December 2011 Volume I Issue IV

Thirsty Knights
Standard
Volume 1 Issue 4
November 2011
NEXT MEETING
Sunday, December 4
Plattduetch Park
This could be the
last issue of this
Newsletter!
Please we need help. Send articles to me to be included in this
newsletter. Send me information that you would see here.
This can include anything which may be of interest to other members, such as:
 Birthdays
 Birth announcements
 Anniversaries
 Graduations
 New acquisitions
 Auction News
 Pictures of your visit to a friends collection
 Pictures of a visit to an museum
You can email me at richwalt@richwalt.com or write me at
Richard Walter
550 Park Place
Paterson, New Jersey 07504
Page 2
Thirsty Knights Standard
The Stein That Was Meant To Be Ours
Flash back to the late 1950’s in Brooklyn,
New York. My parents bought a bar for
our apartment, all the rage back then.
Dad thought it would be nice to have a
shelf behind the bar with a few beer
steins…and so it began! In those early
years, you could buy steins from a guy on
Coney Island Avenue, his name was Huey,
and his business card said he was a
“Connoisseur of the Rare”. (Huey sold
several steins to Dad back then, a
Mettlach cost about $15!) Little was in
print about the world of steins, there was
no internet, clubs, etc, and so we learned
as we went. Little did I know that I was in
my father’s footsteps as the love of steins
grew in both of our hearts.
For my Dad’s birthday in 1960, he got a
stein which I thought was really neat. It
was a PUG with a keg and devils escaping
from the brew inside. It was a two liter
common stein, but was secretly my favorite. We had moved out on Long Island in
1963, and my parents stopped into a local
tavern for a drink one afternoon. On a
shelf, Dad spotted the George Ehret stein,
By Joanne Festa
a Mettlach (#1997). (Ehret’s Hell Gate
Brewery was established in 1866). Being a
crafty Brooklynite, my Dad asked the
owner of the tavern if he would be interested in trading that brown and beige stein
(the Mettlach) for a larger more interesting one. The owner agreed, and the deed
was done. Dad felt a sense of accomplishment, in that he “upgraded” a common
stein PUG for an etched Mettlach. Both
were happy with the trade they made.
Years passed. My Dad’s collection grew,
and I started my own collection when I
went out on my own. Steins were everywhere in our homes, something like the
squirrels saving nuts for the long winter.
We both loved them, and enjoyed our
time looking at the latest Prosit, going to
stein meetings, perusing stein auction catalogues. Books were written full of information. We made friends and learned and
shared. The Erhet stein stood proudly
among my Dad’s conquests.
One day, about twenty years later, my
parents returned to the tavern for a drink.
It had been years since their last visit.
That’s right; up on a shelf stood the PUG
Dad had traded back in the early 1960s.
He asked the new owner of the tavern if
he could possibly buy that stein. The
owner agreed, and Dad bought the stein
back for $75. He was delighted!!
I always loved the stein, so I was happy it was
back in the family.
Sadly, my father, Lambert Schmidt, passed
away in 2004. The steins are now part of
his legacy to his family and the future stein
-enthusiasts to come. But I have to say, of
all the steins in our combined collection,
my favorite, to this day, is the one that
was parted all these years and returned…
devils thumbing their noses at the gnomes
who are working to put the hops into the
brew.
Volume 1 Issue 4
Page 3
My First Stein
by Jim Fredhold
out I casually asked him would he
mind if I took a look at it. He
handed it to me and said sure. I
checked it out and very quickly
handed it back to him saying I
was not interested.
Now comes the funny part. He
asked me why. I said, and pointed
out, it has a big chip on the base
and a line startingat the base and
going underneath
half way
across. I started walking away
keeping my eye on what he was
doing with the stein. Finally he put
It was a beautiful Saturday
morning sometime in the summer of 1989. My wife Kathy
and I, along with a friend of
hers, were out very early in the
morning hitting all the yard and
garage sales we could find, in
search of all sorts of things including steins and Hummels.
As I recollect it was about the
3rd or 4th stop at a huge yard
that the following happened.
The 3 of us always split up so
we could cover all the tables as
quickly as possible.
I was moving along when I
spotted this stein across the
yard on a table. I hurried
quickly over but before I got
there, a man picked it up.
