is not think about all of that while she's Carefree, and everything will be fine! Her voice headcannon is Monica Rial (specifically Momoko Koigakubo from Ghost Stories Dub).

@anniewuubelike 👀👀👀

[gamerkir]

I was thinking of something while writing a W.I.T.C.H. story earlier. Principal Knickerbocker.

She went to school with the former guardians in canon (comics mentioned it I believe) right? So you're telling me she saw the group of five close friends who often ran off or got into mischief together and seemed so close while in school herself. She saw as one friend died, one vanish off the face of the earth at the same time, and the other three drift apart.

And then decades later she's a principal at the school and she sees a new student come in and make friends and she suddenly sees a group of five girls who are close friends and run off or get into mischief together?

You're telling me this woman lived through two generations of Guardians and was nearby enough to know them and she didn't see the similarities? Didn't get flashbacks of C.H.Y.K.N. before everything fell apart while looking at W.I.T.C.H.?

[heartsinthebasement]

Wednesday 22 May

“The group and their entourage arrived and sat in the lounge area. They came through, picked up some bits and pieces from the buffet, and took them back to the bar area, where they were all having a few beers. They were very matey, very ordinary, lots of jokes and banter. They stayed up really late, quite a large crowd of them, drinking and smoking. I was so tired after working such a long shift, but they were such friendly lads, I didn’t mind.

“The next morning, they played a joke on one of the chambermaids. She had gone in to clean the room, and they were all in one bed! She was quite shocked! That morning there was a group of fans outside, and we were told by the management to keep our mouths shut, and not to reveal any details of the group’s stay. The Beatles were a breath of fresh air, somebody with a different accent, very polite.” Charles Finch, restaurateur

Thursday 23 May

John, Paul and George stopped off for lunch at the Willow Cafe in Stamford, Rutland (Paul ordered a knickerbocker glory with a fried egg on top), while Ringo ate with Terry Young Six bassist John Rostill at the nearby Olde Barn Restaurant.

At the end of the evening, several fans made their way to the back entrance of the cinema in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Beatles. They were not to be disappointed-the group appeared through a door at the top of the fire escape and waved. John balanced a pile of autograph books and LPs on the railing, throwing them down to the fans. Many of the LPs and books were ruined. One fan remembered, ‘The fab four thought it was very funny and went back inside laughing, leaving scenes of mayhem below. I’ve been a bit ambivalent about them since.’

[casualsnickers]

Month of Emmet Quick Write #18

Prompt #18: Dance

Emmet has a tendency to lose himself in his work. Especially if that work involves not having to talk in the slightest. And it just so happens that it's maintenance day for a beaten-up train cab.

Read the whole thing below the cut.

Emmet wiped the sweat from his brow, slowly ensuring that the last bolt was firmly in its position before scooting back to admire his handiwork. The entire day had been spent meticulously pouring over a train cab that had been needing service for some time after suffering an onslaught of ice. And by using his work time to fix the cab, Emmet himself felt well-maintained and ship-shape as though having come fresh off the assembly line himself.

Emmet carefully took a step away from the unfinished cab, laying his tools on the detached cloth seat he’d been sitting on as he carefully stepped through the gutted cab and onto the rocky railyard where the sound of gravel and ballast shifting underfoot quickly lifted his mood. 

Steam and smoke rose in lazy circles from the Anville Railyard. Other locomotive engineers moved back-and-forth across the semi-noisy yard, hearty conversations filtering through the air as they each lugged their toolbags after them. Each worker would stop and raise a welcoming hand to Emmet as he passed them, tipping their hats but without words. After all, Emmet wasn’t a man for words or small talk; he just needed a break before he got back to work.

In the shade of the engine house, Emmet peeled off his backup cap, leaned against the tin wall, and took a deep drink of water, wiping the excess away with an oil-stained sleeve. Today has been a great day. I have been here for hours maintaining the same car. I am making progress! Emmet moved further back into the recess of the engine house, finding a spare chair to sit in as he took off his stained gloves and checked his Xtransceiver, crossing one leg over another.

A message or two from the group chat he shared with Elesa and Skyla. A note from Ingo about his brother potentially departing from his battling line early to buy some sandwiches from a popular deli spot not too far from Nimbasa City. Emails from his subordinates about new paperwork sent in from the mayor of Nimbasa City. Emmet only rolled his eyes and turned off his Xtransceiver, allowing his gaze to rest on the many disconnected freight cars that littered the rail yard.

Things are finally back in order. And. I am not so stressed anymore. Emmet smiled a bit wider when a familiar pokémon lumbered into the engine house, the amber gems studded along its body glowing as the rock-type pokémon clattered over to Emmet and easily lifted him onto its back.

“Boldore. You are not a chair!” Emmet scolded playfully.

Emmet’s Boldore often remained at the railyard and much like its trainer, would spend almost the entire day staring at the trains and studying them when idle. And Boldore, sensing that its trainer had been taking too long of a break, began stumbling out of the engine house with Emmet atop its back. Emmet only rolled his eyes and leaned back, allowing himself to be carried back to the cab he’d been working on without so much as a fuss.

Working with engines and cabs was mindless. Fun, even. Emmet saw the work not like he saw battling. Battling came down to strategy, luck, and power. But assembly and engineering? Those were based on skill. Intellect. Patterns. Emmet knew every tool that could be used to both deconstruct and reassemble the axle and undercarriage of a Knickerbocker. He knew the blueprints of the wirings of a Juniata like he knew the back of his hands. Emmet had memorized the unique coupling mechanisms of the Saluki and he knew exactly what kind of oil worked best for engines like the Shavano and the Steel King.

Emmet usually performed best without talking. And on his days spent at the railyard, he let his hands do all the talking, the way he could seamlessly work and twist and reach, performing intricate but mindless dances with his hands and fingers as Emmet never faltered or forgot the smallest of screws. Each silencing of a creaky joint through the application of oil was like music to his ears. He counted faraway train whistles and nearly skipped when he heard them, listening idly when new beaten up cabs were dragged in and the pistons of the dragging train surged against the metal of the train tracks, audible for miles around.

