Stars of Twilight Fair in 1909. And The King of Whistlers.

            The Postcard

A Valentine's Series postcard that was printed in Great Britain. The card was posted in Birmingham using a half-penny stamp on Tuesday the 2nd. November 1909. It was sent to:

Miss Pegie Grant,
Convent of the Visitation,
Langerbrugge,
Belgium,
Belgique.

There was a very brief message on the divided back of the card:

"Love,
Tressie."

Freedom of Speech

So what else happened on the day that Tressie posted the card?

Well, on the 2nd.November 1909, on Stevens Street in Spokane, Washington, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) began a challenge to a city ordinance that prohibited public speaking on the city's streets. 

On the first day, 103 IWW members were arrested, and by the month's end, more than 500 people had been locked up, until the ordinance was repealed. 

The Spokane free-speech protest received national attention, and led to similar fights for freedom of speech in other cities.

The Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity

Also on that day, the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was founded at Boston University by student Warren A. Cole. By 2006, the 250,000th. member of the fraternity had been initiated.

Fred Lowery

The day also marked the birth, in Palestine, Texas of the "King of Whistlers", Fred Lowery. 

Fred was a blind professional whistler who recorded a No. 9 Billboard chart hit version of "The High and the Mighty" with conductor and arranger LeRoy Holmes. 

Lowery whistled with Horace Heidt and Vincent Lopez in the 1930's and 40's. His 'Silent Night' and 'William Tell Overture' demonstrate the difference between everyday whistling and puccalo.

Lowery was born in Palestine in Anderson County in east Texas and lost his eyesight at the age of two after being stricken with scarlet fever. 

With an artificial right eye and limited vision in the left, Fred Lowery was legally blind, although not totally blind. From the age of eight he was educated at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 

In 1929, when Fred was attending school, he met a bird imitator. He recalled:

"He encouraged me, and I began to 
discover there was more to whistling 
than bird calls." 

After a series of minor successes, including a radio show on WFAA in Dallas, and a 4+1⁄2-year engagement with the Vincent Lopez orchestra in New York, he was heard by Horace Heidt. 

Heidt gave Lowery his chance for national recognition as a featured part of his show. His 1939 version of the song Indian Love Call sold over 2 million copies.

In 1945, Lowery struck out on his own, and during his career, he performed at Carnegie Hall and at the White House.

Fred died on the 11th. December 1984.

Taken on: October 24, 2023

Tags:

postcard

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Valentine

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1909

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Pegie

Grant

Convent

Visitation

Langerbrugge

Belgium

Tressie

Lambda

Chi

Alpha

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1984

Billboard

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Sets appears in: • Greetings Cards

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