Slowing down I went to the table and watched him examining it. I asked him how much
was on the sticker. He told me
$25.00. As he was checking it
down the stein and left the table.
Very casually I circled back and
picked up the stein and headed
for the pay table. I told the lady it
was damaged and showed her
the chip and hairline. She seemed
surprised and I asked her if she
would lower the price. After looking it over she commented that it
probably would not sell with the
damage, at that price, and I could
have it for $5.00.
Thus I had my first early stein of
my career and a good price and a
story besides.
JIM FREDHOLM
Page 4
Thirsty Knights Standard
The Schuhplattler
by Richard Walter
I have for many years been involved in a schuhplatter veriene. This has
led me to collect steins that depict Schuhplattler dancers. I thought
some of you may be interested in the history of this form of dance
whitch is unique to Bavaria.
The Schuhplattler certainly belongs to the most characteristic of all Bavarian forms of expression. The word "Schuhplattler" has its origins in
the fact that the dancer strikes the soles of his shoes ('Schuhe') with his
hands held flat ('platt'). The 'inventors' were simple folk: farmers, hunters, woodsmen. It's difficult to determine the exact origin and history of
the dance.
"Ruodlieb", a knight's poem written by a
monk at Tegernsee monastery (not far
south of Munich) in the year 1050, describes a village dance featuring "leaps
and hand gestures" that could actually
denote an early form of the Schuhplattler.
When the empress of Russia spent time in
1838 at a spa in nearby Wildbad Kreuth,
the locals honored her with the performance of a dance that very closely resembled the Schuhplattler.
During the dance, the boy was allowed to
move however he liked to the melody of a
'Laendler' folk tune, i.e. he would make figures, leap, stomp and slap
while his girl rotated in time with the music and did not join him until
the waltz began. His unregimented, free 'plattling' was known as
"Bavarian dancing".
From about the mid-1800s onward, the Schuhplattler dance moves became increasingly standardized and "group plattln" came into its own.
On July 15, 1858, a Schuhplattler dance was performed in Upper Bavaria on the occasion of King Max II's trip through the bavarian mountains.
Volume 1 Issue 4
Schuhplattler - Continued
In 1861, a "Gemuetlichkeit Club" was formed in Miesbach (also south of
Munich, not far from the Austrian border), which changed its name to
the "Schuhplattler Society" in 1866.
In 1883, Joseph Vogl founded the "Club for Preservation of Folk Costume in the Leizach Valley" in nearby Bayrischzell, and from that time
onward, the phenomenon of regulated Schuhplatteln developed in the
folk costume clubs.
There are about 150 different Schuhplattler dances, and regional differences are evident throughout the areas in which the Schuhplattler is part
of the local culture: the Koenigssee in the east to Lake Constance in the
west, from the Danube River in the north to the border of Tyrolia in the
south. Wherever the dance is performed, it is irrevocably linked with Bavarian tradition and genuine zest for life.
Page 5
Page 6
Thirsty Knights Standard
Photos from last Thirsty Knights meeting
Volume 1 Issue 4
Photos from last Thirsty Knights meeting
Page 7
THIRSTY KNIGHTS
Help make this newsletter a success!
Newsletter Committee
Richard H. Walter
richwalt@richwalt,com
973-345-7503
Dennis Ramshaw
DenRam50@aol.com
631-588-2061
Copyright 2011
Thirsty Knights
Please send updated contact info to Cynthia Ramshaw at
CJRAMSHAW@AOL.COM or call (631-588-2061) so we may email/send you
Thirsty Knights correspondence. Send your articles for this newsletter to any
committee member.
This newsletter will only be a success with your help. Here are some suggestions
for articles but I call upon you to come up with some new and fresh ideas.
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My first stein
Why I joined the Thirsty Knights.
Why I joined SCI.
My favorite stein.
Why I collect steins.
What types of steins I collect.
Stories of SCI and Thirsty Knights history.
SUGGESTION BOX
We are looking for your suggestions. We want to make The Thirsty Knights a better organization to serve your needs. Please send us your suggestions on how to
improve both our enjoyment of our collecting hobby and our social time together.
We have already received some suggestions. Please add yours to the list!
Convention #4