Metal clacked. Rocks shifted. Emmet turned, his smile widening as he sighted a familiar Klinklang float over to the door of the cab he was situated in. And then came a familiar man.

“Boss Emmet! It’s time to start wrapping things up!” Emmet paused as a familiar face pokéd into the cab he was working in, the depot agent tipping his oil-stained hat to Emmet as the man took a careful step inside. The man then whistled. “Nice job, boss! At this rate, you’ll have this old cab up and running by next week!”

“Thank you verrry much, Josh!” Emmet grunted as he got to his feet, grimacing upon hearing something in his back give. “...Not a word.”

Depot Agent Josh laughed heartily at the notion, reaching down to grab Emmet by the backstrap of his suspenders. “Not to worry. Your secret’s safe with me, bossman. But really. We should get going.” Josh gestured at a clipboard he’d been carrying under his arm, tapping one chewed-up pen at the clipped paper. “It’s almost midday and we’re supposed to be on the car back to Central Unova no later than noon.”

Emmet nodded, setting one hand delicately upon his Klingklang’s sturdy frame. His pokémon shuddered and whirled, giving a hearty clack before retreating back to its pokéball. “I guess. It is time to report back to Gear Station.”

“Good. Nice to know you’re on board for once. Almost thought you had left already,” Josh commented, patting the excess dust from his stained uniform. “Kept calling and calling for you- no response.”

Emmet paused, cocking his head. “Really? I did not hear you.”

“I know.” Josh shrugged. “You tend to get lost in your work whenever you’re here, boss. It’s like you’re completely deaf to the world whenever you’re working with the cars.” Josh then nudged Emmet with his elbow, grinning mischievously. “I sometimes think you’d rather be here with the broken cars than back at the station.”

“That is… not true.” Emmet crossed his arms and turned up his nose, his eyes crinkling when he noticed Josh struggling to keep pace with him. “I simply enjoy the break.”

“Right, right. Says the man that hums and whistles when he’s elbow-deep in months-old oil.”

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

By 

Georgia Worrell and Dean Balsamini

The so-called “Soup Nazi” who allegedly went on an antisemitic rampage at the kosher Hummus Kitchen this week has been identified as Mayra Teke, of Paterson, NJ, according to a neighbor and family member.

The well-coiffed, sharply-dressed blonde bigot hammed it up for the cameras Wednesday night after her twisted tirade on the Upper East Side, where she tried to pull down an Israel flag, threw soup at an employee and called staffers “murderers.”

But she was decidedly dressed down — and in no mood to pose — when confronted by a Post reporter and photographer on Knickerbocker Avenue in Paterson on Saturday morning. She was clad in gray sweatpants, purple crocs, a facemask and a hoodie emblazoned with, “That’s an awful lot of cough syrup.”

In fact, Teke tried to duck the press attention, telling a neighbor to lie to The Post about where she lived.

She sported tattoos on her right hand that matched that of the woman recorded outside Hummus Kitchen. When a Post reporter called out, “Mayra,” she turned, paused, and then stepped into a gray Mercedes and drove off without responding.

She was identified from photos by a neighbor, who phoned her mom in front of a reporter. 

The mother could be heard saying, “Don’t talk to anyone.” Mayra, who was with her mom, then got on the line and told the neighbor to say she moved out. 

The neighbor confirmed that Mayra lived at the Knickerbocker Avenue address, whose mailbox read “Teke.”

The Wednesday tirade unfolded at 9:45 p.m. A 45-second video shows a worker calling cops amid the chaos as the vandal tries, but fails, to pull down the banner. A second video shows her throwing soup and flipping the bird as she walk out. 

A video of the ugly episode was posted to X, where it has garnered more than 7 million views.

It was uploaded by StopAntisemitism, a “leading non-partisan U.S-based organization fighting antisemitism.” The group identified the perpetrator as Teke.

“We didn’t know her,” a Hummus Kitchen employee, Brenda, told The Post of the loutish woman “in her 20s.” The stunned server who had soup tossed at her “was still pretty upset” and declined comment.

[jules-has-notes]

2017 Kettering A Cappella Festival — VoicePlay live performances

Three years after their previous appearance, VoicePlay returned to the stage in Dayton as professional headliners for the Kettering National A Cappella Festival. Their recent schedule hadn't allowed as much educational outreach as usual, so they enjoyed what time they had with the kids.

.

[Here is another recording from the side of the stage with more of their entrance.]

A toe-tapping tune with an audience participation element is a fantastic way to kick off a show. With a performance like this one, it's not surprising that the crowd treat them like the rockstars they are.

Details:

title: Mr. Blue Sky

original songs / performers: "Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO (Electric Light Orchestra); [1:10] "Blue Skies" by Ben Selvin & Charles Kaley (as The Knickerbockers)

written by: "Mr. Blue Sky" by Jeff Lynne; "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 11 November 2017

My favorite bits:

the crunchy harmonies on ♫ "sun shines brightly" ♫ ☀

J.None working the front row, and the kids' resulting excitement

Layne looping back for his mic stand without missing a beat

"So far, you've been helping us… not so much." 😆 (Very diplomatic.)

the smooth transitions into and out of the "Blue Skies" section

Geoff giving Layne's arm a friendly bump as they cross on the riser

using the mini megaphones to replicate the voice distortions from the original song

the build up to the lovely ending chord

Trivia:

The guys performed this arrangement for a little over a year more before they finally filmed a video for it as the first entry in the second round of their PartWork series.

The mini megaphones later made an appearance in the music video for their cover of "You're My Best Friend" by Queen.

.

There's a ton of overlap between a cappella kids and theater kids, so it was an easy choice for VoicePlay to include a song from the biggest musical of the 21st century in their setlist. It's interesting to see how their new member and a live setting led to adjustments in the arrangement from the recorded version.

