Dinner for One, also known as The 90th Birthday,
or by its corresponding German alternative title, Der 90. Geburtstag,
is a two-hander comedy sketch written by British author Lauri Wylie for the theatre in the 1920s. Germantelevision station Norddeutscher Rundfunk
(NDR) recorded a performance of the piece in 1963,
in its original
English language, with a short introduction in German.
** **** **
The sketch presents the 90th birthday of elderly upper-class
Englishwoman Miss Sophie,
who hosts a celebration dinner every year for
her friends:
Mr Pommeroy, Mr Winterbottom, Sir Toby, and Admiral von
Schneider.
The problem is that due to Miss Sophie's considerable age,
she has outlived all of her friends,
and so her equally aged manservant
James makes his way around the table,
impersonating each of the guests
in turn.
Miss Sophie decides on appropriate drinks to accompany the
menu: Mulligatawny soup (Miss Sophie orders dry sherry),
North Sea haddock (with white wine), chicken (with champagne),
and fruit for dessert (with port)
served by James.
The crucial exchange during every course is:
James: "The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?"
Miss Sophie: "The same procedure as every year, James!"
Diner for One with Freddie Frinton and May Ward
** **** **
Since the 1960's, this sketch has become a tradition in Germany,
where up to half the population may watch it every year on New Year's Eve,
but it is
relatively unknown in Britain
and has never been seen on television in
Canada or the United States.
It is also shown on New Year's Eve in many
other mainland European countries,
particularly Nordic countries, and also screens on SBS in Australia
This comedy
sketch went on to become the most frequently repeated TV programme ever
(according to the Guinness Book of Records, 1988-1995 eds.)
On New Year's Eve 2003 alone,
the sketch was broadcast 19 times (on
various channels).
As of 2005, the sketch has been repeated more than
230 times.
*** **** ***
So, as we leave this year with laughter...
...we will start tomorrow the new one with friends, a glass of Champagne - or two, a big smile
which I had not seen before and was for me like a gift.
I love it!
...................
The tale was based on a real world incident involving John Pritchard (1877-1934), a Gloucester tailor commissioned to make a suit for the new mayor. He
returned to his shop on a Monday morning to find the suit completed
except for one buttonhole. A note attached read, "No more twist". His
assistants had finished the coat in the night, but Pritchard encouraged a
fiction that fairies had done the work and the incident became a local
legend.
Potter sketched the Gloucester street where the tailor's shop stood as
well as cottage interiors, crockery, and furniture. The son of Hutton's
coachman posed as a model for the tailor. In Chelsea, Potter was allowed
to sketch the interior of a tailor's shop to whom she would later send a
copy. She visited the costume department at the South Kensington Museum to refine her illustrations of 18th century dress
The Tailor & Cutter journal's review on Christmas Eve 1903:
" ....we think it is by far the prettiest story connected with
tailoring we have ever read, and as it is full of that spirit of Peace
on Earth, Goodwill to Men, we are not ashamed to confess that it brought
the moisture to our eyes, as well as the smile to our face......"
* For years, Potter
declared that of all her books it was her personal favorite. * **** * short trailer of "Miss Potter"
Santa was cross, he'd had a bad day.
His elves were on strike for more overtime pay.
Thay'd all been on strike since the end of the 'fall'
They wanted a 'National Elf Service' for all. And Donner and Dancer and Cupid and Blitzen
had gone of in a 'hoof' since early last Whitsun'.
His lights wouldn't flash and his bells wouldn't ring
and his Jing wouldn't Jang and his Jang wouldn't Jing.
He'd asked Mrs. Claus for the weather forecast
and wished Christmas present would become Christmas past.
Global warming has meant there'll be no snow this year,
so she said, "Sorry my luv, there will just be 'rain dear!"
On top of it all, he'd the presents to sort
and political correctness had made the task fraught.
No dolls for the girls or guns for the boys,
no fireworks that bang or pollute with their noise.
No harm to their teeth from a sweet or a lolly.
Nothing sexist or racial, like a doll or a Golly!
No books on religion or to do with the body,
no 'Famous Five' and nothing on 'Noddy'!
No caffeine filled drinks to cause tension and stress.
No glue and no paint, because of the mess.
No jigsaws with pieces that some kid could choke on
and nothing too fragile that would only get 'broke-on'.
No feathers or fur and nothing of leather.
Nothing too simple and nothing too clever.
Nothing too violent and nothing too scary.
Nothing Royalist or 'Gay', not a Queen or a 'Fairy'!
Nothing with e-numbers or colourings that might
bring them out in a rash or be hyperactive all night.
