(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.
---------
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)
---------
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)
---------
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).
---------
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.