Details:

title: My Shot

original performers: cast of Hamilton: An American Musical (2015)

written by: Lin-Manuel Miranda & Alex Lacamoire

arranged by: Layne Stein

performance date: 11 November 2017

My favorite bits:

shifting the vocal roles with J.None taking on both the Hamilton and Burr lines

all the audience members singing along

the projections on the backdrop

Earl's fantastic French accent and that dip into his lower register

the moment of silence after ♫ "you're gonna get shot" ♫ and Layne's gunshot sound effect

the building tension during Geoff's repetition of ♫ "When are these colonies gonna rise up?" ♫

harmonized fast patter lyrics

J's big old belt leading into the ending section

Trivia:

VoicePlay had released their video for this song a year and a half earlier, shortly before the 2016 Tony Awards.

This video was originally posted to Facebook by the Western Brown Choirs from Mount Orab, Ohio.

.

Every performance of this piece is unique. It's also one of the best demonstrations of their group name, a chance for the boys to play together for everyone's amusement, including their own. Unfortunately, this clip is only the first two verses and one chorus, but it's still fun while it lasts.

Details:

title: Elvira

original performers: The Oak Ridge Boys

written by: Dallas Frazier

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 11 November 2017

My favorite bits:

troublemaker Eli nudging Earl to take center stage

pouty Geoff sitting on the edge of the riser, and the ensuing gesture conversation between him and Earl

J.None's smooth runs

Eli's big old riff

Trivia:

This fan favorite tune was a staple of VoicePlay's live shows for many years, including on the 2015 Sing-Off tour, but they've never made a music video for it because the audience response is so integral to the humor of it.

Their buddies in Home Free enjoyed this arrangement so much that they asked to use it as a starting point for their own version recorded with The Oak Ridge Boys.

.

Additional photos

.

The crowd was pretty excited for the post-show meet and greet.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FloVoice (@flovoice)

[ryebecca]

there is a flower within my heart (ft. robert ‘bob’ floyd’)

POV: It’s 1893 in New York City, what history will later call “The Gilded Age.” Lt. Robert Floyd, late of the U.S. Navy, has worked his way up from a veteran down on his luck to one of the most successful shipping magnates this side of the East Coast. But all the money and success in the world cannot buy him a place in “the 400,” Mrs. Astor’s exclusive group of well-to-do “old money” Knickerbocker families. And then he met you.

The only problem? You’re the daughter of one of the oldest families in New York, tracing your history all the way back to the earliest Dutch settlements. The very idea of a union between the two of you would be laughable! But there’s one thing you’ve yet to learn about Robert Floyd - he always gets what he wants.

I got to chatting with @bradshawsbaby​ and somehow this manifested itself into being! Care for some mood music? I highly recommend this! Enjoy! ❤️

[mariana-oconnor]

Black Peter pt 2

I still maintain that Captain Carey shot himself with a harpoon. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Alighting at the small wayside station, we drove for some miles through the remains of widespread woods, which were once part of that great forest which for so long held the Saxon invaders at bay—the impenetrable “weald,” for sixty years the bulwark of Britain.

A mini history lesson from Watson for us. Was not expecting that. Thank you. This is very informative. And also an interesting little critical aside about industrialisation and deforestation in the Victorian era.

Stanley Hopkins [...] introduced us to a haggard, grey-haired woman, the widow of the murdered man, whose gaunt and deep-lined face, with the furtive look of terror in the depths of her red-rimmed eyes, told of the years of hardship and ill-usage which she had endured. With her was her daughter, a pale, fair-haired girl, whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as she told us that she was glad that her father was dead, and that she blessed the hand which had struck him down.

Firstly, good for her. Secondly, do these ladies not get names? No names available for them? They have to be immortalised only in their relationship to an abusive dead man. Although I supposed the daughter is described as 'her' daughter rather than Carey's.

Clearly they aren't viable suspects if they don't have names. Pity. They deserved to do it.

Stanley Hopkins drew the key from his pocket, and had stooped to the lock, when he paused with a look of attention and surprise upon his face. “Someone has been tampering with it,” he said.

Someone wanted their book back, perhaps? But apparently someone not very good at picking locks. Sucks to be them.

"Let us walk in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds and the flowers."

He does love his walks through the countryside.

It was past eleven o'clock when we formed our little ambuscade.

Excellent word. This is the second time it has arisen. Means 'ambush' and last time we saw it, I believe, was when the poor cook in Wisteria Lodge was arrested for a crime he did not commit, that the police officer in charge of arresting him knew he did not commit. That's an unfortunate connotation for a good word.

What savage creature was it which might steal upon us out of the darkness? Was it a fierce tiger of crime, which could only be taken fighting hard with flashing fang and claw, or would it prove to be some skulking jackal, dangerous only to the weak and unguarded?

Watson's really getting into this. We're back with the tigers again, but also Jackals. Rude, btw. Anubis might want a word. Jackals hunt bigger animals in groups. Honestly, I wouldn't want to meet a tiger or a jackal in the middle of the night.

'Tiger of Crime', though. What a phrase.

The nocturnal visitor was a young man, frail and thin, with a black moustache which intensified the deadly pallor of his face. He could not have been much above twenty years of age. I have never seen any human being who appeared to be in such a pitiable fright, for his teeth were visibly chattering and he was shaking in every limb. He was dressed like a gentleman, in Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers, with a cloth cap upon his head.

This was all very atmospheric until we got to the word knickerbockers, which just isn't a word I can ever take seriously. Honestly the problem with knickerbockers is that when you actually see a picture of them, they're really very boring looking. They shouldn't be. It's such a comedic word.

He returned with a large book, one of the log-books which formed a line upon the shelves. Leaning on the table he rapidly turned over the leaves of this volume until he came to the entry which he sought. Then, with an angry gesture of his clenched hand, he closed the book, replaced it in the corner, and put out the light.

OK, so not after the book they found, but just after some information from one of the books. Hmmmm.

