Happy New Year, Boineros & Boineras!

Cleaning up the stuff of old... 
Happy New Year, Boineros & Boineras!

Gerhard Hertel

Gerhard Hertel (1924 - 2007) was a German tax official, local politician and local historian.

Although Hertel already showed a great interest in history during his school years, he started a commercial apprenticeship after finishing school, interrupted by him being drafted into the Wehrmacht and sent to Moldova in 1941. He did not return to his hometown until 1945 after the war. There he began to work at the tax office Freudenstadt, became a local politician and amateur historian.

Gerhard Hertel wrote several books as well as numerous essays and narratives, which mainly concerned the history of Freudenstadt. In the book 80 Years of Experiences, Views, Insights, published in 2006, he has succeeded in combining his autobiography with the history of the city, thereby completing his life's work.

AMTRAK's Berets

Most likely produced for promotional purposes, this photograph depicts a passenger service representative and engineer in new uniforms created by fashion designer Bill Atkinson. According to an article in the February 1972 issue of Penn Central Post (the Penn Central company magazine), "The new uniforms proposed for America's intercity rail network made their official debut at a fashion show in Pennsylvania Station, New York. Amtrak wanted [the uniforms] to be modern in spirit but yet to retain the colorful traditions of American railroading. 'Nostalgic newness' was the theme."

Employing vibrant colors and contemporary lines, the uniform worn by female passenger service representatives was meant to evoke the look of those used by counterparts in the airline industry. In this image, Virginia Lewis wears hot pants, white knee-high boots, beret and a red sweater that uses the first Amtrak "inverted arrow" logo as embellishment at the collar and front.

Meanwhile, colleagues at the railway station information desks wore slightly more conventional uniforms and red berets.

Charles Frederic Fraker Jr.

Portrait of Charles Frederic Fraker Jr. in tweed jacket and beret (1935). 

Fraker began as Assistant Professor of Modern Languages in 1931 and eventually became Chairman of the Department in 1948. He went on to join the faculty of the University of Michigan (1965-1992), where he served in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. He was a known scholar and publisher in the field of Spanish medieval literature. 

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stephen Ray Vaughan (1954 –1990) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Despite a short-lived mainstream career spanning seven years, he was one of the most influential guitarists in the revival of blues in the 1980s. AllMusic describes him as "a rocking powerhouse of a guitarist who gave blues a burst of momentum in the '80s, with influence still felt long after his tragic death."

Vaughan was inspired musically by American and British blues rock. He favored clean amplifiers with high volume and contributed to the popularity of vintage musical equipment. He often combined several different amplifiers together and used minimal effects pedals. Chris Gill of Guitar World commented: "Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar tone was as dry as a San Antonio summer and as sparkling clean as a Dallas debutante.”

On Monday, August 27, 1990, at 12:50 a.m. (CDT), Vaughan and members of Eric Clapton's touring entourage boarded a helicopter at Alpine Valley Resort in East Troy, Wisconsin, to travel to Chicago, after he concluded an all-star encore jam session at Alpine Valley Music Theatre. Vaughan took the last remaining seat and the helicopter crashed into a nearby ski hill shortly after takeoff.

Vaughan suffered from "massive internal and skull injuries", in addition to severe trauma and rib fractures.

Coincidentally, I worked at an organic farm about 1 mile from the place of incident, one year after in 1991.

Post Christmas Czech Beret Special

A late start for this post-Christmas weekly SPECIAL, which is all about Czech berets. 

Buy 2 Czech berets and receive a refund of 50% on your second beret! Choose two of the same kind, mix Radiovka's, Classics, Tartan's, peaked berets, Super Luxury's or Mammoths - you choose.

And yes, to make it a true SPECIAL, the 50% comes of the more expensive model!

Until coming Sunday only (or as long as stock lasts). Refunds will be paid within 48 hours of placing your order.

And A Merry Boxing Day Too!

Merry X-Mas!

Stan & Ollie

The illustrious Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have appeared earlier on The Beret Project (here and here), but the new movie Stan & Ollie warrants some more attention for these often beret wearing heroes.

Stan & Ollie is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird and based on the lives of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy. The film stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It premiered in October 2018 at the BFI London Film Festival.

The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on 28 December 2018 and on 11 January 2019 in the United Kingdom. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, Reilly was nominated for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Guy Lodge of Variety wrote: "Portraying Laurel and Hardy's final comic collaboration with bittersweet affection, Jon S. Baird's film is a laid-back, gamely performed tribute."

