Monday, August 27, 2012

The Pipe of Peace


This card was in a postcard album I purchased many years ago. The album belonged to the family of U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, Richard C. Kerens. I'm not sure what the reference to "The Judge" is. It's handwritten on the card and perhaps is an inside joke between the two parties. Kerens served from 1909 to 1913 under President Taft. The card is postmarked in 1908, the year that Austria-Hungry annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, a move that led to much unrest and eventually the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. World War I started 4 months later.

Interesting side note: There was a short-lived (1992-1993) TV series produced by George Lucas, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles". In one episode called "Vienna, November 1908" an actor portrays Ambassador Kerens.


2 comments:

  1. That's a cool card. I guess the lion is symbolic of something, though I don't know what.

    This is the first time I have seen your blog. I added it to my Bloglist. I wish you had an archive on your sidebar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm kind of a newbie to this blog thing! Still learning! I now have an archive in my sidebar...good idea!

      Delete