• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Are You Searching For The Golden Treasure Of The Entente Cordiale?

Victory

Victory

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
2,268
Location
London
A new treasure hinting book has just been published, reminiscent of 1970's book Masquerade.


"The Golden Treasure of the Entente Cordiale"

This one is written in two volumes, one in English, the other in French.

I do not speak French, so will not be searching.
Perhaps though, the winner will be a team of both native English and French speakers?

https://www.thegoldentreasureoftheententecordiale.com/en
 
"More than a book, an adventure awaits you with Le Trésor de l'Entente Cordiale®."
This is begging for a parody. Besides, it gives an unfair advantage to French Canadians who can afford to travel.

Bamber Gascoigne wrote about the process of creating Masquerade at the request of the author, Kit Williams. He said this about the would-be finders of the Golden Hare:
"Tens of thousands of letters from Masqueraders have convinced me that the human mind has an equal capacity for pattern-matching and self-deception. While some addicts were busy cooking the riddle, others were more single-mindedly continuing their own pursuit of the hare quite regardless of the news that it had been found. Their own theories had come to seem so convincing that no exterior evidence could refute them."
Click to expand...
Sounds familiar these days . . .
 
Love this old propaganda cartoon, showing Britain and France arm-in-arm, with smirking looks, whilst Germany looks rather miffed about the whole affair:

entente.png
 
Frideswide said:
Why does Germany have a bike side stand?
Click to expand...
His sword scabbard is not properly hitched-up (as it should be when worn under a greatcoat, in a walking-out state of dress).

To be dangling loose like that, the coat is meant to be pinned-up, with das hoss under him.
 
And if he's a proper cavalryman (maybe even a Prussian Graf from Dragoner Rgmt Nr 2) he should really know better.
 
Ermintruder said:
Very close....that's an extremely astute observation....proof (were it ever needed) that body language transcends international boundaries & time
Click to expand...
You're very kind, but right now I'm picturing a Bulgarian person nodding their head.

ETA after a moment's reflection, though, I'm presuming that while there may be significant differences in conscious non-verbal communication, subconscious indicators will tend to be similar. Is that a fair hypothesis?
 
Frideswide said:
Why does Germany have a bike side stand?
Click to expand...
The cartoon was originally published in Punch in 1904.
Germany (typified by the Kaiser) is pretending not to care that Britain (John Bull) and France (Marianne) are all loved up together, but the tip of the scabbard of a cavalry sabre protruding from beneath the Kaiser's army overcoat, implies a potential resort to force.
Just 10 years later, WW1 started.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Kaiser Wilhelm II's appearance was akin to a living caricature
Click to expand...
Yes and no: he wore a military uniform and mustache in a style that was almost Indistinguishable from all other Imperial German military officers. So he was a self-caricature outwith the country he ruled: but was simply a standard-looking representative of the mainly Prussian class & profession he was a part of, in the eyes of most German citizens (especially following creation of the German state itself in 1871)

blessmycottonsocks said:
but the tip of the scabbard of a cavalry sabre protruding from beneath the Kaiser's army overcoat, implies a potential resort to force.
Click to expand...
I did seriously wonder if this was indeed the fascinating case, but told myself I had to be over-interpreting a technical detail. Is this definitely the intended significance of the revealed scabbard, by the artist? I mean do we have any quoted commentary from the time (I suppose the equivalent of Letters to the Editor of Punch) or current expert historians who would agree with this?
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
my Anglo-French ménage
Click to expand...
ma très chère @blessmycottonsocks , s'il vous plaît - je vous demande maintenant, avez-vous une famille ou un zoo ?

Aujourd'hui, j'ai découvert la différence entre un ménage et un menagerie....je suis un grand imbécile!!

(pardonnez-moi, bénissez mes chaussettes en coton - oui, je suis un très personne drôle)
 
Ermintruder said:
ma très chère @blessmycottonsocks , s'il vous plaît - je vous demande maintenant, avez-vous une famille ou un zoo ?

Aujourd'hui, j'ai découvert la différence entre un ménage et un menagerie....je suis un grand imbécile!!

(pardonnez-moi, bénissez mes chaussettes en coton - oui, je suis un très personne drôle)
Click to expand...
Almost perfect.
Except should have commenced with mon très cher!
 
Absolutely. Really I was moaning about the kind of condescending attitudes that, say, depicts all Frenchmen as bicycle-riding onion-sellers.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
And of course Kaiser Wilhelm II's appearance was akin to a living caricature and must have been a god-send to political cartoonists at the time!


View attachment 72963
Click to expand...
Some of my Steampunk hats were inspired by that image. I imagined a pompous but minor Prussian politician commissioning metalworkers to make a copy to wear with non-military finery for state events.

Techy called the spike one 'preposterous' which was exactly the effect I'd aimed for. :bthumbup:
 
Ermintruder said:
Yes and no: he wore a military uniform and mustache in a style that was almost Indistinguishable from all other Imperial German military officers. So he was a self-caricature outwith the country he ruled: but was simply a standard-looking representative of the mainly Prussian class & profession he was a part of, in the eyes of most German citizens (especially following creation of the German state itself in 1871)


I did seriously wonder if this was indeed the fascinating case, but told myself I had to be over-interpreting a technical detail. Is this definitely the intended significance of the revealed scabbard, by the artist? I mean do we have any quoted commentary from the time (I suppose the equivalent of Letters to the Editor of Punch) or current expert historians who would agree with this?
Click to expand...
As this is a caricature it only needed to present the stereotypical features that Brits would recognise. It needn't be accurate.
The scabbard certainly does imply a threat of militarism.
 
escargot said:
Some of my Steampunk hats were inspired by that image. I imagined a pompous but minor Prussian politician commissioning metalworkers to make a copy to wear with non-military finery for state events.

Techy called the spike one 'preposterous' which was exactly the effect I'd aimed for. :bthumbup:
Click to expand...

Made me recall how erstwhile Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell used to depict Bundeskanzler Angela Merkel - as a dominatrix, draped in world war memorabilia and with a Pickelhaube on her head, thereby combining Germanophobia and misogyny!


bell.png
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Made me recall how erstwhile Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell used to depict Bundeskanzler Angela Merkel - as a dominatrix, draped in world war memorabilia and with a Pickelhaube on her head, thereby combining Germanophobia and misogyny!


View attachment 74528
Click to expand...
Even as a big Steve Bell fan I didn't like that. Showing her as a dominatrix was most certainly misogynistic, with a whiff of slut-shaming.

The problem, one assumes, for a cartoonist intending to portray ideas of German domination or aggression is that they mustn't suggest Nazism. Instead they have to fall back on Kaiser-era symbolism along with good old sexual perversion. Could do better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top