“First of all, what is your name?” “It is John Hopley Neligan.”

Well now you've got a name, you're definitely a suspect. Luckily for you it has the same initials as in the book they found, which officially makes you Too Obvious.

“Can I speak confidentially?” “No, certainly not.”

At least they are being honest with him.

"It has always been said that my father stole all the securities and fled. It is not true. It was his belief that if he were given time in which to realize them all would be well and every creditor paid in full. He started in his little yacht for Norway just before the warrant was issued for his arrest."

...

Bye! I'm off to Norway, but I'm totes innocent and not stealing any money. See you!

"He left us a list of the securities he was taking, and he swore that he would come back with his honour cleared, and that none who had trusted him would suffer. Well, no word was ever heard from him again. Both the yacht and he vanished utterly."

... John... I hate to break this to you, but I don't think he was going to Norway to work things out.

Like, maybe in the story he was, but this is just such a fake death. "Daddy's gone to Norway to make everything better, little Johnny!" Mmhmm. The only way this could amuse me more is if he were in a canoe.

"We had a faithful friend, however, who is a business man, and it was he who discovered some time ago that some of the securities which my father had with him have reappeared on the London market."

You astonish me.

The entire framing of this story makes me feel like in the story Neligan Sr. is as innocent as his son believes and was done dastardly by Captain Carey in some way, but this story is so unbelievable. Gonna just nope out of there and sail to fucking Norway and that will totally solve all our problems? The logic. The reason. The chivalry of leaving your wife and child behind to deal with the disgrace and your disappearance alone. Daddy was a dickhead, Johnny boy.

"It struck me that if I could see what occurred in the month of August, 1883, on board the Sea Unicorn, I might settle the mystery of my father's fate."

Yes, I am going to put a narwhal gif whenever the ship name comes up. If ACD didn't want this to happen, he should have named the ship something else.

“You have nothing else to tell us?” He hesitated. “No; there is nothing.”

“Then how do you account for that?” cried Hopkins, as he held up the damning note-book, with the initials of our prisoner on the first leaf and the blood-stain on the cover.

Hopkins is really channelling Holmes here with his dramatic reveal.

And it seems like Neligan Jr here really should have been coming back to get his own book. He just didn't realise he'd dropped it. Which is weird. If I had been at a murder site earlier and then found out I had lost something, my mind would immediately spiral into 'oh shit, you dropped it at the murder site, you utter numpty', but apparently John Neligan does not doom spiral like I do. Apparently this possibility hasn't even occurred to him. Not a thought between those ears, huh?

“That is enough,” said Hopkins, sternly. “Whatever else you have to say you must say in court."

Or... you might say... You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say can be given in evidence.

Or... something like that. Eventually. When the official Police Caution comes in.

"As it turns out your presence was unnecessary, and I would have brought the case to this successful issue without you..."

Ah. Hopkins. You were doing so well up to this point. But now you've gone and cursed yourself. Sorry. I don't make the rules.

And then they all went to tea at the Brambletye Hotel and had lashings of tea.

But no... there is still another part. Obviously, because we all know Captain Carey was killed in a (not so) tragic Harpoon cleaning accident, so Mr Neligan has to be freed.

[whitepolaris]

World’s Largest Haunted Place

by Troy Taylor

Lying beneath the forests and hills of central Kentucky is the largest known cave in the world. Mammoth Cave became a National Park in 1941, and now welcomes some two million visitors annually, but humans first explored its endless paths, passages, and tunnels as long ago in 12,000 years. Indigenous peoples used the cave as a burial for their dead, and several mummies have been unearthed here over the years. 

The first owners of the land mined the save for saltpeter (essential to the production of gunpowder) until demand dropped off at the end of the War of 1812. It was then that the owners opened the cave to tourists, and it became more and more famous as the nineteenth century progressed. 

It’s hardly surprising that an underground world of dark corners, shadowy crevices, and black waters have given rise to a number of ghostly tales, and those said to have taken place in Mammoth Cave span several generations. For every tourist who has no understanding of the natural phenomena of caves and consequently interprets an occurrence as “weird,” there is a knowledgeable park ranger, guide, geologist, or spelunker who has encountered things that cannot easily be explained. 

I’ve visited Mammoth Cave several times and have talked with many of the people who work there. Most of the park rangers are reluctant to discuss ghosts stories, but a few don’t laugh off the odd tales and will share their observations of strange phenomena. Among those are three ghosts who are particularly noteworthy: a slave who had the distinction of being the first man to map the cave system, a girl spurned by her beau, and a onetime owner of the portion of the cave system known as Crystal Cave. 

The Slave Stephen Bishop

In 1838, landowner Franklin Gorin introduced Stephen Bishop, a sixteen-year-old slave, to the cave. Bishop would become the first man to explore and map the cave system. He served as an expert guide there for the rest of his life, and so loved the dark underground world that he purportedly turned down a chance for freedom because it would mean leaving Mammoth Cave behind. 

Science teacher Larry Purcell, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, worked as a summer guide at the cave for a number of years and had some strange experiences, one of which could have been connected to the ghost of Bishop. 

One day, Purcell was on a tour when the group stopped as another guide delivered his regular talk. The lights were all off, and it was Purcell’s job to go down the path and turn them back on. 

“As I was walking along, I saw a black man with a woman and two children,” Purcell said. “The man had on white pants, a dark shirt, a white vest, and a white Panama hat. The people were real enough that I walked around them. But when I turned on the lights, they were no longer there.” The late 1880s attire worn by the vanishing man was from Bishop’s time, so who knows whether Bishop might have been in the mood to conduct a family tour of the cave. 

Purcell isn’t the only one who may have encountered Stephen Bishop. Other visitors have reported seeing a man of the former slave’s description and have assumed him to be part of a historic tour, perhaps playing the part of Bishop. When they’ve asked about the man or have looked for him again, he is gone. 

