SERIES: Pictorial History of the Sports and Pastimes of All Nations
SCENES: Juggling; Acrobats; Japanese Festivals
SIZE: 3" x 5"
ARTIST: Not signed, but reportedly Frances Brundage
DATE: 1893
LITHOGRAPHER: Kaufman & Strauss
CONDITION: Good, I'd say. The card is generally only lightly soiled, with just some light staining along the right edge of the back. The edges are somewhat worn, with small scrapes in the left margin, and there are several mild bends in the body of the card. (Please see scans.)
MULTIPLE ITEM SHIPPING DISCOUNT: I will ship up to 4 cards for the single base shipping charge shown. For purchases of more than 4 cards, the shipping charge will increase by just a small increment for every 4 additional cards.
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REVERSE TEXT: JAPAN.
THE Japanese have the most advanced civilization of any nation on Asiatic soil. Indeed in some regards they are even more advanced than the proudest of western countries. But in many other ways they are ludicrously far behind. They cling to ancient forms of government and the Mikado is an autocrat, absolute almost over the life and death of his subjects.
A country which yields such power to the individual, can never hope to work out its highest possibilities. So even the sports and pastimes of such a nation can never be the spontaneous expression of the animal spirits of the young of that land.
Juggling is a fine art in Japan. Beside the Japanese juggler the man of legerdemain of other countries is a clumsy bungler. The feats performed by the former are beyond all comparison. To achieve such dexterity, it may well be presumed that the wizard has been taught from earliest childhood. In fact the jugglers are sometimes a caste, so that the child often starts with the hereditary traits of forefather in the same line, and of the added experience of these.
Of the acrobats of Japan who are also super-eminent much the same can be said. One would scarcely believe that the human body could be so sinuous and might be so contorted at will.
The Japanese Festivals or Feasts are frequent. The main celebrations are held after dark; then fireworks are displayed, and lanterns are hung. These latter transform the most commonplace scenes into fairyland. The dancing indulged in on these occasions is most picturesque. As the figures flit from light into dark and back again, they form scenes never to be forgotten.
The Japanese wrestlers are world-famed, and their contests are most skillful.
