Tivoli Gardens, A Real Life Fairyland!


Does entering Coney Island's Luna Park or Dreamland sound exciting, or basking under dozens and dozens of fairy lights sound enchanting, what about watching a pantomime and ballerina at the Pantomime Theatre or sailing in one of the mythical creature boats at Dragon Park Lake, whirling around under a glass house, eating a scrumptious Danish dessert followed by coffee or expresso at an outdoor cafe. Are you intriqued yet?, Does this place really exist? The answer is YES!, This place is called: Tivoli Gardens, located in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Tivoli (in English also called Tivoli Gardens) is a famous amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on August 15, 1843 and, except for Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, it is the oldest amusement park in the world.

The amusement park was first called "Tivoli & Vauxhall"; "Tivoli" alluding to the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris (which in its turn had been named from Tivoli near Rome), and "Vauxhall" alluding to the Vauxhall Gardens in London.

Tivoli's founder, Georg Carstensen (b. 1812 - d. 1857) obtained a five-year charter to create Tivoli by telling King Christian VIII that "when the people are amusing themselves, they do not think about politics". The monarch granted Carstensen use of roughly 15 acres (61,000 m²) of the fortified glacis outside Vesterport (the West Gate) at the annual rent of 945 kroner. Therefore, until the 1850s, Tivoli was outside the city, accessible through Vesterport.
From the very start, Tivoli included a variety of attractions: buildings in the exotic style of an imaginary Orient: a theatre, band stands, restaurants and cafés, flower gardens, and mechanical amusement rides such as a merry-go-round and a primitive scenic railway. After dark, coloured lamps illuminated the gardens. On certain evenings, specially designed fireworks could be seen reflected in Tivoli's lake.

Composer Hans Christian Lumbye (b. 1810 - d. 1874) was Tivoli's musical director from 1843 to 1872. Lumbye was inspired by Viennese waltz composers like the Strauss family (Johann Strauss I and his sons), and became known as the "Strauss of the North." Many of his compositions are specifically inspired by the gardens, including "Salute to the Ticket Holders of Tivoli", "Carnival Joys" and "A Festive Night at Tivoli". The Tivoli Symphony Orchestra still performs many of his works.

In 1943, Nazi sympathisers attempted to break the Danish people's spirit by burning many of Tivoli's buildings, including the concert hall, to the ground. Undaunted, the Danes built temporary buildings, and the park was back in operation after a few weeks.
In 1874, Chinese style Pantomimeteatret (The Pantomime Theatre) took the place of an older smaller theater. The audience stands in the open, the stage being inside the building. The theatre's "curtain" is a mechanical peacock's tail. From the very beginning, the Theater was the home of Italian pantomimes, introduced in Denmark by the Italian Giuseppe Casorti. This tradition, which is dependent on the Italian Commedia dell'Arte has been kept alive, including the characters Cassander (the old father), Columbine (his beautiful daughter), Harlequin (her lover), and, especially popular with the youngest spectators, the stupid servant Pierrot. The absence of spoken dialogue is an advantage, as Tivoli is now an international tourist attraction.

Tivoli is always evolving without abandoning its original charm or traditions. As Georg Carstensen said in 1844, "Tivoli will never, so to speak, be finished," a sentiment echoed just over a century later when Walt Disney said of his own Tivoli-inspired theme park, "Disneyland will never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world." Walt Disney during a trip overseas with his wife Lilly visited Tivoli Gardens. Walt was so impressed with the Danish amusement park, he immediately decided Disneyland should try to emulate its "happy and unbuttoned air of relaxed fun."

http://www.tivoli.dk/composite-3351.htm
http://www.european-city-parks.com/copenhagen/tivoli-gardens/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoli_Gardens
http://alexandrerosa.free.fr/index.php?spgmGal=Copenhagen/Tivoli_Gardens

I am now convinced I have to go to Trivoli Gardens, after finding vintage postcards and a stereo card of this beautiful place, I began researching it for an upcoming article in Piddlestixs 4. I'd love to get married here, or have a honeymoon here, its beyond magical and filled with vintage enchantment.