Spurned Melissa

Another cave ghost more famous, probably because her story was told in “A Tragedy in Mammoth Cave,” an article that appeared in Knickerbocker magazine in February 1858. The central character is a girl named Melissa, who lived near Mammoth Cave. The article states that she told the entire tale on her deathbed before succumbing to consumption-the affliction now known as tuberculosis. 

Melissa had fallen in love with her tutor, a young Bostonian named Beverleigh. But the tutor rebuffed Melissa’s affections and began courting a neighbor girl instead. So Melissa plotted her revenge. 

Familiar with the twists and turns of Mammoth Cave, she lured Mr. Beverleigh there for a “tour.” At Echo River, an underground stream deep in the cave, she vanished into a side passage, leaving the poor man to find his own way out. 

Days passed without any sign of Beverleigh. A despairing Melissa, who had intended only to play a cruel trick, began to make daily treks underground. She searched and called out to the object of her affection until she was hoarse, but Beverleigh would never be seen again. 

A few years after the tragedy, Melissa was diagnosed with consumption and died a short time later. It is said that she never recovered from her guilt over her tutor’s death. Many believe that her ghost is still seen and heard in Mammoth Cave, desperately searching for the unfortunate Mr. Beverleigh. 

The story has its share of melodrama, but don’t dismiss it too quickly. Gary Bremer, a former Mammoth Cave guide, says there may be something credible about the tale. Several years ago, Bremer and four others were in a boat on Echo River. One of men left to get another paddle for the boat, and Bremer remembers what happened next: “Those of us in the boat all heard a woman calling out. It wasn’t screaming. It was more like she was looking for someone.” It wasn’t until the next day that Bremer first heard the story of Melissa. 

This wouldn’t be Bremer’s last encounter on the Echo River. A short time later, he was there with a new employee who had never seen the river before. She suddenly turned and grabbed his shoulder. “Did you hear a woman cough?” she asked. Bremer felt a cold chill. Melissa had died of tuberculosis, he remembered. 

The other employee verified Bremer’s version of the experience and added that she had also heard garbled voices wafting through the cave, and on another night believed she heard someone whisper her name. 

A Ghost Named Floyd

Not all of the weird tales from Mammoth Cave are set in areas accessible to the public. Many of the strangest come from Crystal Cave, once believed to be a separate cave and operated as a private attraction. It is no longer open to the public, yet the stories that surround this portion of the cave are too mysterious to ignore. 

Most of these legends involve the ghost of W. Floyd Collins, an avid cave explorer and the former owner of Crystal Cave, which he had discovered by accident in the winter of 1916-17. He and his family opened the cave in 1918, after which Collins constantly sought a commercially exploitable hook that would ensnare tourists. 

His explorations led him to a hole on a nearby farm that the press would later call the Sand Cave-in reality, a series of narrow, twisting crevices that Collins sought to expand. What he thought could be a commercial boom actually become his undoing. While working at the site on January 30, 1925, he was trapped in a small passage after part of the cave collapsed and his foot became wedged under a rock. 

Despite a massive effort, constantly shifting earth prevented searchers from rescuing Collins, who was trapped for two weeks before he died. 

A few decades, a group of Mammoth Cave employees was on an after-hours excursion in Crystal Cave when they noticed an old whiskey bottle resting on a rock ledge. One of the men in the group picked it up, looked at it, and put it back in the same spot. The group then walked on deeper into the cave. 

Later that evening, one of the men was walking back toward the cave entrance and was passing the bottle when he heard something. “It was just behind my ear,” he stated. “I heard as though someone had flicked a finger against glass . . . a clink. I turned around just in time to see the bottle hit the ground.”

Another man who was with him jumped back in shock. He claimed that the whiskey bottle hadn’t fallen but instead had come straight out from the ledge and just dropped! “That little clink was loud enough to make me look back toward the ledge,” he remembered, “and as I did, the bottle actually came out and then went right down in front of me. It was very bizarre.”

Could the ghost of Floyd Collins be responsible for this strange occurrence? The men involved wondered whether this was the case, but a later event took place in the area would have a more direct connection to the man. 

In July 1976, a former Crystal Cave employee named George Wood filed a report saying that he and another employee, Bill Cobb, spent a day checking springs for a study on groundwater flow. They didn’t make it to the last spring, which was near the abandoned Collins house on Flint Ridge, until after dark. Cobb went to the spring while Wood waited near the truck. After a few moments, Wood heard the sound of a man crying out. At first, he thought it was his friend calling for help, but the voice seemed too high-pitched. It was also so faint that he had to listen carefully to hear what it was saying. 

The voice called out over and over again: “Help me! Help me! Help me, I’m trapped! Johnny, help me!” 

As wood stood there on the edge of the truck of a dark road, he felt a cold chill as he recalled hearing about how Floyd Collins was trapped-and where he was trapped: In Sand Cave, only a short distance away. 

A few minutes later, Cobb returned to the truck and Wood asked him if he had been calling for him. Cobb said no, and that he had heard nothing while at the spring. But after hearing his friend’s account of the cries, Cobb admitted that he was spooked. The two men didn’t waste any time before driving off. 

Could the spectral voice have really belonged to Floyd Collins? And if so, could the “Johnny” heard in the mysterious cry have referred to Johnny Gerald, a friend of Floyd’s and the last person to speak with him before the cave collapse sealed him off from recuse? Is his spirit still trapped in the cave, or could the sound have been merely an eerie echo of yesterday?

A Media Circus

The determined but failed attempted to recuse Floyd Collins became a national sensation even without the aid of TV. Radio and the press were enough to keep the public fascinated by what was happened. In fact, it could be said that the story reached historic proportions. Louisville Courier-Journal reporter William Burke (”Skeets”) Miller, who interviewed the trapped man several time, won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage. Years later, the drama surrounding Collins’s death inspired the 1951 movie Ace in the Hole (originally titled The Big Carnival), and famed author Robert Penn Warren based his novel The Cave (1959) on the event. 

Two years after Collins died, his family sold Crystal Cave to a local dentist, who would cash in one the media circus surrounding the death in a rather macabre way. 

