Egypt and 1920s Fashion

1920s sheer black silk chiffon tabard style dress with shimmering black glass beads top to bottom, front and back. Red beads in winged deco design wrap hips on either side.

For sale at Dorothea's Closet Vintage for $845

Player's Egyptian Kings and Queens

John Player & Sons were one of the first UK tobacco companies to include cards of general interest into their packets and one of the most interesting of these, at least to an Egypto-maniac, was their 1911 series entitled "Egyptian Kings & Queens and Classical Deities". 

This 25 card set includes such Egyptian royal luminaries as Ramses III and Queen Hatshepset and certainly forms a very attractive collection. 

Cigarette cards started, in around 1880, as plain pieces of card inserted into cigarette packets, then made of paper, and were known as "stiffeners" as their primary purpose was to reinforce the packet. By 1887 they had been introduced into the British market and by 1901 had proven to be quite the craze with over 300 companies issuing cards of different subject matter and quality. 

Images of Egypt: Palmolive

One of the brands that consistently used Egypt in its advertising was Palmolive. Palmolive was developed in 1898 by the B.J Johnson Company and by 1900 was the worlds best selling soap. It was named after its two principle ingredients Palm and Olive Oil.

By 1902 they had started developing the stylish advertising they became well known for and always emphasized ingredient purity and product benefits.

During the period after 1910 they ran a series of wonderfully designed advertisements using Egyptian iconography. This national campaign was designed by the Lord & Thomas advertising agency and helped to re position the brand into a luxury one that would enhance the beauty of women.

Coles Phillips (1880-1927)

Via Etsy

Egypt in C20: At the Movies

The second of this series focusing on actresses who played Cleopatra in the twentieth century (see the first here) focuses on the film starring the marvellous Theda Bara.

The director was J. Gordon Edwards and it also featured Fritz Leiber and Thurston Hall. It was filmed in the Summer of 1917 and was released in October of the same year.

Both publicity, sets and costumes were lavish.30,000 people were employed in the making of the film as well as 2,000 horses in total Fox spent $50,000 on sets.

 Publicity stated that ancient prophecies had predicted that Theda would play Cleopatra.

She makes a wonderful, exotic and mysterious Cleopatra, if the surviving footage and publicity materials are anything to go by.

Carlton Cinema, Essex Road, London

Designed by architect George Coles the Carlton Cinema opened in 1930 and was still being used as a cinema into the 1970s, since 1962 as part of the ABC chain. It’s history has been less illustrious since with a stint as a bingo hall and then its subsequent abandonment in 2007. The building is currently boarded up and vacant.

The 1930s structure was built on a site that had previously been occupied, since the 1800s, by terraced houses.  C&R Theatres Ltd, owners of the Carlton Cinema chain, purchased the land and got planning permission to build the venue in 1929.

The cinema was opened on 1^st September 1930 by Prince Arthur of Connaught and other audience members, in its 2,266 seater capacity, were the Mayor of Islington. The opening film was “Welcome Danger” staring Harold Lloyd.

From my collection: Luggage Labels

Egypt in the C20: At the Movies

The first of this sequence of  'Egypt at the Movies' focuses on the  feature 'Cleopatra' starring Helen Gardner.

Released on the 13th November 1912 it was the first production of the independent production company 'Helen Gardner Productions'. Helen Gardner was the first actress to establish her own production company as well, mainly though her role as Cleopatra, as being the first film "Vamp".

As an actress Helen Gardner appeared in 62 films between 1910 and 1924 and out of these around 18 are known to still survive, at least in part.

Luckily one of these is Cleopatra and you can really get a sense of her appeal.

Her style is the very epitome of late 'Edwardian' glamour with its heady exoticism and sexuality.