The Postcard
A Commercial Series postcard that was published by J. W. B. of London E. The card was posted in Belvedere, Kent using a ½d. stamp on Sunday the 13th. March 1910. It was posted to:
Mrs. Fred Smith,
154, Charlton Lane,
Old Charlton,
London SE.
The pencilled message on the divided back was as follows:
"Sunday night.
On board. All well
at 4pm,
Write to Xness as
usual.
Fred."
'My Old Dutch'
"My Old Dutch" is the title of an 1892 music hall and vaudeville song performed by Albert Chevalier. The lyrics were written by Chevalier, with music composed by his brother Auguste under the name Charles Ingle.
Described as one of Chevalier's most popular works, the song was probably written as a tribute to Chevalier's wife Florrie.
'My Old Dutch' is an 1880's colloquialism for a partner or friend. The phrase has a number possible origins: Cockney rhyming slang explanations identify the phrase as coming from:
-- Dutch plate ("mate")
-- Duchess of Fife ("wife")
-- Dutch house ("spouse").
Chevalier, however, claimed that his wife's face reminded him of the clock face of a Dutch clock.
The lyrics of the song are as follows:
'I've got a pal,
A reg'lar out an' outer,
She's a dear good old gal,
I'll tell yer all about 'er.
It's many years since fust we met,
'Er 'air was then as black as jet,
It's whiter now, but she don't fret,
Not my old gal
We've been together now for forty years,
An' it don't seem a day too much,
There ain't a lady livin' in the land
As I'd swop for my dear old Dutch.
I calls 'er Sal,
'Er proper name is Sairer,
An' yer may find a gal
As you'd consider fairer.
She ain't a angel — she can start
A-jawin' till it makes yer smart,
She's just a woman, bless 'er eart,
Is my old gal!
We've been together now for forty years,
An' it don't seem a day too much,
There ain't a lady livin' in the land
As I'd swop for my dear old Dutch.
Sweet fine old gal,
For worlds I wouldn't lose 'er,
She's a dear good old gal,
An' that's what made me choose 'er.
She's stuck to me through thick and thin,
When luck was out, when luck was in,
Ah wot a wife to me she's been,
An' wot a pal!
We've been together now for forty years,
An' it don't seem a day too much,
There ain't a lady livin' in the land
As I'd swop for my dear old Dutch.
I sees yer Sal —
Yer pretty ribbons sportin'
Many years now, old gal,
Since them young days of courtin'.
I ain't a coward, still I trust
When we've to part, as part we must,
That Death may come and take me fust
To wait... my pal!
We've been together now for forty years,
An' it don't seem a day too much,
There ain't a lady livin' in the land
As I'd swop for my dear old Dutch.'
When the Beatles received the OBE, during their audience with Queen Elizabeth she asked how long the group had been together. Paul McCartney spontaneously sang 'We've been together now for forty years' in jest, to the Queen's amusement.
The Arrest of Veer Savarkar
So what else happened on the day that Fred posted the card to his wife?
Well, on the 13th. March 1910, Veer Savarkar, the "Father of Hindu Nationalism" in British India, was arrested by London police on the day that he returned to the United Kingdom from France.
Savarkar had crossed the English Channel, and then boarded a train at Dover. He was picked up as he alighted from a train arriving at Victoria Station.
The Lakeview Gusher
The following day, Monday the 14th. March 1910, shortly after 8:00 p.m., the Lakeview Number 1 drilling rig, located between Taft and Maricopa, California, struck oil at a depth of 2,440 feet (740 m).
Moments later, a column of oil 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter erupted from the drill hole. The Lakeview Gusher was the largest in United States history, producing nine million barrels (378,000,000 gallons) of crude oil in eighteen months.