Early Berets by Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger (Hans Holbein der Jüngere; c. 1497–1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century.

He also produced religious art, satire, and Reformation propaganda, and he made a significant contribution to the history of book design. He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father Hans Holbein the Elder, an accomplished painter of the Late Gothic school.

These portraits of members of the Court and the wife of a court servant of King Henry VIII (2nd photo) show a remarkable likeliness to a beret.

Opanka

The Opanka shoes originate from Southeastern Europe and were popular in the former Yugoslavia. The entire shoe is hand sewn. The shoe is manufactured by double needle stitching technique in which the sock lining, sole and the upper of the shoe are all attached to each other in one process.

From a Croatian newspaper: "Jušte made his first opanka when he was 16 years old, and in total he made more than a hundred of them. Shoes, says Jušte, are a curse for the feet, so he only wore them a couple of times, when he went to Split or to the doctor."

A Bag of Marbles

Bag of Marbles (Un sac de billes) is a 2017 French drama film directed by Christian Duguay, based on the autobiographical novel A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo.

It is the second time the novel has been made into a film after Un sac de billes (1975). The film won the Best Narrative Audience Award at the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival. The film was also a jury prize competitor at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

In occupied France during World War II, two young Jewish brothers, Maurice and Joseph, are sent by their parents to the Italian Zone, and display courage, intelligence and ingenuity as they escape the occupiers and try to reunite their family.

Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post called A Bag of Marbles "One of the best movies told about the holocaust from a child’s point of view".

Jack Hirschman

Jack Hirschman (1933 –2021) was an American poet and social activist who wrote more than 100 volumes of poetry and essays.

Hirschman was born in New York City to a Russian Jewish family. He received a B.A. from the City College of New York in 1955 and an M.A. (1957) and Ph.D. (1961) from Indiana University.

In the 1950s and 60s, Hirschman taught at Dartmouth College and the University of California. During his tenure at UCLA, one of the students enrolled in his class was Jim Morrison. The Vietnam War, however, put an end to Hirschman's academic career; he was fired from UCLA after encouraging his students to resist the draft.

For a quarter century, Hirschman roamed San Francisco streets and cafes, becoming an active street poet and a peripatetic activist. Hirschman was also a painter and collagist.

Jack Hirschman, Aggie Falk

In June 1999, Hirschman married the Swedish poet, writer and artist Agneta Falk.

Hirschman died at his home in San Francisco on August 22, 2021, at age 87.

Long Range Desert Group

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War.

Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, acting under the direction of General Archibald Wavell. At first, the majority of the men were from New Zealand, but they were soon joined by Southern Rhodesian and British volunteers, whereupon new sub-units were formed and the name was changed to the better-known Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). The LRDG never numbered more than 350 men, all of whom were volunteers.

The LRDG was formed specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols and intelligence missions from behind Italian lines, although they sometimes engaged in combat operations. 

Because the LRDG were experts in desert navigation, they were sometimes assigned to guide other units, including the Special Air Service and secret agents across the desert. During the Desert Campaign between December 1940 and April 1943, the vehicles of the LRDG operated constantly behind the Axis lines. 

With the surrender of the Axis forces in Tunisia in May 1943, the LRDG changed roles and moved operations to the eastern Mediterranean, carrying out missions in the Greek islands, Italy and the Balkans. 

After the end of the war in Europe, the leaders of the LRDG made a request to the War Office for the unit to be transferred to the Far East to conduct operations against the Japanese Empire. The request was declined and the LRDG was disbanded in August 1945.

Trooper "Bluey" Grimsey is credited with designing the LRDG beret badge. The legend has it that a scorpion stung him and then promptly died. (The Scorpion, not Bluey). 

Originally the cap badge was a brooch that members gave to their sweethearts. They were locally made in the jewelry shops in Cairo. It wasn't long before the brooch was worn on the Black Beret of Royal Tank Regiment. Eventually this became the "official" unofficial head dress of the LRDG.

Typically it features a brass scorpion with the letters LRDG underneath centered in a silver circle.

Richie Cole

Richie Cole (1948 –2020) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger.

Cole was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He began to play alto saxophone when he was ten years old, encouraged by his father, who owned a jazz club in New Jersey.

In 1969, he joined drummer Buddy Rich's Big Band. After working with Lionel Hampton's Big Band and Doc Severinsen's Big Band, he formed his own quintet and toured worldwide, developing his own "alto madness" bebop style in the 1970s and early 1980s.

He formed the Alto Madness Orchestra in the 1990s.

El Gañan Enmascarado

 'El gañán enmascarado' is a comic series about the adventures of a superhero (with beret) from Tomelloso, by author Pedro Salinas.

Gañan's first appearances were in Tomelloso's "Fanzín-Bazín", the magazine promoted by José Vicente González, alias "Pepe, el Mocho". 

The superhero appeared there along with other unforgettable characters such as Braulio, "the vampire of Los Portales", "Brother Petraca", Faria-Man, the Cubata Man, the Vinagres Brother and the Vertedera Woman, all inspired by the local environment of Tomellosero.

Pedro Salinas showed his predilection for the world of comics and illustration from a very young age . He also collaborated in the Madrid magazine "A la calle" and in others such as "Baraka", from Alcázar de San Juan. 

