I close the week with a little tale from a reader, who got in touch and told me that his wife's Uncle Will, who sadly died three years ago, at the grand age of a hundred and six (!), actually used to attend the Promenade concerts, with a little group of eight friends. More than that, he started going when they were still at Queens Hall, in the 1930's, and they continued to attend them at the Royal Albert Hall.
He enjoyed them immensely and had a wealth of little anecdotes. One of his favourites concerned Sir Henry Wood, who was famous for leaving the stage and then coming back for an encore, several times. But those in the know would always know that he would be back again, because only on the final performance of the night would he come out wearing his top hat and cloak. After that it was safe to go home yourself in the certain knowledge he would not return for more.
And my correspondent wondered, if somewhere, out there , is a card that shows him so attired ?
He also tells me another tale, and that is that on the 5th of October, 1938, a special jubilee concert was held at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate Sir Henry Wood's fifty years as a conductor. Sergei Rachmaninoff agreed to attend, and he performed his Second Piano Concerto. And Uncle Will was there too - he often remembered, and commented on Rachmaninoff being "a tall, thin man who made the piano sing".
My correspondent also wondered if there was any cards of Rachmaninoff. Sadly, though I looked, I only found one, and it is a bit borderline - it is a playing card, issued by Thurston Moore Country Ltd as part of a set called "Composers" in 1982. But he is the Jack of Hearts, which I think would have pleased him.
And when I saw this card, with a very excited piano player, I thought it would appeal to both musicians` obvious sense of humour. Another thing I like about it is that it shows children, and these days the Proms have attempted to attract a more youthful audience, with modern singers and bands, and also involving films and TV.
Doctor Who has been there, several times, in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2024 - and this year, on the 9th of August, Star Wars will be celebrated - but they have a longer connection with the Proms than that, and first appeared in 1999. I have not yet found an X Files reference, but I really enjoyed the trying to....
Back to cards.
These are a mixture of a black silhouette, to the top, and a coloured artwork beneath. They have a two part title, one below the silhouette and one below the colour picture. And they didn`t make a lot of sense until I realised that the first part of the words beneath the silhouette, namely "Si vous revez..." translated to "if you dream of...." whatever is pictured, the action in the coloured picture will occur. That also saved me typing it out every time, or, more correctly, allowed me to delete the over half of those I had typed. Then I found one which was slight
So far I know of the following, which I am numbering just so that I can close the book when I get eighty four of them. Which I may have done if I had not veered off on the tangent.....
- achat de tableau - vous ferez de la peinture (P)(V)
- autruche - ostrich - le plumes vous couteront cher (G)
- balances - scales - justice vous sera rendu (V)
- chardons - thistles - vous serez vainqueur dans les courses d`anes (G)(V)
- chasse a l`ours - hunt a bear - on vous fera cadeau d`une fourrure (V)
- cheveaux de bois - wooden horse - vous serez incorpore dans la cavalerie (G)
- cheveaux de courses - race horses - vous appendrez la victoire d`une cheval Francaise (L)
- chevres - goats - vous serez une grande excursion en montagne (G)
- ciseaux - scissors - vous plaiderez en divorce (G)
- corbeaux - crows - les gens de votre quartier feront des cancans (G)
- courses de taureaux - bull fighting - vous aurez des demeles avec la justice (G)(L)
- de cartes - playing cards - vous perdrez aux courses (B)
- de piano - piano - vous aurez une vieagreable et animee (G)
- scie - wood saw - vous irez au cafe-concert (G)
- trapeze - trapeze - vous serez doue d`une grande agilitie (G)
- victoire - victory - votre fils deviendra General (V)
Since starting this we have discovered that they were also issued by other companies, so now we have initials added, namely
- (B) - Chocolat de Bretagne
- (G) - Guerin-Boutron
- (L) - Chocolat Louit
- (P) - Cacao Payraud
- (V) - Eau de Vichy