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter has high praise for the lead actors saying: "Much of the time, you feel like you're beholding the real duo, so thoroughly conceived are the actors' physicality and performances." He concludes "Everything the film has to offer is obvious and on the surface, its pleasures simple and sincere under the attentive guidance of director Jon S. Baird."

Thanks Frans

Al Fusco (#4)

Last cartoons by J.C. Duffy, in the boinero Al Duffy series.

The Oldest Man from Belgium

Maurits Stael saw the light of day near the Wijnendale castle on 25 September 1911 and is, at 107, the oldest man in Belgium.

Maurits married Maria Devooght in 1941, with whom he had four children. They ran a farm in Wijnendale, but in the early fifties they started a trade in sewing machines in the Breidelstraat in Torhout. The store still exists and is run by Dries Stael, the grandson of Maurits.

Maria died in 2003 at the age of 92 and six years ago Maurits moved to the residential care center Rusterloo in Beernem.

Maurits is a striking figure with his eternal beret and the many war medals that he always proudly has pinned to his coat. "As an ex-combatant of the Second World War, he has always worked hard to commemorate the war," says Frans Stael, a son (72).

Frans does not really know what the secret is of his father's high age. "Being between the people, is what kept him young."

Personally, I wonder of always wearing his beret may have played a role too...

Winter

It's official: today the winter begins (in the northern hemisphere), while we in the South Pacific are basking in warmth and sunshine. The difference between a heavy duty wool beret and a light cotton affair, to put it simply.

And remember that nothing keeps your head as warm as the densely felted Tarte of the Chasseurs Alpins.

SUPER SPECIAL: 3 x SUPER LUJO @ $59.50!

These 99.9% new Elosegui Super Lujo in grey 29, 32 and 33cm diameter berets were requested by a film company and then returned to SPB three days later.

The berets are in excellent condition. New value would be $192.50 - now on sale @ $59.50.

Al Fusco (#3)

More cartoons by J.C. Duffy, portraying boinero Al Duffy.

Rebecca De Mornay

Rebecca De Mornay (born Rebecca Jane Pearch; 1959) is an American actress and producer. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business. Her other notable film roles include Sara in Runaway Train (1985), Thelma in The Trip to Bountiful (1985), Helen McCaffrey in Backdraft (1991) and as nanny Peyton Flanders in 1992's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

De Mornay was briefly engaged to singer Leonard Cohen. She co-produced Cohen's 1992 album The Future, which is also dedicated to her with an inscription that quotes Rebecca's coming to the well from the chapter 24, Book of Genesis and giving drink to Eliezer's camels, after he prayed for the help.

Paulino Uzcudun

Paulino Uzcudun Eizmendi (1899 –1985) was a Basque heavyweight boxer, who is considered to be the greatest heavyweight from Spain.

Uzkudun is the Basque spelling of his last name. He was the youngest of 9 siblings. In his youth, he became an aizkolari or traditional competitive Basque wood chopper. Uzcudun, known as Paulino in the United States, was the European heavyweight champion, and he fought heavyweight champions Joe Louis, Max Baer, Max Schmeling (three times) and Primo Carnera (twice) during his career.

Uzcudun was a very rugged boxer who fought out of a crouch. He had a powerful left hook and fought the toughest heavyweights of his time. The former butcher—nicknamed "the Basque woodchopper"—retired from boxing with a record of 50 wins (34 KOs), 17 losses and 3 draws.

Dorothy Sebastian

Dorothy Sebastian (1903 - 1957) was an American film and stage actress.

In her youth, she aspired to be a dancer and a film actress. Her family frowned on both ambitions, however, so she fled to New York at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in New York City, Sebastian's southern drawl was thick enough to "cut with a knife".

Before appearing in films, Sebastian performed in George White's Scandals. Her first contact in Hollywood was Robert Kane, who gave her a film test at United Studios. She co-starred with Joan Crawford and Anita Page in a popular series of MGM romantic dramas including Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and Our Blushing Brides (1930). Sebastian also appeared in 1929's Spite Marriage, wherein she was cast opposite her then-lover Buster Keaton.

Dorothy Sebastian and Josephine Dunn fishing in California, 1928

By the mid-1930s, Sebastian was semi-retired from acting after marrying Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd. After their 1936 divorce, she returned to acting appearing in mostly bit parts. Her last onscreen appearance was in the 1948 film The Miracle of the Bells.