Technical Notes

People

The Parsifal and Richard Wagner

At the time of the adventure (April 1972 to be specific), Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal, which was to be his last, has not been composed yet (won't be until 1876).  The name, at the time, refers only to a germanic/Round Table mythical character, of which King Ludwig II is known to be very fond.  The King is in fact a great friend, fan and admirer of Wagner, although they occasionally quarrel.  Wagner is currently working on his Niebelungen Ring Tetralogy; Das Rheingold (1869) and Die Walküre (1870) have already been published and performed (with the King and Wagner having an argument over them!)

(Note from the Host, Sophie Lagacé)
 
 


Places

Rome and The Kingdom of Italy

Until recently, Italy, like Germany, was composed of several little independant duchies and kingdoms.  In 1859, the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont acquired Lombardy; from 1859 to 1861, the rapid expansion of Piedmont-Sardinia led to the Unification Treaty of 1861.  Venetia was acquired in 1866, Rome in 1870 (only two years ago!), and immediately made the new capital.  The entire process included much political manoeuvering from France and Austria, and has left Italy fairly unfriendly to both.

Rome is currently a city of some 244,000 inhabitants, in a country that counts a little over 27 million souls.

(Note from the Host, Sophie Lagacé, and from Chuck Monson, a.k.a. Mateo Falcone)
 
 

Sofia

In 1872, Sofia (Sofiya) is the center of the Rumelian beylerbey, an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.  Modern Bulgarian nationalism has begun since the end of the eighteenth century with a cultural revival centred around education and the church.  The Bulgarians were under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople patriarchate as members of the Orthodox Rum millet, and the decades-long struggle for emancipation from the hegemony of the Greek clergy ended in 1870 with the recognition by the Ottoman Porte of an autonomous church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Exarchate, and of a separate Bulgarian millet.

The current Ottoman Sultan is 'Abdül-'Azîz, since 1861.  The Ottoman Empire has long been a formidable power, but through the nineteenth century has begun to crumble.  The first two blows came in 1830, with the Greek War of Independance and the French conquest of Algeria.  Previous Sultans, in the last few decades, have initiated Western-oriented reforms, centralizing and secularist.  In 1856 an Imperial Rescript proclaimed the equality of non-Muslims.  However, the current Sultan has been slow to continue those reforms, and his closest advisers, most of them part of the central advisory group called the Diwan, are actively opposing any liberalization.

Sofia currently looks very much like the Ottoman city it is.  The booming rejuvenation and Europeanization that will change its face in our world in the late nineteenth century has not happened yet in New Europa, and perhaps never will...

(Note from the Host, Sophie Lagacé)
 
 


Puerto Rico

I know it’s actually spelled ‘Puerto Rico’, however it was commonly misspelled ‘Porto Rico’ at this period in time.

(Note from Grenmeth, a.k.a. Jean-Michel du Pont-de-la-Vierge)

Free Port of New Orleans and Tithes

A fixed percentage of the value of merchandise is paid to the port authorities.  The person/s paying the tithe are not obligated to say where they got the goods from or how, but they do have to pay.  Really unpleasant things happen to those who don’t pay / short pay and you’d better not be caught bribing an official to get out of the tithe!  You can bribe an official for other stuff but never try to get out of paying that tithe.

(Note from Grenmeth, a.k.a. Jean-Michel du Pont-de-la-Vierge)

Things

 The Gramme Dynamo

Théophile Gramme did in fact invent the first practical dynamo in 1870, although of course he didn't work for Jules Verne!  With improvements from the Swiss engineer Emil Burgin, and Colonel R.B. Crompton, it was later marketed as the Crompton dynamo.  Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan created the incandescent light bulb in 1878, so Castle Falkenstein is a little early here; the Voltaic pile had been available since 1800.  The addition of solar cells is only a fancy of mine, as I would love to see New Europa steer towards non-consumptive energy sources before all hell breaks loose...