No balls and no bats which could injure or bruise
and nothing with bits they were certain to lose.
No marbles or beads that a small child could fit
up its nose, in its ears or unmentionable bit.
And trees must be from a sustainable source
and the lights must be energy saving, of course!
And gone were the days when all they would wish
was an apple, an orange and a wooden goldfish.
Now a video, computer and color TV
was what they all asked for when they sat on your knee.
And he was tired and fed up of appearing so jolly
and he knew what he'd like them to do with their holly!
And he was sick of clambering about on those roofs
now he wasn't as nimble as he was in his 'yoof'.
And he hated the folks who said, "No pets at all,
a puppy's for life not for Christmas", they call.
Well it's OK for them with their fine protestations
but what can I do with five thousand Dalmations?!!
** *
...In spite of it all, at the end of the night
he'll have managed to give every child something right!
* ** *** ***** *******
Butthen after all....
...something special was needed, a gift that he might,
give to us all, without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy – with no indecision,
each group of people in every religion.
Every race, every hue,
everyone, everywhere…even you! So here is that gift, it’s price beyond worth…
“MAY YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES, ENJOY PEACE ON EARTH”
* ** *** ***** ******** *
remark:
Santa Claus, illustration from Arthur Rackhams Book of Pictures,
The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, strings of
popcorn, white candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts
and flowers. * Glass baubles were first made in Lauscha, Germany, by Hans Greiner who produced garlands of glass beads similar to the popcorn strands and
tin
figures that could be hung on trees. The popularity of these
decorations grew into the production of glass figures made by highly
skilled artisans with clay molds.
The original ornaments were only in the shape of fruits and
nuts, blown "free" hand, without a mold.
1880 - 1900 (from my collection)
However artisans soon began to use molds to increase their production. The artisans heated a glass tube over a flame, then inserted the tube
into a clay mold, blowing the heated glass to expand into the shape of
the mold.
The pine cone was one of the first designs.
1880-1890
It was followed gradually by
the hundreds of different designs we are familiar with today. By the
1880s buyers from American stores were coming to the area to purchase
glass ornaments. One of the earliest was F.W. Woolworth.
1930's - 1960's (from my collection))
* ** **** ****** *
Why did Lauscha develop into a center for this trade?
In the 1590's,
Huguenot glass blowers, originally living in the German province of
Schwaben,
were forced to flee their homes due to religious persecution. and settled in Thueringen.
The Thuringia region had been home to glassmaking as early as the 12th
century.
Lauscha, located in a river valley, had several elements needed
for glass-making:
timber (for firing the glass ovens) and sand.
(Nearby
Jena would later become famous for its optical glass.)
Lauscha around 1900
Christoph Müller and Hans Greiner set up Lauscha's first glassworks in 1597.
Soon other Glashütten (glassworks) were established in the village.
In 1847 Hans Greiner
(a descendent of the Hans Greiner who had established Lauscha's first glassworks)
began producing glass ornaments (Glasschmuck) in the shape of fruits and nuts.
1880 - 1900 (from my collection)
These ornaments were made in a unique hand-blown process combined with molds.
The inside of the ornament was made to look silvery, at first with
mercury or lead,
then later using a special compound of silver nitrate
and sugar water,
a silvering technique developed in the 1850s by Justus von Liebig.
After the nitrate solution dried, the ornament was hand-painted and topped with a cap and hook.
Greiner's sons and grandsons,
Ernst (b. 1847), Otto (b.
1877), Willi (b. 1903), and Kurt (b. 1932),
carried on the Christmas
ornament tradition.
*
In the "early days" it was a
cottage industry craft.
The ornaments were blown and silvered in a
workshop attached to a home.
Generally the glass was blown by men
and
the silvering and painting handled by women.
All members of the family, including
children, helped paint and finish them.
A typical work day lasted 15-16
hours, six days a week.
A family might produce 300-600
glass balls a week, depending on size and complexity.
Executed with style and imagination, and drawing upon their
traditions of hand made craft work,
glass ornaments have come a
long way from their humble commercial origins.
They deserve their
recognition as an important form of German folk art.
Most of the images used for European hand blown glass ornaments are
common subjects for Christmas tree ornaments,
and others are simply the
whimsy of a creative glass blower.
But some ornaments have religious
significance or are a sign of good luck,
and a few are associated with
charming stories from the glassmakers' past.
