Phyllis Dare – The Dundee Evening Telegraph – Wednesday 13th May 1914
PERSONAL GOSSIP.
Phyllis Dare for Variety Stage.
It is announced that Phyllis Dare may shortly appear on the music halls.
At the time when the picture postcard craze was at its zenith Miss Phyllis Dare’s features were probably the most popular. 20,000 postcards annually sent for signature! Surely this is bit of a record. Yet it was the experience of Miss Phyllis Dare whose success in various musical comedies launched by Mr. George Edwardes has been phenomenal. Miss Dare usually charged a small fee for signing her name to her postcards, and in one year she was in this way able to distribute a sum of £388 to various charities.
The Dundee Evening Telegraph – Wednesday 13th May 1914
Picture Postcard Craze – Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser – 1908
Marie Studholme – The Nottingham Evening Post – Saturday 21st March 1908
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Langport and Somerton Herald – Saturday 11th March 1911
OUR LONDON LETTER
It will out take long for “Peggy” to become all the rage. Is certain to be as popular as “Miss Gibbs,” and is an altogether more delightful person than “Havannah.” The new Gaiety musical play, indeed, is exactly what everyone expected it would be – quite all right. The story about Peggy doesn’t matter. It is quite a trivial part of the show. The things that really do matter are the songs and the music, the dances and the fun, the girls and their dresses. These are the elements which make for long runs at the Gaiety, and they are all in the new play. Miss Phyllis Dare as “Peggy” is more delightful than ever, Miss Gabrielle Ray runs her very close as a merry music hall artiste, Miss Olive May as the daughter of a supposed millionaire is winning all hearts. Mr. George Grossmith is splendidly ridiculous as ever as her papa, Mr. Edmund Payne as the hairdresser in a swagger hotel keeps you laughing all the time, and – well, there you are. That is “Peggy.” For the rest, there are crowds of beautiful girl, in ravishing costumes, a waltz as deliciously dreamy as anything that ever came from Vienna, and pretty songs and funny ones by the dozen. “Peggy,” in short, is just thong for the Gaiety, and is certain of quite as long a run as her very successful predecessors.
The Langport and Somerton Herald – Saturday 11th March 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Oval Beauties Rare – The Daily Mirror – Tuesday 29th August 1911
OVAL BEAUTIES RARE
Round Face Becoming the Type of English Loveliness.
ARTISTIC OBJECTION.
There are signs that efforts are being made to establish the “round” face as the true type of English beauty and to condemn the “oval” face, which has for generations been the inspiration of poets and painters alike.
The leaders of the campaign in favour of the round face, according to a well-known male novelist, are to be found chiefly in the ranks of the women novelists, who invariably make their heroines round-faced and describe them as “sweetly pretty” and as preserving “a girlish charm.”
In the course of a letter to The Daily Mirror attacking this new cult, the author, with some temerity, gives a list of popular musical comedy favourites, who represent, he says, the apotheosis of the round-face type.
ROUND-FACE TYPE.
The following list – in the order of the popularity of their photographs – of ladies of the stage of the round-face type was supplied yesterday to The Daily Mirror by a prominent photographer of London actresses:-
- Lily Elsie.
- Gabrielle Ray.
- Gertie Millar.
- Lily Brayton.
- Constance Collier.
- Marie Studholme.
- Tessie Hackney.
- Norah Kerin.
“I grant,” writes the novelist, “that they are pretty, winsome, attractive and charming, but they are not beautiful in the sense that the old masters regarded beauty nor as the leading modern artists regard it either.
“The truth of the matter is that round faces are becoming more and more common in Great Britain, and they are now in such a great majority that they are able to take up and popularise the fashions of dress, millinery or hairdressing that best suit their own type of beauty, and the rare oval-faced beauties are forced by fashion to follow them, greatly to their own disadvantage.
“Modern hats, modern hairdressing and modern clothes are all in favour of the round-faced girl, and she has won thereby a purely fictitious reputation for beauty.”
Miss Ivy Lilian Close, adjudged in The Daily Mirror beauty competition to be the most beautiful woman in England, is a striking example, however, of the English admiration for the round-face type.
America, on the other hand, still clings to the oval face type of beauty, the artistic type, the type beloved of the old masters, as is instanced in the case of Miss Katherine Frey, judged to be the most beautiful woman in America.
ACTRESSES OF OVAL FACE TYPE.
“La Gioconda” is yet again another instance of admiration for the long-recognised type of beautiful face – the oval, delicate, finely-chiselled and spirituelle features always given by painters to beautiful women of other days.
That this type of face still has its admirers in England was also instanced by the same photographer who supplied another list of actresses of the oval-face type, the names, as before, being given in the order of the popularity of their photographs:-
- Phyllis Dare,
- Julia Neilson.
- Neilson Terry.
- Pearl Aufrere.
- Marie Wilson.
- Gaby Deslys.
- Evelyn Millard.
- Grace Lane.
Mr. George Henry, A.R.A., told The Daily Mirror yesterday that the delicate oval face is still the recognised type of beauty in artists’ studios.
“It was also the recognised type in Japan when I was there some years ago,” he said, “and although I only saw two women who possessed the true oval face, all the round-faced women insisted upon their pictures being painted as if they were of the oval type of beauty.”
The Daily Mirror – Tuesday 29th August 1911
The Lady Dandies (Rotary 4403 I)
The sender Cyril writes mentioning how expensive it is to collect autographed postcards, which hasn’t changed much over the years.
