I'm attempting to have a day of rest but as it is my daughter's 15th birthday and the house needs sprucing up in a festive manner, I have been belting about doing stuff. I am now sitting down, exhausted, but today's image is rather heartwarming and restorative...
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| The May Irwin Kiss (1896) |
The couple were re-enacting the kiss they shared in the Broadway play The Widow Jones. The play was seen by Thomas Edison, who asked the couple to star in the mini-movie of that one scene at his movie studio. It was advertised as revealing the mysteries of kissing to an eager and curious audience. There was somewhat of a scandal, not least because it was felt that the couple were not attractive and so the sight of them smooching was not one to relish, but the public disagreed. The short film became the most popular of the year it was shown and May, a buxom, charming woman, became a beloved star.
I like their normalness, their ease and giggly silliness. Although it is obviously contrived, it somehow appears spontaneous and real. It was so popular it was followed by imitators such as The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899). Brace yourself, it gets rather shocking...
Good heavens! Shocking!
May Irwin was quite a character. Not only half of cinema's first kiss, she was a famous actress for her stage work as well. Born in 1862, she and her sister Flo debuted in New York in 1874 as a singing act known as 'the Irwin Sisters'. In 1883, 21 year old May went solo, and turned to acting, known for her comedy skills on both sides of the Atlantic. Her second movie outing in 1914, Mrs Black is Back was filmed at her luxurious New York home, and she was so careful with her money that when she retired she was a millionaire. And she had her own cook book...
What a woman! Anyway, I hope the lovely May entertains you today and that we shall all be having cheeky and scandalous kisses in the not too distant future. What a cheery thought...
See you tomorrow.
Cripes, KSW, I thought for a moment there you were going to dish some dirt on my Nana! Born May McElroy (shortened from Mary Isobel) she left the family farm in County Down to train as a teacher in Dublin and was there at college in 1916 when the Easter Rising happened. She had an interesting look and there's a painting by I think Lord Leighton which resembles one of the photos. I'll post it to fb for you some time. Married Henry Irwin and became a teacher and subsequently deputy head in Limavady which you will never have heard of (it's near Derry). Loving the blog as always. Mx
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