1880's
made by my Great-Grandfather
who was a passionate glass blower and designer in Schlesien (Silesia)
*
Birds are considered a universal symbol of happiness and joy and are
regarded by many to be a necessity on the Christmas tree. Because bird
ornaments were difficult to create, few glassblowing families in Germany
specialized in the making of these special pieces. Birds represent
messengers of love and are the harbingers of good things to come. It is said that many German families felt that finding
a bird's nest was a sign that good luck would come to their family
throughout the year.
1920's
Additional symbols of good luck include the red and white capped
mushroom stem
1890-1900 (from my collection)
* Musical instruments,
1880 - 1900 (from my collection)
especially horns, are prevalent since they
herald the celebration of Christmas music and were sounded to welcome
Christ into the world.
1880 - 1900
Reminiscent of nature's own tree decorations,
pine cones, walnuts, and icicles are commonly depicted in glass
ornaments but each have further significance. Pine cones were often
brightly colored and imitated the cones found on European trees. These
cones tended to be long and thin.
1950's (from my collection)
The walnut was known to ancient Romans
as "the nut of the Gods" and was one of the very first tree ornaments. Prior to the Reformation,
European children received walnuts from St. Nicholas. And, often tiny
gifts were concealed inside a gold or silver painted walnut.
1880 - 1900 (from my collection)
***
1880-1900 (from my collection)
Reflectors (the ornaments with geometric concave indentations) are
sometimes
referred to as "witches eyes." In the Victorian era at least one
reflector ornament was placed on the Christmas tree to fend off evil
spirits present in the home during
the holiday season.
1900 (single one) and 1930's (from my collection)
Bells have always signified the spread of good
tidings and good news.
,It is said that they evoke
excellent cosmic energy.
Christmas bells are also associated with a
call to prayer.
*
1880 - 1930's (sold)
*****
Soon these unique glass Christmas ornaments were being exported to other
parts of Europe.
By the 1870's, Lauscha was exporting its unique glass
ornaments to Britain.
Glass ornaments had become popular in 1846 when an
illustration
of Queen Victoria's Christmas tree was printed in a London
paper.
The royal tree was decorated with glass ornaments from Prince
Albert's native land of Germany.
In the 1880s the American dime-store magnate F. W. Woolworth
discovered Lauscha's Glaskugeln during a visit to Germany.
He made a fortune by importing the German glass ornaments to the U.S.
After World War II, East Germany turned most of Lauscha's glassworks
into state-owned concerns.
After the Wall came down, most of the
firms were reestablished as private companies.
Today there are still
about 20 small glass-blowing firms active in Lauscha.
As we know by now - from the 16th century
Christmas tree decorations have been created from various materials.
The most spectacular and fragile decorations are assembled of glass
beads and bugles – called Gablonz ornaments (or in German Gablonzer
Glasperlen-Cristbaumschmuck). They were produced in the region of
Jablonec nad Nisou (or in German Gablonz an der Neiße) – capital of the
Austrian bead industry during the Austrian Empire in Northern Bohemia
(now Czech Republic) starting in the middle 19th century.
1870 Justus Liebig from the town of
Morgenstern near Gablonz invented the craft of lining glass objects from
the inside with silver. Many designs and innovations were introduced
and the tradition of making elaborate Christmas tree ornaments
developed. Silvered, polished or even gold-plated beads were strung up
and bent artistically into various shapes with thin wires.
Glass chains, around 1900, Gablonz (from my collection)
In the
beginning production of glass beads, hand or mouth-blown, as well as
multiple strings and small glass tubes was a speciality of the jewelry
industry. So, originally the fabrication of beaded Christmas ornaments
from the native material was developed as a co-product of a glassmakers
who produced certain designs at homes for a larger centralized trading
companies.
1880 - 1930's, Gablonz (from my collection)
Objects
and ornaments were created in late 19th – first half
of the 20th century. They were assembled with different types of beads:
pressed beads, rocailles beads, beads with additional interior
grooving, glass rods, atlas beads, wooden beads, molded blown beads or
hollow beads with silver or gold lining in countless variations of
color, patterns and transparency.
see here
Older Gablonz decorations are
including small disks or cubes of golden composition material, which
hold the wires of ornament together. Some objects excitingly combining
with beads other different materials: tinsel, cotton spun, lametta,
chenille, foil, phosphoric wax, wire etc.......
One of our favorite Christmas tree decoration.....
....just keeping it very simple in RED and GREEN - the original colors - not too much of other decoration to avoid covering the beautiful tree, and always with real candles!
* ** ****
Whether you use old ornaments and glass baubles or modern ones, family pieces or self made ones, fancy or traditional.....
ENJOY
your Christmas decoration, even if it is only in a vase or in an urn!