Miss Dare tells of using the payments for autographs to benefit various charities
PERSONAL GOSSIP
Phyllis Dare for Variety Stage.
It is announced that Phyllis Dare may shortly appear on the music halls.
At the time when the picture postcard craze was at its zenith Miss Phyllis Dare’s features were probably the most popular. 20,000 postcards annually sent for signature! Surely this is bit of a record. Yet it was the experience of Miss Phyllis Dare whose success in various musical comedies launched by Mr. George Edwardes has been phenomenal. Miss Dare usually charged a small fee for signing her name to her postcards, and in one year she was in this way able to distribute sum of £388 to various charities.
(Equivalent to £45,065.15 today – CPI Inflation Calculator)
The Dundee Evening Telegraph – Wednesday 13th May 1914
Gabrielle Ray – Stage Mermaids – The Royal Magazine – Vol 26 – 1911
GABRIELLE RAY
in “Peggy”
Miss Gabrielle Ray has a big part and trips daintily through it, adorning it with all those attractive small mannerisms that have made her the idol of a large and enthusiastic public.
She has a secret but sincere affection for sticky toffee, and adores dancing with her whole soul. Practising is a pleasure to her, and at home she will turn on a gramophone and dance to it happily for hours.
Miss Ray’s steps have a thistledown lightness that no one surpasses; and she possesses a quaint, childlike charm all her own. And, in addition, her bathing suit is adorable.
Stage Mermaids – The Royal Magazine – Vol 26 – 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Postcards by the Millions – Christchurch Times – Saturday 21st July 1906
POSTCARDS BY MILLIONS. – A writer in the “Royal Magazine” has made inquiries with a view to ascertaining whose portrait is most popular with the purchasers of picture post cards. He finds that Miss Marie Studholme comes first, Miss Gabrielle Ray a close second, the two sisters, Misses Zena and Phyllis Dare, practically tie for third place, while Miss Ellaline Terries and Miss Gertie Millar are great favourites. Post Office officials computed that 430,090,000 postcards were posted in Great Britain during 1903. A count was kept at several summer resorts last year, and during June, July, and August the weekly average of cards posted at Blackpool alone was 215,000. In the first week of August the total reached 300,000
Christchurch Times – Saturday 21st July 1906
About
One of my main interests is a love of old pictures and postcards that give us a brief glimpse into a past and often forgotten age.
Collecting old postcard and pictures enables the viewer to glimpse a brief moment from that individual’s life; often far removed from their own either by the passage of time or social class. Social History, often described as “history from below” shows everyday people, their social structure and the interaction of different groups; like the wealthy and politicians these people helped shape and maintain society and so shape history.
Examining the images one can’t help but wonder how the individuals lived, were their lives hard compared with today and were they happy. Often the images come with little or no information that can answer these questions, one can only imagine.
With each image saved and seen by others, so that moment, that person is kept alive, our understanding is increased and so our lives are enriched.
A picture is often more descriptive than words can ever be, but how true is this, if a picture enables us to gain entry to another time, another world, will, like the view from a different window, even in the same house provide a different image?
These images allow a glimpse into another time, another era; but what preceded or followed this image? As the individuals were positioned and posed like an artist’s model is what we see truly reflective or like the slightly softened image of an aging beauty a less that truthful representation?
I am reminded of a documentary I watched several years ago regarding the returning troops from the front during the First World War. The camera images show a broken, demoralised sea of humanity, young men who having seen images that most of us hope never to witness had lost that sparkle; that zest which only youth has. But bring on the news camera and that battered returning group came to life, the smiles returned and even though muddied and bloodied their heads and bodies became erect, their arms swung in time and they demonstrated a swagger that spoke of courage, defiance and determination; an image that gave hope to the viewer.
It seems to me that even in the early days of photography all was not what it appeared and now in the advancing digital age a picture may paint a thousand words but will it be factual or fiction?
My interests And collections vary from Maids, Nuns, religious dress and the more risqué images of the French Maid. Often when searching for a particular subject the boundaries cross and as well as true Maids we find Edwardian actresses dressed as Nuns or Maids. During one of my searches I came across Gabrielle Ray dressed as a Maid, “Susan” in Lady Madcap and was instantly captivated by her.
Collecting the individual cards isn’t enough; I like to know more about the individual, which is easier when that person is an actress, although often the information is scarce
Searching for information about Miss Ray I discovered that she was one of the most photographed women of the Edwardian era and described in “Temps” as the most beautiful woman in the United Kingdom; but sadly her success, if measured by being visibly working or in the public eye was short-lived. She struggled with depression and alcohol abuse, and her health declined. In 1936, she suffered a complete mental breakdown and was institutionalized for nearly forty years; dying in 1973 at Holloway Sanatorium at the age of 90.
There are several other sites and blogs dedicated to the memory of Miss Ray and my intention is to share my small but growing collection of pictures and postcards with anyone who shares my interest. Reading about Miss Ray I was saddened that this lady, like many others before and since, after a brief moment in the sun they are soon forgotten. Hopefully as people view and enjoy this blog her memory will remain alive for a little longer.
I have started to write a short Biography about Miss Ray which I will try to update as frequently as possible. The Index page will show any updates under the Biography catagory.
I have also tried to link the various postcards and pictures to the plays in which Miss Ray appeared, however I realise, after several errors that this isn’t an easy task as many are decorative studio poses rather than production images. The individual Rotary, Philco and other publishers numbers are included with any description which should make searching for a particular card or ones from the same set easier. If I have made any glaring errors please feel free to let me know.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy my collection as much as I do.
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