As part of the property transfer, the dentist gained the right to exhume Collins’s body and move it to Crystal Cave. It was placed in a glass-covered, bronzed metal coffin that would be set in the middle of the tourist trail leading to the cave’s main concourse. Thereafter, guides recounted the former owner’s exploits as wide-eyed tourists gazed at Collins’s waxen face. 

In 1989, W. Floyd Collins-cave explorer, businessman, promoter-found his final resting place at nearby Flint Ridge Cemetery. Today his memory lives on in the Floyd Collins Museum, located in Cave City on Old Mammoth Cave Road. 

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Baby Boomer Classics: Dance Sixties 1985/1988 R&B / Soul / Rock & Roll

Marking my return to my glorious music blog with a whole batch of feet-movin' classics from yesteryear. Here we have Dance Sixties, a dispatch from the California-based JCI label's Baby Boomer Classics series that gives us a brief glimpse into some old, uptempo gold.

But before we get right into it, there's a couple things that need addressing: firstly, there is more than one iteration of this comp that's floating around out there. The original one came out in 1985, and then a newer version surfaced a few years afterwards that replaced a couple tracks. And what I have here is a combination of both of those albums.

And second—and I don't know how on earth I keep running into such fundamental errors with releases like these—this album purports to be comprised of nothing but 60s dance hits, but that's not entirely true. For example, Ike & Tina Turner's Grammy-winning cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" is not a 60s song. It was recorded and released in 1970. It's a terrifically infectious R&B number and all, but it really has no business being on this release.

Speaking of covers, though, this overall selection is pretty interesting, because a whole bunch of these songs were actually made more famous by other people. And in a couple of cases, those artists who made those songs more famous are on here, but the songs that they supply are different hits.

For instance, this album's excellently noisy closer, Cannibal & The Headhunters' #30 US hit, "Land of 1000 Dances"—which is actually a cover in and of itself of Chris Kenner's 1962 version—was made far more famous by Wilson Pickett. But Wilson Pickett's offering here is another one of his biggest hits, "In the Midnight Hour," which happens to kick off this whole Dance Sixties affair.

And the same goes for Aretha Franklin too. It would've been perfectly understandable for her cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" to be on here, as it's one of the single-most important entries in the American songbook, with both its soundtracking of the civil rights movement throughout the late 60s and its assertive reversal of traditional gender roles in its lyrics; but it's Otis' original that appears on here, while Aretha's also sublime "Think" is supplied as well.

And to the untrained ear, one might think that there's another Aretha song on here too: "Rescue Me," which was by the unfairly blackballed Fontella Bass, but has been assumed by many over the years to have been an Aretha song itself, so much so, that Aretha actually performed it in an ad for Pizza Hut back in the day as "Deliver Me" 😭.

How can you not get a kick out of this silly shit?!:

And another song that people often confuse for being by a different act is The Knickerbockers' "Lies," a mid-60s burner by a garage band from New Jersey that sounds an awful lot like The Beatles!

OK, a couple more things before I sign off here: it's ultimately hard for me to pick a favorite among all of these tunes, but I think it might have to be The Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man," which has the same name as a song by Bo Diddley that was also famously covered by The Yardbirds, but is actually a completely different composition. In truth, the star of the Spencer Davis Group was not Spencer Davis himself—the only real reason why they decided to go with that name in the first place seems to be because no one else in the band was keen on doing interviews and press junkets, and it was assumed that the group's namesake would naturally have to be the one to fulfill those duties 😅. Undoubtedly, the one who shone most brightly in this band was a teenaged Steve Winwood, who possessed a distinctly powerful voice and was a total monster on the Hammond organ too. And on "I'm a Man," which comes with a whole lot of different bits of percussive rhythms and howling backing vocals, Steve manages to energetically strut it all.

And for a tune that's a bit more obscure than a lot of the rest of these, there's one-hit wonder Pacific Gas & Electric's "Are You Ready," a psychedelic soul-rock groover that was criminally left off of the 1988 version of this comp. This tune, like Ike & Tina Turner's "Proud Mary," was also released as a single in 1970, but because it originated from PG&E's self-titled album from the year prior, I'm willing to not lodge a complaint about it. If you love a song with a good, extended guitar solo that uses a delayed echo in one of its channels, then boy, is this #14 US hit worth a listen for you! Really fantastic stuff.

Happy to be back with a high-quality crop of songs such as this. I don't know what the rest of this big series has in store, but if it's anything like this particular release, then I'm definitely looking forward to it. An album where I don't even get to fawn over a personal favorite like Jackie Wilson's "Higher & Higher" should give you a good indication of just how top-notch this whole thing really is. A very well-put-together compilation, even if not every song on it is actually from the decade that it claims to represent 😅.

Highlights:

Wilson Pickett - "In the Midnight Hour" Ike & Tina Turner - "Proud Mary" Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels - "Devil With the Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly" Eddie Floyd - "Knock On Wood" Fontella Bass - "Rescue Me" Jackie Wilson - "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher" Rare Earth - "Get Ready" Spencer Davis Group - "I'm a Man" Knickerbockers - "Lies" Aretha Franklin - "Think" Otis Redding - "Respect" Pacific Gas & Electric - "Are You Ready" Archie Bell & The Drells - "Tighten Up" Cannibal & The Headhunters - "Land of 1000 Dances"

[mermaidsirennikita]

can you recommend any American historical romance novels (not like…Westerns, I’m thinking more like….Vanderbilt, Edwardian era, if that makes sense?) bc I have such a hard time finding them but I think you’ve recommended a few once upon a time

Yeah, for sure!

What I think you're looking for especially is the Gilded Age, which was that amazing time when New York City was the center of the universe, everyone was spending money left and right, there was a very exclusive, unofficial club called "the Four Hundred", which was predicated on this concept (proposed by a Southerner, not a New Yorker) that there were really only 400 truly fashionable people in the city. Orgies were had, horses were brought into ballrooms. It was LUXE.

