Marken Island Old Style

1917

Ancient Manners Are Still Observed and Historic Costumes Are Worn by the Inhabitants

Marken island is a bit of the old Holland, an inlet lying in the Zuyder Zee not far from Edam, of cheese fame. Holland is rapidly becoming modernized nowadays; the blue bloomer of the canal boatmen has gone the way of the wooden shoe, well toward oblivion, although the latter, it is said, is becoming increasingly popular with the price of leather soaring, writes Niksah. The Dutch are rapidly abandoning the old ways that endeared them to the artists of bygone generations, so that any spot where the traditional customs are still preserved is worthy of note as a living museum of history.

Such a spot is Marken island, where old manners are still followed and the old costumes still worn. Separated by only a narrow channel from the progressive mainland, it is none the less fifty years behind the times. It seems to be characteristic of small islands that they progress much more slowly than mainland whence their people came. Thus in the Arran Islands off the coast of Ireland the old Irish tongue is still spoken; in the Hebrides men still live as they lived in the days of Scott, and on Marken island the men still go down to the fishing boats in bloomers and wooden shoes.

The dark blue bloomer is the mark of the married man, while the single men wear white — a somewhat illogical arrangement in view of the facilities for laundry work that married men ought to have. The women wear the old-time costumes and carry their knitting about with them on the streets. Every one of the houses is exceedingly small and almost unbelievably clean. There are not more than 300 people all told in this little colony of fishermen.

Marken is quaint and old-fashioned, but it lacks the touch of self-unconsciousness to make it perfect. In all the little shops yon can purchase picture postal cards depicting scenes that are "quaint" and "typical." And when a region begins to realize that it is picturesque it has taken the first step on the road to the commonplace.

Ancestor of Pictorial Postcards

1910

It was in Switzerland that the mania for pictorial postcards first arose, and we well remember the astonishment evoked some dozen years ago at seeing at the Theodule Hut the excitement of a party of Germans upon their ascertaining that they could dispatch thence, via Italy, a sheaf of views of the Matterhorn.

If one may judge from the very interesting collection of old Alpine prints now on view at the Alpine club, Saville Row, our ancestors were also eager to carry away souvenirs of scenes unlike any to which they were accustomed, and of which the terrors and dangers were doubtless not unexaggerated. And so the Swiss, who were among the earliest to exploit colored engravings, provided them with material with a sufficient spice of exaggeration to satisfy those who stayed at home.

These they dedicated to the "amateurs of the marvels of nature," and for them they crowded into a single landscape a dozen Staubbachs, and any number of aiguilles and glaciers, with artists portraying them and peasants holding festival beneath them. — London Globe.

Has "Postal Cardomania"

1909

Cincinnati Man Gives Reason for Slapping Wife; Court Releases Him

Cincinnati — William Schenck of Elwood place offered a novel excuse for slapping his wife when he faced Judge Hoffman in the police court Wednesday. He claimed that he was a victim of "postal cardomania," and charged his wife with sending them. He presented several cards to the court.

On one was written, "All in and down and out;" another showed a handsome young woman with outstretched arms, yawning. Underneath the picture was printed the words, "I do not care if he never comes back." Another had written on it, "Come in, the water is fine."

The wife claimed that Schenck had slapped and then punched her in the face while he was talking with her Sunday night. He was released.


1900

Sounded Like Age Hint

Mary Anderson Navarro attended a bazaar in England the other day in aid of a religious community and was told by the father rector that she was a mother to them. "Our Mary" is, of course, no longer in the full blush of youthful beauty, but this remark rather startled her for a moment. In the course of a short reply she good-humoredly said that the reverend gentleman might at least have called her a sister.

Snap Shots – Short Humor Snapshots

1916

Colonel Jabez Ellington, who was in 28 battles, says he has been short of breath ever since the Civil War.

Contrary to popular belief, it is the borrowed book, and not the borrowed umbrella, that never is returned.

Men should try for both speed and endurance. It is the only way in which they can hope to outrun the women.

Buck Kilby says there is only one thing worse than having a tooth pulled, and that only a woman can know what it is.

The gift of perception is not one common to the people, but if a man brays long enough and loud enough his ears eventually will be discovered.

The postcard has its uses. For those who wish to write: "Having a good time; give my regards to the bunch," it probably is the most convenient form of long-distance communication. — Pittsburgh Dispatch.