-All pictures, and some text from Wikipedia.org

Willowwood Arboretum, Chester Township, NJWe know how much I love gardening, secret gardens, pristine landscape and arboretums, a few posts back I wrote about the Frelinghuysen Arboretum and its lavish landscape, secret gardens and flora/fauna rarities. Today I wanted to share with you another hidden treasure, The Willowwood Arboretum, which like Frelinghuysen is located in Morris County, however Willowwood and its 130 acres can be found in Chester Township.Willowwood Arboretum is an arboretum and public park made up of 130 acres, located at 300 Longview Road, Chester, New Jersey. It is part of the Morris County Park System and is open to the public daily.The location was first cleared for farming in the 1700s, which led to the formation of the meadows that that now exist on the property. It was originally named Paradise Farm before being bought by amateur arborist brothers, Henry and Robert Tubbs, in 1908, who then renamed the property Willowwood after the natural collection of willow trees that exist in the area.They expanded the farmhouse that dates back to 1792 and made it into their family home. The brothers slowly collected and grew many specimens over the next half century, including a vast collection of rare and exotic species, thanks in part to the popular New York horticultural scene at the dawn of the 20th century. Afterward, the property was formed into a private arboretum and run by Rutgers University as a plant and tree research facility. It then became part of the Morris County Park System in 1980.The arboretum consists of both wild forest and tended tree collections, farm land, a residence with two small gardens and a handful of smaller out-buildings. There are about 3,500 types of native and exotic plants, many rare. The historic collections include oak, maple, willow, magnolia, lilac, cherry, fir, pine, a superb specimen of Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia) now more than 98 feet (30 m) tall, masses of ferns and handsome stands of field and forest wild flowers.Both wild and cultivated plantings can be seen on self-guiding tours through informal paths in open areas and woodlands.
-Wikipedia.com

Lilac Party:

Is held with the awakening of the lilac blooms and beautiful spring gardens marking the end of winter. The annual May Lilac Party features food, wine tasting, music and a silent auction. The Lilac Party is ususually held in May.

http://www.morrisparks.net/aspparks/wwmain.asp

A good friend lives nearby, a walking distance away, her home is reminiscent of her British heritage, with English style gardens, architecture and design. Everytime I visit her I find something new to photograph.I took this photo of myself near the century old wisteria, the light seemed so magical, I felt as though I had ventured to a secret fairy garden waiting to be explored.Here I saw a beautiful butterfly waiting to be photographedGolden Treasures filling one area, perhaps they are the entrance to the Queen Bee's Castle or Fairy Queen's Vacation Retreat.Next time you grow a garden, visit an arboretum, a botanical garden or a friend's, perhaps a visit to Copenhagen at Trivoli Gardens, take a camera, a journal, pencils and ink, sit back and envision a secret world filled with fairies and dragonflies, queen bee's and swan boats, waiting for you to explore.

Kutztown Folk Festival, Part One!Summer is in full bloom, everyone across the country is preparing for a vacation, a summer camp for their children, a day at the beach, boardwalk or artful retreat. While others who have been bitten by the economy are planning a summer stroll, a nature hike at a recreational park, walks through the trails or through the city, day trips to a museum, art center or festival.

I for one am always working 24/7, so any kind of adventure is something I welcome, especially with the warm breeze and excitement that summer has to offer. Over the
4th of July Weekend Glenny and took a nice drive to Kutztown for the Kutztown Folk Festival, filled with hundreds of festival tents lined with a variety of artful wares from talented craftsman, not mention vintage artifacts such as old cars from the 1920's, steam engines, wheels, carriages and tractors. I love the steam punk look of the old machinery, so classic and unusual.

For this post on the festival I wanted to share with you the gorgeous vintage machinery and dazzling Pennsylvania Hex signs which adorned the fair grounds, in the next post I will share with you the other interior photos of the festival.I love the bold, yet muted colors of these hex signs against the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds, so inspiration, especially for tole and folk artisans.Painting or mounting "hexing signs" dates back to the pre-Christian era in Europe, when symbols and designs derived from or pertaining to the runes first appeared on buildings to invoke magical powers, either to hex or bring about good fortune. Over time, the practice took on several new meanings, especially as the number of those recognizing the old Germanic pagan religions declined; for some, the practice came to be about art and tradition; for others, the sign-creating was less-ritualistic, but still about "good luck", especially for those concerned with good fortune in crop cultivation.

