The Postcard
A postcard that was posted in Seoul on Wednesday the 22nd. March 1911. It was sent to:
Miss Josephine Cooper,
27 Lansing Street,
Little Falls,
New York,
U.S.A.
The message on the back of the card was as follows:
"Seoul, Mar. 22 - 11.
A Corean wood carrier
with mourning hat."
The Korean Gat
Robert Neff of the Korean Times has written the following about Korean male headware:
'One of the most important articles of clothing for Koreans in the late 19th. century was the hat. The elderly man with his majestic black horse hair hat, often seen in pictures, is the iconic image of Korean male society during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910).
According to Percival Lowell, an American who stayed in Seoul in the winter of 1883-84:
"No Korean can in decency appear
without it [hat], except only to make
room for some other hat."
It was a sign of manhood, "the most essential of attributes," and a badge of one's position in Korean society.
Lowell seemed amused with the difference between Korean and American culture. In the United States it was considered poor manners to wear a hat indoors, and one would rarely remove one's shoes, but the opposite was true in Korea:
"A man would part with any or all of
his clothing sooner than take off his
hat. On entering a house, he leaves
his shoes outside to await his return,
but he and his hat go in together.
As he sits down to eat, he divests
himself of his outer garments that he
may eat with greater freedom, but his
hat stays on; and so it sticks to him
through life ― a permanent black halo."
There were many types of hats. The iconic hat, the gat, was made from horse hair and bamboo and was black and somewhat transparent.
It had a fairly wide brim that in the past, according to popular legend, was much wider as a means of preventing unrest. Because of its wide brim, conspirators were kept apart, and were unable to whisper their plans to one another.
There was also a large mourning hat made from bamboo. It was designed to hide the face of mourners from others they might encounter on the streets. It was considered a grievous breach of etiquette to look into the face of the mourner.
Early French missionaries used the mourning hat to disguise themselves as they traveled the Korean peninsula before the 1880's. They were able to move about in relative secrecy for no one would attempt to communicate with a mourner.
Court officials' hats had slightly bent-forward ear-shaped horizontal wings. It was said they symbolized the wearer's attentiveness and willingness to "catch every word of command that the King may utter."
As Korea entered the 20th. century, there were many reforms forced on the population. Some were readily accepted and appreciated, but others, especially those that dealt with hair styles and hats, were vehemently opposed.
"A man is much more firmly bound to
his hat than he is attached to his wife.
He may put away the latter; without
the hat, life becomes a hollow mockery,
for the hat makes the man. Without it
he remains forever a boy."
Hats remained a part of male culture throughout the first half of the 20th. century, but have since disappeared. The only exceptions are those worn by elderly males in the Jongno area, or the bright colorful caps that young teens and adults wear while out with their friends. The "permanent black halo" is no more.'
SMS Kaiser
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, on the 22nd. March 1911, the SMS Kaiser, Germany's first turbine-powered battleship, was launched from the shipyard in Kiel, on the birthday of the late Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797–1888).
The SMS Kaiser, Germany's first turbine powered battleship, was launched from the shipyard in Kiel, on the birthday of the late Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797–1888).
--The Scuttling of the SMS Kaiser
Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, most of their fleet ships were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter.
Admiral Adolf von Trotha had made it clear to Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships, under any conditions. Once the ships were interned, their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech blocks. The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Versailles Treaty.
A copy of The Times informed Reuter that the Armistice was to expire at noon on the 21st. June 1919, the deadline by which Germany was to have signed the peace treaty.
Reuter came to the conclusion that the British intended to seize the German ships after the Armistice expired. Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd, Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk.
On the morning of the 21st. June 1919, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.
Kaiser sank at 13:24; she was raised in 1929 and broken up for scrap in Rosyth in 1930.