PENMAN

Gary Blehm, a.k.a. Penman, created what would become PENMEN in a one room school house near Aspen, Colorado in 1977. 

The character would take him on a 25 year journey of optimism with popular posters, book, newspaper syndication, and a short series animation for European television.

This photo was taken of Gary Blehm, Penman, as a promo to his newly syndicated comic strip. The PENMEN figures are hand made with wooden dowel and wire. Once the photograph was taken the Penmen were sent to Creators Syndicate for promotional gifts of optimism to editors. The photograph published in Editor and Publisher magazine the following year.

Amigos de la Boina

The Amigos de la Boina is a group of beret enthusiasts, nation-wide across Spain, who come together regularly to enjoin the finer things of life – berets being one of these.

It is an attempt to revive the beret to its old glory in Spain, but also to enjoy the company of like-minded folk, typically in a rustic environment with a good supply of food and wine.

Presently, there are chapters in Cuenca, Madrid, Currito and Denia (Alicante), all with their own web sites (some showing no more than photographic evidence of meetings; others with some interesting information on beret history and manufacturing).

Old Seaman with Tam O' Shanter

From the National Museums Scotland: Seaman in Greenock, Renfrewshire, c. 1900 - 1914.

An old seaman sits on a bench, watched by a group of interested schoolchildren. The seaman wears a knitted jersey with a few holes in it. On top of the jersey, he wears a waistcoat. He wears trousers and leather boots. On his head he wears a woollen beret or tam o' shanter. His beard is in a style known as the 'Newgate' fringe or frill.

The schoolboys wear jackets, trousers, white shirts and peaked caps. The little girl wears a short summer dress, ankle socks, shoes with straps and a beret or perhaps a tam o' shanter.

The girl on the background appears to be wearing a "real" beret. 

Robert Laul

More from Sweden: Robert Laul.

Laul (1976) is a sports reporter and columnist for the Aftonbladet newspaper. He is also a footballer for Old Karlbergare in Stockholm.

From 2008 he leads debates on football at Sportbladets website and since 2011 he is involved as a permanent member of the Aftonbladet discussion panel Wow what a week. 

Ulf Adelsohn

Ulf Adelsohn (1941) is a Swedish politician, was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1981 to 1986 and Governor of Stockholm County from 1992 to 2001. He was a member of the Riksdag from 1982 to 1988 and served as Chairman of the Board of SJ AB 2001–2011, from where he resigned due to quarrels with the Reinfeldt cabinet on its railway deregulation policies.

Adelsohn studied law at Stockholm University. He was the chair of the Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students, opposed the occupation of the Student Union Building in Stockholm in 1968 and was a co-founder of Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68 later in the same year.

His paternal grandparents were Polish Jews and his mother was of Swedish descent. On the side of his mother, he is a descendant (great-great-great-great-grandson) of Jacob Johan Anckarström; the assassin of Gustav III who was convicted for regicide and executed.

Thanks, Ariel

Olivier Meyer and Aguigui Mouna

Olivier Meyer (1957) is a contemporary French photographer from Paris.

His work is in the tradition of humanist photography and Street photography using the same material as many of the forerunners of this style: Kodak Tri-X black and white film, silver bromide prints on baryta paper, Leica M3 or Leica M4 with a 50 or 90 mm lens. The thin black line surrounding the prints shows that the picture has not been cropped. His inspiration came from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Édouard Boubat, Saul Leiter. 

His portrait of Aguigui Mouna sticking his tongue out like Albert Einstein, published in postcard form in 1988, and subsequently as an illustration in a book by Anne Gallois served as a blueprint for a stencil work by the artist Jef Aérosol in 2006.

Thanks, Olivier

Shaping a Military Beret

Laulhère is the main supplier of berets to the 28 country strong NATO military, next to the many armies of other countries on five continents. Laulhère has now launched a  web site, specifically for their military line of production. It describes the manufacturing process, the pure merino wool that is used for making berets, the various options for military berets and more.

