18.00 USD
Note the peaked hat! Wonderful Hallowe'en image!
Elspeth, the unhappiest of witches, was desolate at having been cast out of the Grand Coven. It seems that on Walpurgisnacht, instead of riding her usual broom to the annual witch's sabbat atop the dark mountain, she was feeling particularly innovative, and made the mistake of riding the musical instrument you see pictured in this image.
So it was that Elspeth, though previously admired in her witchy community for having a heart as hard and black as flint, and an unsurpassed talent for the casting of the blackest of spells, was undone by her own creativity.
For as she flew through the night sky and circled above that wicked convocation before descending to take her place amongst the gleefully soulless celebrants, a mischevious wind passing over her instrument's strings, brought forth a joyous Christian hymn, heard by all present, and casting a very unsabbat like, golden, glow over the otherwise darksome gathering below. Oh my! Poor, poor Elspeth.
Now you tell one :)
Wonderful image of Mary Nolan, costumed as Pierrette, and playing a long necked, mandolin, sort of instrument. If you see someone costumed as a "Pierrot/Pierrette" character, you can pretty much bet the story contains the element of heartbreak. These characters originated hundreds of years ago with the traveling Commedia dell'arte troupes in Renaissance Italy, and blended themes of the tragic lover's triangle with enough ironic, and or silly, comedy to lighten the experience.
In some ways, we could liken these productions, which remained great crowd pleasers into the 20th century, to classic blues performed by masters like Robert Johnson, that also blend the pain of loss and sorrow, with clever and often humorous word play. In both cases, these offer their audiences a way of taking the "long view" on their own personal sufferings, and who doesn't need that from time to time?
Of course this image is taken from a film. We haven't succeeded at pinning down the title, though Miss Nolan made only a handful of movies for Universal in the late 20s and early 30s.
Born Mary Imogene Robertson (1902-1948), she lost her mother at a very early age, was given up by her father shortly thereafter, and raised in a Catholic orphanage.
She worked as a model in her teens, and was a successful dancer in Flo' Ziegfeld's Follies into the early 1920s.
It was in the 1920s that she made a number of successful films in Germany, then in the late 20s, she made the move back to the USA where she appeared in several successful films as well.
Like the character in our image might have been, Miss Nolan was unlucky in love, and had relationships with abusive, sometimes brutally violent, men. These relationships, with their associated scandals, also impacted her professional life, and in the long run, ruined what from the start, might have been.a wonderful career.
The short biography at Wikipedia is richly detailed, and if you want to learn more about Miss Nolan, we encourage you to read it, but be warned, it is thoroughly depressing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Nolan
A great unposted card published by Iris Verlag, thought of by some as the Austrian "Ross Verlag."
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!