Saturday, March 10, 2012

Object of the Day: A Scrap from the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary




So, the other night, I had a lovely dream.  I dreamt that I went to the 1911 Coronation.  Not only that, I was a special guest of King George V and Queen Mary.  I rode with them in the gold carriage all the way to Westminster Abbey.  For some reason, Queen Mary was sitting between me and King George.  Queen Mary frowned at me several times and said, “Joseph, is it really necessary to smoosh my gown?  You’re crushing my gown.  You’re ruining it!”

When we arrived at Westminster Abbey, we disembarked the carriage and I discovered that the drivers were Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb from the booze-fueled fourth hour of Today.  Queen Mary warned me that if I stepped on her train, I’d have to wait in the carriage with Kathie Lee and Hoda and I promised that I would be good so I could go into the Abbey.  KLG asked me why I didn’t want to stay with her.

Why do I share this with you?  I suppose as a way of further demonstrating my devotion to Queen Mary and King George V (and, it seems Kathie Lee and Hoda).  My home is filled with antique images of George and Mary (not KLG and Hoda), and here’s one more.

This scrap was produced in 1911 for the coronation.  It depicts the King and Queen, wearing their shimmering Orders and Garter Stars, in a regal wreath.  They are flanked by the Royal Standard and the flag of Britain. 

These die-cut chromolithographs were produced so that the public could collect them an incorporate them into albums or use them for the decoupage projects which were popular at the time. 

I’m always thrilled when scraps survive in this unaltered state and I’m quite pleased to have this one.  It is, apparently, the stuff that dreams are made of.  





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