The reigning queen of Gilded Age romance is for sure Joanna Shupe, one of my all-time favorite romance novelists. Her first three historicals are traditional England books (and they're very good) but since then, aside from a few novellas here and there, she pretty much exclusively writes Gilded Age. I have not read all of them, but only because I've been saving some of her backlist (and good thing, because she's taking this year off from full-length historicals).

I've read and would recommend:

Magnate--this is the first full book in her Knickerbocker Club series, which is basically four dudes doing mean rich man shit in various industries while getting kicked in the balls by love. The hero is a self-made man who ends up compromising the sister of one of the other guys in the club, and the beef is REAL between these dudes. Anyway, heroine is kind of okay with marrying him until she overhears at the wedding!!! That her brother basically forced the marriage. And then she's all HONEYMOON'S OVER!!! I DEMAND AN ANNULMENT!!!! It's not super complicated, but I found it really engaging and romantic.

Also, the heroine is delightfully dickmatized. There's a scene where the hero is like "I have these scars on my back because when I worked in a factory I got hit by a giant falling pipe, but the pipe was only falling because I did shitty work in an effort to get off the clock quickly and run to my favorite brothel". And she's like "oh. You POOR man!!!"

Uptown Girls--A trilogy about three sisters whose father is rich and one of the most influential people in New York Society.

First book is eldest daughter/daddy's lawyer (fixer) who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks; second is middle daughter/casino owner she asks to mentor her in running a casino, and he's like "sure" when really he wants REVEEEENGE upon her father; third book is youngest daughter (goody two shoes)/gangster who finds himself completely gut punched by her.

Fifth Avenue Rebels--A four-book series about a cluster of people (human disasters) falling in love. The first book takes place at a house party in Newport wherein shit goes the fuck down, and a lot of what spins out afterwards can be linked back to the party.

First book is childhood friends to lovers after the hero realizes said friend is about to get engaged to a handsome, absolute 10/10 (completely broke) duke; second book is a seduction lessons book in which the sluttiest guy in the series agrees to teach the shyest girl how to be hot in exchange for recipes from her chef so that he can start a supper club and become a real boy; third book is an enemies to lovers "oops we hooked up" book about a ruthless businessman and the woman who thought they were gonna get arranged married, but he's like "no" and she's like "WOOOOW" but then they hook up at a masked sex party that was in fact a real Gilded Age event; fourth book lets us know that stuffy 10/10 perfect duke actually likes it rough and has been having a back and forth with the wild child girl of the group, and now they're in an enemies to lovers dance that is sure to leave both of them CRUSHED.

She has another full Gilded Age series, the Four Hundred, but I've been saving that. Will probs read soon.

Harper St. George writes Gilded Age as well. Haven't read, will read, have heard good things about it.

Beverly Jenkins does write westerns, but she also writes Reconstruction books, and really hits a lot of different parts of America and time periods. I would recommend trying To Catch A Raven, a heist book she has wherein the leads have to pretend to be married to like? Steal back the Declaration of Independence? And of course, there's the classic Indigo, wherein the heroine works in the Underground Railroad and meets the hero right after he's had the shit beaten out of him. She nurses him back to health, he turns out to be a total rake type, and they have this long, epic, angsty love story. Deals a lot with the subject of slavery, so heads up, but I find it absolutely gorgeous.

[teddy-collects]

🍇 His name was Lelo, I had him since I was a baby (he was replaced a few times due to incidents such as being yote out the window of a car by 2 yr old me I'm sorry Lelo). I slept with him every night and accidentally made him bald as I have trichitillomania, he went all over the house and on trips/overnight stays, and he was my main comfort object until I was 16. Then my parents dog got a hold of him in my room somehow (I closed my door often as their dog got into my stuff) and my mom found him in the basement as I came home from school and was searching for him, and she threw him away. Ever since I've been asking for a replacement every birthday and Christmas and trying to find one myself too.

🍈 I spend time with them and see what name feels right, or sometimes their colours or patterns on their fur help me decide

🍉 I tend to pick older stuffies, especially ones I had as a child (my parents got rid of pretty much all of them so I'm hoping to find them), well-loved or damaged plush that I worry won't find a home/have been there a long time, or ones that are really cuddly or stand out to me

🍊 In a pharmacy parking lot, I found a TY Beanie Boo unikitty that had been run over by a car. She was stained and soaked/a bit frozen as it was winter, she had some tears, her nose was broken and coming off. She needed a lot of love and help so I put her in my jacket and took her home, her name is Hope

🍋 I love taking them out on trips with me and taking photos of them, cuddling them and making kandi for them

🍌 I would love to own a huge Jellycat Lavender Dragon, a Jellycat Cosmo Monster,Jellycat Bartholomew Bear, a Charlie Bear, St. Louis Zoo Okapi Build-A-Bear, WWF Fennec Fox Build-A-Bear, Possum Build-A-Bear, a Nosey Bear, Jungle Joe's Safari Friends Longfellow Lion (my Lelo) and Zippy the Zebra, 1984 The Last Unicorn Plush, Quackers Beanie Buddy by TY, Whimsy Dragon Webkinz, Zombie Dog Webkinz, Black and White cat Webkinz, 1988 Littlefoot from Land Before Time by GUND and a lot more lol

🍍 One is my Purple Hello Kitty Build-A-Bear, I found her on FB Marketplace for $50 ($35 plus $15 for delivering her to me). Another is a childhood plush I didn't think I'd ever see again as she was destroyed by my babysitter's kid in front of me, I went thrifting and found her by accident, I started crying in the thrift, needless to say Winnie is home where she's meant to be

🥭 I love collecting older plushies from the 2000s or further back, I have a few 80's plush and even a little clown friend from the 70's made by Knickerbocker