At the same time, Laulhère commissioned a video clip on how to shape their Commando berets. Irish born sales director Mark Saunders does a good job detailing how to get the desired effects in your military beret.
Presently, there are only a few Commando berets in stock at South Pacific Berets; some green berets as issued to the Foreign Legion and Navy Infantry Commandos (here) and two individual berets in red (Para) and black in the One-Offs Section (here). 

One word of caution: some customers have not quite anticipated the very small plateau (diameter) of these berets; these berets are sitting more on the head, than pulled over the head. Before wearing it for the first time, the beret needs some stretching and nudging to get to the correct size.

DEER Summer Basques

On this 10th April, 2015 (DEER Basque factory Kongo-Shokai Ltd. already closed down), South Pacific Berets received the very last berets made by the famous manufacturer from Kobe; made with the last material available during the last days of the factory operating. 

Berets that we had not stocked before, but are -in the tradition of the wool and linen DEER Basques- small pieces of art in their own right.

DEER Summer Basques, made of a finely knit, breathing polyester, fittedwith an ultra light mesh lining and topped off with the silver DEER Basque 'Light' embroidered label. These very first are at the same time the very last - what's in stock now is all there is and will never be replaced (and most colour/size combinations are only available in ones or two's).

To those who, like me at first, have their doubts about non-wool / non-cotton berets, I would say "Try! I'd guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised!". 

Only here, as long as stock lasts!

The Making of a Laulhère Béret

Laulhère has commissioned a few videos on the making of and care for their berets, detailing how a single thread of merino wool turns into a classic French beret.

Starring is Mark Saunders, the Irish born sales director of Laulhère. Well done, Mark!

Berets in French Kids' Books from 1891 to 1944

Above: Anie by Hector Malot, 1891.

Above: Les Mauvaises têtes de Coquinet, 1944

Tennis Beret

Since Jean Robert Borotra (1898 – 1994) popularization of the beret in tennis, many have followed in his footsteps. 

Borotra was a French tennis champion. He was one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Borotra was born in Domaine du Pouy, Biarritz, Aquitaine and married an English woman.

Known as "the Bounding Basque", he won four Grand Slam singles titles in the French, Australian, and All England championships. 

A member of the  François de la Rocque's right-wing Parti social français (PSF), he became 1st General Commissioner to Sports from August 1940 to April 1942 during Vichy France, leading the Révolution nationale's efforts in sports policy.

Arrested by the Gestapo in November 1942, Borotra was deported to a concentration camp in Germany and then Itter Castle in North Tyrol until May 1945. He was freed from the castle after the Battle for Castle Itter.

Betty Spann

This great photograph is by Betty Spann; a bereted gent having lunch in Bryant Park, Manhattan.

Betty is a Francophile and photographer from the Pudget Sound. When she encountered this scene, Betty was actually preparing an exhibition of French faces. The picture was included in the exhibition (disclosing uncertainties), but who knows, there certainly is a very French feel about it. 

Yrjö Kukkapuro

Yrjö Kukkapuro (born April 6, 1933) is a Finnish interior architect and furniture designer. 

His career started in the 1950s while studying in the Academy of Design in Helsinki. Kukkapuro's most famous model is called Karuselli (carousel) and it belongs to the collection of major museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. It was also nominated as the most comfortable chair in the world by The New York Times in 1974.

Kukkapuro is married to graphic artist Irmeli Kukkapuro since 1954. The couple have built a home studio in Kauniainen in 1968. The building designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro and engineer Eero Paloheimo resembles pop-art style.

The ‘other’ Beethoven: George Onslow.

The ‘other’ Beethoven: George Onslow.

André George Louis Onslow (27 July 1784 – 3 October 1853) was a French composer of English descent. His wealth, position and personal tastes allowed him to pursue a path unfamiliar to most of his French contemporaries, more similar to that of his contemporary German romantic composers; his music also had a strong following in Germany and in England. His principal output was chamber music but he also wrote four symphonies and four operas. Esteemed by many of the critics of his time, his reputation declined swiftly after his death and has only been revived in recent years.

