1865. Christmas is a coming... with its seasonal entertainments ...

.

Looking for some old designs for Michael Green, I dug in the bottom pile of stuff in the cupboard ...

This is nice...

Fantasia by Olivier Métra on the melodies from the Folies Marigny (formerly Offenbach's Bouffes-Parisiens) seasonal revue of 1865 (15 December). Ah! Those were the days when a 'revue' could really be called a 'revue'. A meet tongue-in-cheek, end-of-term show 'reviewing' the events of the year. The star of this one was the splendid Montrouge, the theatre's manager, and its title was BU... QUI S'AVANCE in reference to the year's huge hit opera-bouffe LA BELLE HÉLÈNE ...

The engraving seems to be of the more 'picturesque' members of the cast: the typical quartets of 'boys' and 'girls' danced by the chorines of the company. But, goodness, who is the pretty fellow in the middle? Most unusual.

It just might be the dance of the little boatmen, music by Henri Cellot ...

Anyway, this what Parisians got for their Christmastide entertainment 150 years ago. I feel things have not improved in a century and a half ...

I think I shall dig a little further into this pile. Can you wait a bit, Michael?