🍎 I don't really organize them but we have shelves near my apartments front door that I display a lot of my toys, plush, and my books on, an Ikea book shelf full of plush, toys, and art supplies on the wall across from the bed, in that corner between the shelf and bed is where we keep a big stuffie pile, some are in storage in another room due to how small this place is and the rest are on the headboard/down my side of the bed. We also have a couch that has a group of plush next to it and along the back, and a shelf of squishmallows that one of the cats likes to hide in

🍑 I have a couple, my main one is a bunny named Haru, she's from Walmart I got her on clearance after Easter for $1.75 about 4 years ago. I sleep with her every night and she is in desperate need of a restuffing and a good brushing. Another is Jupiter Bear, he is a 2010 Limited Edition Star Wars Build-A-Bear, I found him at the thrift. He had a cigarette burn on his face that left a hole, and a few tears and looked very sad and lonely. I took him home and now take him everywhere with me, we do everything together and he also sleeps with me every night

🍒 When my partner and I went to their parents for Easter we got to go to the beach for a walk and to find some cool rocks, Jupiter Bear came with us and helped find some cool rocks and some little shells too

plushblr asks

🍇 what is the story of your very first comfort object?

🍈 how do you choose names for your plushies?

🍉 if you thrift plushies, how do you choose which ones to take home?

🍊 what’s the coolest /most unexpected place you’ve ever found a neat plush?

🍋 what’s your favourite way to interact w/ your plushies?

🍌 what’s your list of dreamies right now?

🍍 tell me about a plush you thought you’d never own but found! 

🥭 tell me about your favourite category of plush to collect

🍎 how do you organize / store / display your plush collection? 

🍑 tell me about your current favourite comfort object 

🍒 tell me about a cool adventure you’ve taken your plushie on!

[opera-ghosts]

"Oh Promise Me" Marie Rappold (composer Reginald De Koven for "Robin Hood") lyrics by Clement Scott

Marie Rappold sings "Oh Promise Me."

This song composed by Reginald De Koven was once famous.

It was first sung in 1887 in a musical show titled Robin Hood.

This performance on Edison Amberol 28029 is from 1913.

Lyrics are by Clement Scott.

Oh, promise me that someday you and I Will take our love together to some sky Where we may be alone and faith renew, And find the hollows where those flowers grew, Those first sweet violets of early spring, Which come in whispers, thrill us both, and sing Of love unspeakable that is to be; Oh, promise me! Oh, promise me!

Oh, promise me that you will take my hand, The most unworthy in this lonely land, And let me sit beside you in your eyes, Seeing the vision of our paradise, Hearing God's message while the organ rolls Its mighty music to our very souls, No love less perfect than a life with thee; Oh, promise me! Oh, promise me!

Oh Promise Me is a song with music by Reginald De Koven and lyrics by Clement Scott. The song was written in 1887 and first published in 1889 by G. Schirmer, Inc. as an art song. It is believed that De Koven based the melody of "O Promise Me" partly on "Music Proibita", a popular song by Italian composer Stanislao Gastaldon. In 1890, De Koven wrote his most successful comic opera, Robin Hood. After opening night, the contralto playing Alan-a-Dale, Jessie Bartlett Davis, demanded a song to better show off her voice, threatening to walk out of the production. De Koven inserted "Oh Promise Me" into the score for her.

The sheet music sold over a million copies in 1890 and continued to gain popularity for several decades, being performed by many artists. The song remains popular as a wedding song both in America and in the UK. In 1957, American vocal group The Platters recorded a cover of the song, with authorship credited solely to the group's manager Buck Ram, with no mention of the original composers.

Robin Hood is a comic opera by Reginald De Koven (music), Harry B. Smith (lyrics) and Clement Scott (lyrics of "Oh Promise Me"). The story is based on the Robin Hood legend, during the reign of King Richard I (1189-1199 AD). The opera was composed in Chicago, Illinois during the winter of 1888-1889.

The opera was first performed at the Chicago Opera House on 9 June 1890. It was produced by the Boston Ideal Opera Company, also known as the Bostonians. The opera opened in New York at the Standard Theatre on September 22, 1891 and was produced in London at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1891 with a new title, Maid Marian. It was revived at the Knickerbocker Theater on Broadway on April 30, 1900. Other Broadway revivals were in 1902 at the Academy of Music, in 1912 at New Amsterdam Theatre with Walter Hyde in the title role, in 1918 at the Park Theatre, in 1929 at the Casino Theatre and Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, in 1932 at Erlanger's Theatre, and in 1944 at the Adelphi Theatre.

Marie Rappold (17 August 1872 – 12 May 1957) Opera Singer. She was a dramatic soprano who sang in many of the world's leading opera houses. Born to a German family that moved to Brooklyn, New York City, New York when she was about five, she studied voice with Oscar Saenger, and sang with the Amberg German Opera Company. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was on November 22, 1905, in Karl Goldmark's "The Queen of Sheba". From then until 1920, she sang 198 performances of 23 different roles with the company, being particularly known for the title character in "Aida". Her first appearances in Paris, France were in 1908, and she made her Milan, Italy debut in 1911. Early in her career, she was an exclusive artist with Edison Studios during the World War I years, which ran a marketing campaign in which they would set up a top-of-the line Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph, have a live singer present, darken the theatre, and ask the audience to guess which was which; Madame Rappold was the "live" singer for the first demonstration, at Carnegie Hall, on April 28, 1916. In 1922, she appeared in a short film made by Lee De Forest using his Phonofilm process, an early experiment in linking sound to video. She sang in the world premiere of Frank Patterson's "The Echo" in 1925, and once performed "Aida" in Yankee Stadium. She left a large legacy of recordings, made with both Edison and Victor.

[teampropertiesgroup]

💥New Listing💥

4908 Knickerbocker St - Gillette, WY

2 BD, 1 BA, 960 SQFT, 0.18 Acres

$235,000

Main level living in a great neighborhood. This 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home has beautiful flooring, A large backyard with a large back gate. New roof was just put on. https://ow.ly/cWQ650Sb28b

Call Will Collier at Team Properties Group for your showing 📲307.680.8841