(Note from the Host, Sophie Lagacé)
 
 

Solar Energy: the Stirling Engine

Ok, solar cells were not yet a topic in the 19th century, but solar energy already was, be it through the bypass of 'caloric' engines, mentioned above.  Briefly explained, a caloric engine (some sources speak of 'hot air engine') is some kind of what today is known as a Stirling engine: a clever arrangement of pistons and cylinders, forming a 'heat-pump' that will power a driveshaft, only by trying to annihilate a difference of temperature between the cylinders . One of the mayor manufacturers was John Ericson of New York (THE John Ericson that build THE battleship Monitor and thereby unwittingly created a new style of naval warfare.) Ericson managed to refine the concept to such an extent that he grew quite a fortune on producing small (about chest-sized) 'home-engines' , strong enough to drive a fan, roasting spit or even sewing machine on the heat of an oil lamp or, like he pointed out as a commercial gag, by placing the 'hot' cylinder in the focus of a small solar mirror. As a proof , Ericson installed a solar mirror on top of his New York mansion, 'aimed' in such a way that at noon precisely it would heat up a 'hot air engine' that then again powered the roasting spit in his kitchen.

(This note contributed by Niklas Oberfeld, a.k.a. Louis Leopold Belpaire.)
 
 

Customs

Dancing in New Europa

To give a feel for what a ball may be like on board the Parsifal, here are a few links on the history of dances and related fashions. In brief, ladies' dance cards include the quadrille, polka, mazurka, polonaise, redowa, cotillon, and yes, even the still somewhat scandalous waltz.  The latter has become very popular -- and fairly accepted -- but still raises eyebrows because the partners are in much closer physical contact than in other dances.
 
Olivia Diaz Rodriguez' player, Anna Stone, writes (edited):
[According to Comme Il Faut,] A gentleman dances once or twice with a lady at a formal ball, unless they are formally betrothed. From reading 19th cent. novels (don't have them at hand, so I can't give sources) I believe that some balls were shorter than others; also that at impromtu dances a lot would depend on how many "pairs" were available. I don't think siblings danced together at formal affairs. Before they were socially "out" they wouldn't be at formal balls. Even engaged couples were not supposed to dance too many times together, certainly not all the dances. [...]

[...] dance cards will be handed out to the ladies as they enter the ballroom since they will be souvenirs of the trip as well as a convenience for the evening. Each lady will then pencil in the commitments she has made and then add any others as she accepts an invitation, whether for a dance or for the supper period. I remember from the early fifties (1950's, that is) that dance cards indicated the Grand March, and then the kind of dance, with a line next to it which could be filled in with the partner's name, as well as "Supper" for that period. That was for a formal dance, of course. At school dances and "parties" dance cards weren't used and invitations to dance were issued at the start of each dance. Some dance cards were very simple folded cards with a design on the front. Others might be more elaborate: a design on the front with the Name of the occasion, the Place and the Date. Inside there would be another page folded over with the schedule of dances. The two folded pages would be held together by a cord with a tassel on one end and there a small pencil attached to the other end: slimmer than an ordinary pencil, and without an eraser because you only danced with someone you knew or were introduced to and NEVER EVER changed a commitment, usually the young man would write his name in it, not the lady. Wise young people would RECONFIRM a prior invitation and acceptance. If someone "mistook" the dance commitment--hearts burned! And sometimes parents were offended!

Also, my understanding is that for each dance a gentleman is supposed to ask a lady to dance. A man should not be on the sidelines if there is any lady without a partner. Of course, part of the duties of the ship's officers were to make sure that the ladies were not left unpartnered. A lady had the option of accepting an invitation, or declining it and sitting out that dance. It would be rude to decline one gentleman's invitation and accept another's. Of course, if she sat it out, she could talk with one or more gentlemen (provided there were no ladies who wished to dance who were unpartnered). A gentleman who was refused could ask for another dance, but if refused again should not continue to ask.


To these very good comments, I will add that Society on Bavarian airships is extremely brilliant, fashionable and en vogue, so customs are more daring than in many salons.  After all, only the wealthy can afford to be here, and of course this is somewhat like the cruise ships of our own 1900's, so unmarried ladies can get away with waltzing if they show good taste and proper deportment.  As is often the case, the trick seems to be in showing that you are so far above reproach that you couldn't possibly imagine anyone having objections!  On the other hand, "vulgarity" ensures that one's social life will plummet.
 

(Note from Anna Stone, a.k.a. Olivia, and the Host, Sophie Lagacé)

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