He also published articles on the world of comics, both nationally and internationally.

Stephen Lunn, Blacksmith / Artist

This website is the virtual home of Stephen Lunn DWCF FWCB. Silver Medal Holder Blacksmith / Artist.

This year, his blacksmiths business, J. S. Lunn and Sons, will celebrate its 100th year.

Jack Smith - Stephen's grandfather returned from the First World War where he had been a drafted farrier and bought the business from the Scott family in 1921, who had been shoeing horses on the same Red Row site for 200 years.

Stephen started in the business in 1975 and worked with the farmers doing farm repairs and shoeing horses. His "Eureka moment" came when he attended a meeting of the British Artists Blacksmiths Association (BABA) and saw other blacksmiths were designing their own work.

"It's so obvious now, but in those days up until that moment we'd never thought of designing our own work," he said.

Forty five years on Stephen and daughter Ashlee Donaldson - who retrained as a blacksmith following a degree in fashion marketing - are at the forefront of the revival of blacksmithing and its evolution into an art form.

Thanks Frans

Khatol Mohammadzai

Khatol Mohammadzai, the highest-ranking woman in Afghanistan's air force and its first and only female parachutist, sits at home in her uniform and airforce decorations, 19th April 2002. 

She was an air force veteran and a brigadier with 500 parachute jumps on her records when the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996. With the Taliban prohibiting women from working, she lost her job and was forced to take menial jobs to support her family. In 2002 however, she became the first female general in the Afghan National Army.

At the Palace Bar in Tunis

A man drinks a beer in Palace bar at Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis's inner-city - home to many vibrant bars, cafes, restaurants, boutiques and shops as well as some of Tunis's best examples of street art and graffiti. April 1, 2010.

Winnie Harlow

Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young (1994), known professionally as Winnie Harlow, is a Jamaican-Canadian fashion model and public spokesperson on the skin condition vitiligo. She gained prominence in 2014 as a contestant on the 21st cycle of the U.S. television series America's Next Top Model.

She was diagnosed with the chronic skin condition vitiligo, characterized by depigmentation of portions of the skin, at the age of four. Harlow was a victim of bullying by other children and was reportedly called a "cow, zebra, and all manner of other disparaging slurs" throughout her childhood by students both black and white. The verbal harassment led to her changing schools numerous times and dropping out of high school, after which she contemplated suicide.

Harlow was discovered by America's Next Top Model host Tyra Banks on Instagram, and subsequently became one of the 14 finalists of the 21st cycle in 2014. In July 2011, Harlow posted a video titled "Vitiligo: A Skin Condition, not a Life Changer" on YouTube. She talked about the condition and answered questions about her life living with vitiligo. In November 2014, Harlow spoke in a TEDx presentation, recalling her experience with it. She was presented with the 'Role Model' award at the 2015 Portuguese GQ Men of The Year event.

Samaritans

Samaritans gather to pray on top of Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus as they celebrate the Shavuot festival at dawn, on June 8, 2014. 

Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai seven weeks after the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. The Samaritan religion is based on four principles of faith, one God - the God of Israel, one Prophet - Moses Ben Amram, the belief in the Torah - the first five books of the Bible and one holy place - Mount Gerizim. 

La Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion) is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.

The title of the film comes from the 1909 book The Great Illusion by British journalist Norman Angell, which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. 

The perspective of the film is generously humanistic to its characters of various nationalities.

La Grande Illusion is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema and among the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles named La Grande Illusion as one of the two movies he would take with him "on the ark."

Thanks Frans

Bernard Blier

Bernard Blier (1916 –1989) was a French character actor.

He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time.

His rotund features and premature baldness allowed him to often play cuckolded husbands in his early career. He is notable for being one of France's most versatile and sought-after character actors, performing interchangeably in comedies and dramas. His complete filmography includes 138 titles. He often appeared in Italian films too, particularly in the last decade of his life. He was awarded an Honorary César (the French Oscar) in 1989, 24 days before he died.

He is the father of director Bertrand Blier. He has appeared in several his son's films, most notably Buffet froid (1979).

Thanks Frans

Les siffleurs d'Aas

 Years ago, I first published a post on the Whistlers from Aas (here and here).

Last year, the film Les siffleurs d'Aas has been released, showing how this age old tradition from the Ossau Valley is kept alive. It is taught at a college in Laruns, for example and teachers, college students, amateurs, scientists, all enthusiasts, whistle and speak Gascon fluently. They form a family that integrates into the larger community of whistlers around the world. In the same way as the great anonymous creations, their tradition belongs to the intangible heritage of France, and partly founds its identity.

Suspenders

Suspenders, or braces are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up skirts or trousers.

The straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attachment ends, and most straps are of woven cloth forming an X or Y shape at the back.

Suspenders are typically attached to skirts and trousers with clips or buttons using leather tabs at the ends.

In British English, a suspender belt, or suspenders for short, is a garment used to hold up stockings. This is called a garter belt in American English.

In the 2000s, it became fashionable for some younger women to wear suspenders, a style that emerged from Mod styles in the late 1960s through to punk rock and skinhead styles of the late 1970s into the 1980s.