Introduction

1882 - I
1887
1891 - II
1895 - III
1898
1899
1900
1901 - IV
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907 - V
1908
1910
1911
1912 - VI
1913
1914
1915
1916
1918
1919
1920 - Local Events
1920 - VII
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926 - VIII
1927
1928

SOKOL POSTCARDS
and Poster Stamps

1901 - IV - Prague

(Click on any image to view an enlarged version)


Official poster for 1901 festival
artist: Bedřich Wachsmann (1871-1944)

The fourth festival included excercise exhibitions of 876 women with Indian clubs. Over 6,700 men and 1,600 children took part. Participants included teams from Austria, France, Poland and Slovenia. A procession of 11,000 sokols paid homage to the host city of Prague. There were 50,000 spectators for the 4-day event.

   
   

Above, six examples of a poster stamp with the official advertising image for the event (each stamp is about two inches tall). I see three paper colors (red, blue, yellow), and otherwise perhaps just variations in inking. The eBay seller who sold me the first two claimed the design was the work of world-famous Art Nouveau painter and illustrator Alfons Mucha; however, I emailed an expert on Mucha's work, and he tells me it is not by Mucha.

7/31/2018 - Czech collector and Sokol expert Štefan Šuták wrote to tell me the artist is Bedřich Wachsmann (1871-1944), who also painted the official poster for this slet (at top of this page). Wachsmann was a well-respected art professor at UMPRUM, the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He was asked to do the poster when none of the entries in a public design competition satisfied the judges.

Below, a block of four of this vignette, with two varieties setenant; and a postcard with the stamp image.

 

The red text on the card says "We will meet at the IV. Slet in Prague 1901."
The black text on the card says:
"The festive committee of the IV. slet kindly asks you to bring the offered carriage to the station." (!?)


Below, a photo of the Prague National Theater on a card announcing the upcoming Slet,
and affirming the close connection Sokol has always maintained with the theater.

"Introduction of the Montenegrin delegation to the mayor of Paris" during the Fourth All-Sokol Slet.

Greetings to a correspondent in Jicin, franked with Franz Josef 5h. stamp, cancelled with Kral. Vinohrady postmark dated 16 Oct. 1901, and bearing Jicin receiving handstamp dated the same day.

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Popular 1901 card showing vignettes used on cards of 1891 and 1895.

 

The top left "luneta" (half-moon), from 1891, is a relief by František Ženíšek (1849-1916), entitled Slib Sokolský, or Sokol's Promise. It was erected over the main gate of the stadium for the 1891 II. Slet. The 1895 luneta is of a relief by Jan Preisler (1872-1918), and is titled Vítězství myšlenky sokolské, or "Victory of Sokol Thought." It was displayed over the gate of the stadium at III. Slet. The circular relief and luneta at the bottom are by Stanislav Sucharda (1866-1916). His relief was also displayed over the stadium gate, in 1901.


Above, undivided viewcard of the French gymnastic participants in the Slet, franked with Franz Josef 5 h. stamp cancelled with Prague, bi-lingual postmark dated 1.7.01; addressed to Jablonec nad Jizerou, bearing its bi-lingual arrival handstamp of the next day. Special cachet of Prague's Parade Ground IV All-Sokol Slet, held 29.VI. & 30.VI. 1901, applied in purple.



8/5/18 - artist = Jan Urban (1874-1921) (per Štefan Šuták)

Undivided postcard with Falcon and Hradcany motif, franked with Franz Josef 5 h. stamp cancelled with Prague 1, bi-lingual postmark dated 3.10.01; addressed locally to Prague bearing its blue bi-lingual arrival handstamp of the same day.


Below, other cards issued to promote the event.

 
8/5/18 - artist = Karel Šimůnek (1869-1942) (Štefan Šuták)

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8/5/18 - artist = Kamil Vladislav (CV) Muttich (1873-1924) was a prolific painter and illustrator
who did many illustrations for Sokol cards and posters, most notably
the famous set of six titled "Marathon" for the 1912 VI. All-Sokol Slet. (Štefan Šuták)

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The card above is clearly a Sokol image, an allegorical scene
whose interpretation I will leave to the viewer, but the text (in Polish) says
"League of Polish painters in Krakow 1901, Reproduction is Forbidden!"
The artist is Walery Eljasz Radzikowski (1841-1905).

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Starting with the 1901 Slet, photo cards like the one below,
showing teams and events of the Slet, were produced as souvenirs.

 

Below, An undivided postally used postcard showing a group of Bulgarian Junaci at the IV. Slet in Prague,
distinguished by their white caps.
"Junáci" is the plural of "Junák," which translates as youth or young man. In Slovak it is pronounced "Yunak", which is the Anglicized term used today for the Bulgarian version of Sokol. (See "YUNAK" page for the story of the organization.)

The cards below give one a sense of the enormous scope of the festivities.

 

 

 


An American in Prague

8/28/18 - Ted Krejsa of Cleveland sent the two cards below,
souvenirs of his grandfather's visit to Prague around the time of the 1901 All-Sokol Slet.
Ed Krejsa was studying at the Prague Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Antonin Dvořák. That's impressive.
Read more about Ed here.

The first card was sent to Ed within Prague, mailed on October 25, 1901,
several months after the Slet. Clearly this card was created specifically for the Slet.

 

The second card was not mailed, though addressed to Ed's father in Cleveland.
Perhaps it was enclosed with a letter.
Ted thinks the signatures are from other Americans from Cleveland whom Ed met at the Slet.

This looks like a generic card to which the seller has added the red text for the 1901 Slet. I say this because if you look closely at the scan of the address side, you can see the impression of the red text, showing that it was added. It isn't quite straight, either.

 

Note that both of these are "Undivided Back" cards, since they date from pre-1910, when postcards could have nothing but the address on the address side.

1929
1930
1931
1932 - IX
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938 - X
1939
1943 - London
1946
1947
1948 - XI
1948 - Rudé Právo labels
1951
1989
1990
1994 - XII
1996
UNDATED

Chile
USA
Slovak Catholic Sokol

DTJ
Orel
YUNAK

Links
References
Acknowledgments
UPDATES



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All text Copyright © 2005, 2018, William M. Senkus

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Created -- 10/25/2005
Revised -- 08/28/2018