Voyageurs and Berets

The voyageurs were people who engaged in the transporting of furs by canoe during the fur trade era. Voyageur is a French word, which means "traveler". The major and challenging task of the fur trading business was done by canoe and largely by French Canadians.

The voyageurs are legendary, especially in French Canada. They are folk heroes celebrated in folklore and music.

Bob Abrames is called today's most foremost voyageur (and, according to his web site: Salesologist, Speaker, Writer, Television Star and Travel Expert). Either way, he found a nice variation on the Basque beret.

His consists of a standard Czech Basque beret with added material around the rim, which can be tightened with a string.

They are for sale too, but not cheap at $159.00 (see here).

Ku Klux Klan Berets

Not only "real Nazis" showed a liking for berets (see yesterday's post on the Condor Legion); also some present day followers, like the KKK adopted the beret as their headgear of choice, when not hiding their faces under a pillow cover. Sad, but still, they have a place at The Beret Project.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), or just the Klan, is the name of three distinct movements in the United States. The first played a violent role against African Americans in the South during the Reconstruction Era of the 1860s, and was disbanded by 1869. The second was a very large, controversial, nationwide organization in the 1920s. The current manifestation consists of numerous small unconnected groups that use the KKK name. They have all emphasized secrecy and distinctive costumes. All have called for purification of American society, and all are considered right-wing.

The current manifestation is classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is estimated to have between 5,000 and 8,000 members as of 2012.

Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. (1940), commonly known as Glenn Miller, is a former leader of the defunct North Carolina-based White Patriot Party (formerly known as the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan). Convicted of criminal charges related to weapons, and the violation of an injunction against paramilitary activity, he has been a perennial candidate for public office. He is an advocate of white nationalism, white separatism, neo-paganism and a proponent of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

On April 13, 2014, Miller was arrested following the Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting in Overland Park, Kansas. Johnson County prosecutors initially charged him with one count of capital murder and one count of first-degree murder. On October 17, the separate charge for first-degree murder was dismissed and all three deaths were included in a single capital murder count. Miller also is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder for allegedly shooting at three other people. On December 18, he was found competent to stand trial, and prosecutors announced they are seeking the death penalty against him. He is also facing a potential federal hate-crimes prosecution.

The Berets of the Condor Legion

The Condor Legion was a unit composed of volunteers from the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and from the German Army (Wehrmacht) which served with the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939.

The Condor Legion developed methods of terror bombing which were used widely in the Second World War shortly afterwards. The bombing of Guernica was the most infamous operation carried out by the Condor Legion.

Hugo Sperrle commanded the unit's aircraft formations and Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma commanded the ground element. In a cynical adaptation of culture, members of the Condor Legion wore Basque berets.

Google Beret

Who would have predicted a company like Google being interested in utilizing berets?

A recently leaked report tells of test prototypes of Google Beta Glasses built into txapeldun-size berets.

The running controversy about these glasses includes concern about invasion of privacy (you never know when you are being filmed). Another concern is that they will be outlawed for automobile drivers on account of potential distractions. It appears that developers are trying to get around these concerns by camouflaging  the system.

The “placemat-size” Spanish headgear is the perfect “test platform” because the wearer can pull the front of the beret over one eye to look into the screen without nearby people, or police, recognizing what is going on. 

“No other hat offers such capabilities” says a Google developer on condition of anonymity.

While 10,000 “explorers” around the world were openly testing the Google Glasses, are another 200 now quietly testing the Google Beret? 

Just this morning, I heard that regulators in the EU have demanded a meeting with Google executives; partly because of privacy concerns, but also on account of the beret’s potential to forever stigmatize headwear traditionally associated with honest European working-class roots (after complaints by both French manufacturer Laulhere and Spanish Boinas Elosegui).

Thanks, John