Two page fold out from a large format magazine. Measures 14 inches tall by 21 inches across.
If Famous Crowns Could Talk
The great Crowns of history . . . what storks they could tell — stories of love and loyalty, of plots and politics, of mystery and romance! Their strangest tales might be about themselves; and some these we bring you here and now!
Pharaoh was wearing, we come across a clever bit of politics. The old cone -shaped crown of the Lower Nile was red, that of the Upper Nile was white. When one Pharaoh ruled both kingdoms, he had to please two sets of subjects; so he wore both crowns at once, and everyone was satisfied.
Buried 11oo years!
One of the most romantic crowns in history lay hidden in the mud, eleven hundred years! It was the jeweled crown of Recesvinto, an¬cient King of Spain. He wore it a few times, then hung it up like a chandelier. When the Moorish conquerors swept over Spain in 714 A. D., a group of his loyal fol¬lowers hastily buried it in a field to save it. The crown seemed lost forever. But in 1859—only ten years after the founding of the Schlitz brewery—it was rediscovered; and today it hangs again, in the Cluny Museum, still bright and beautiful.
Christmas surprise,
A.D. 8oo.
The crown of Charlemagne was a Christmas gift, solemnly placed on his head in an unexpected cere¬mony, in the year Boo. With it came a new title:"Emperor of the West." Soon Charlemagne ruled almost half of Europe, and made himself so well and widely loved, that great statues were raised to him in both France and Germany, where they may be seen to this day. And to this day his noble crown endures, one of the treasures of the Schatzkammer (treasury) inVienna.
Sunbeams for Liberty
When the Roman Caesars began to wear crowns, they often decorated them with long points, to represent sun-rays. This style of Deeply they buried Recepvinto's Crown crown is still with us, adorning the brow of our good friend, the Statue of Liberty.
Sinking in the Bath Tub
Perhaps the most useful crown in history was worn by Hiero, King of Syracuse, 2100 years ago. When Archimedes was commanded to dis¬cover the proportion of gold in this crown, he solved it by weighing the crown in water. The important scientific law employed in his ex¬ periment came to him as he was stepping into his bath. Then Archimedes ran through the streets of the city without waiting to dress, and amazed the natives with his oft-quoted cry, "Eureka! I have found it!"
Duplex Diadem
When we look back into ancient Egypt, to see what the well-dressed Pharaoh was wearing, we come across a clever bit of politics. The old cone -shaped crown of the Lower Nile was red, that of the Upper Nile was white. When one Pharaoh ruled both kingdoms, he had to please two sets of subjects; so he wore both crowns at once, and everyone was satisfied.
When gowns Were Turbans
The Turbans or Tulip-Crowns of the Sultans "are made like globes of calico," said old George Sandys, world-traveler and Treasurer of Virginia, 300 years ago. Today, in the Palace Treasury of Mohammed II in Istanbul, trans¬formed by the Turkish Republic into a museum, old George might see the greatest collection of royal turbans in the world, sparkling with gems of untold value. For visitors of good repute, who agree not to take pictures, the treasures are on view daily (ac¬cording to the polite Turkish attendant) "from 13 to 17 o'clock, Wednesdays excepted."
Fine Feathers Make fine crowns
The feathered crown of the old Hawaiian kings took thirty years of patient labor in the making. This magnificent red and yellow diadem, shaped like a classic Greek helmet, was made of the feathers of a rare and tiny bird. Only two choice feathers were taken at a time; then the bird was set free, to grow two more. The value of one of these crowns has been estimated at not less than seventy thousand dollars.
Fair and Square
The Saxon and Danish kings of England did not insist that a crown should be circular. The crown that Canute refused to wear—after he had proved to his yes-men that the waves of the sea would not roll back to flatter him—that crown was a square one, as square as its royal owner's conscience.
Heroes and Winners all
Some of the most valued crowns were not for kings at all. In ancient days the first man who went "over the top" in an attack on the walls of a city, was rewarded with an elaborate crown, decked with little walls or turrets in mem¬ory of his exploit. Winners of con¬tests in the public games were also given crowns of leaves, or flowers, or sometimes even gold. When a Roman soldier saved the life of a citizen in battle, he was rewarded with a simple crown of oak leaves. As soon as he re¬ceived it, he was freed from paying all taxes; so were his father and grandfather! Furthermore, without buying any tickets, he always got the best seats in the theaters.
Regardless of form and substance