Today, artfully painted octagonal or hexagonal star-like patterns are a well-known sight on Pennsylvania Dutch barns in central and eastern Pennsylvania, especially in Berks County, Lancaster County and Lehigh County. However, the modern decoration of barns is a late development in Pennsylvania Dutch folk art. Prior to the 1830s, the cost of paint meant that most barns were unpainted. As paint became affordable, the Pennsylvania Dutch began to decorate their barns much like they decorated items in their homes. Barn decorating reached its peak in the early 20th century, at which time there were many artists who specialized in barn decorating. Drawn from a large repertoire of folk designs, barn painters combined many elements in their decorations. The geometric patterns of quilts can easily be seen in the patterns of many hex signs. Hearts and tulips seen on barns are commonly found on elaborately lettered and decorated birth, baptism and marriage certificates known as Fraktur. -wikipedia.org
Here it is in a sepia vintage color I did in Paintshop Pro!
Since the early 18th century steam power has been set to a variety of practical uses. At first it was applied to reciprocating pumps, but from the 1780s rotative engines (i.e. those converting reciprocating motion into rotary motion) began to appear, driving factory machinery. At the turn of the 19th century, steam-powered transport on both sea and land began to make its appearance becoming ever more dominant as the century progressed.

Steam engines can be said to have been the moving force behind the Industrial Revolution and saw widespread commercial use driving machinery in factories and mills, powering pumping stations and transport appliances such as railway locomotives, ships and road vehicles. Their use in agriculture led to an increase in the land available for cultivation.

Very low power engines are used to power models and speciality applications such as the steam clock.

The presence of several phases between heat source and power delivery has meant that it has always been difficult to obtain a power-to-weight ratio anywhere near that obtainable from internal combustion engines; notably this has made steam aircraft extremely rare. Similar considerations have meant that for small and medium-scale applications steam has been largely superseded by internal combustion engines or electric motors, which has given the steam engine an out-dated image. However it is important to remember that the power supplied to the electric grid is predominantly generated using steam turbine plant, so that indirectly the world's industry is still dependent on steam power. Recent concerns about fuel sources and pollution have incited a renewed interest in steam both as a component of cogeneration processes and as a prime mover. This is becoming known as the Advanced Steam movement.

Steam engines can be classified by their application:
Stationary applications
Stationary steam engines can be classified into two main types:

Winding engines, rolling mill engines, steam donkeys, marine engines, and similar applications which need to frequently stop and reverse.
Engines providing power, which rarely stop and do not need to reverse. These include engines used in thermal power stations and those that were used in pumping stations, mills, factories and to power cable railways and cable tramways before the widespread use of electric power.
The steam donkey is technically a stationary engine but is mounted on skids to be semi-portable. It is designed for logging use and can drag itself to a new location. Having secured the winch cable to a sturdy tree at the desired destination, the machine will move towards the anchor point as the cable is winched in.

A portable engine is a stationary engine mounted on wheels so that it may be towed to a work-site by horses or a traction engine, rather than being fixed in a single location. -wikipedia.org
The vintage Cars:

For more information on the Kutztown Folk Festival Visit:
http://www.kutztownfestival.com

Freebie Collage Images For You!
Hello All,
Many of you know just how much I love photographs and ephemera, the more vintage and unusual the better. Old books, magazines, illustrated journals, scrapbooks, theater/opera programs, circus programs, fashion plates, comic books, recipe books, craft books, cabinet cards, postcards, tin types, perfume and apothecary labels/boxes/bottles, cigar labels/boxes, tobacco cartins, candy wrappers, prom tickets, dance cards, auto/oil ads, carnival posters, you name it, inspiration and imagery for your artwoks can be found everywhere, the older the item, the better chance at it being copyright free/public domain.Normally works dating before 1929 are considered public domain, however you will also find works from the 1930's to the 1970's that are copyright free as well, or no copyright was re-newed on these, or photographer or individual is deceased, no estate with restrictions, etc. can all lead to public domain works, check the US Gov.Site for more details, in my book: Altered Art Circus I touch on the subject, located in the beginning of the book.I periodically upload images for you to use in your works both on this blog and on my flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonfaires16/sets/72157603511546861/ In order to download the pictures you must have a flickr account (which is free for a basic account), and be my approved friend contact, which can easily be done by sending me a friend request, once approved you can download the images in high resolution to use in your works.

I also have a variety of collage images for sale:
1.Flapper CD
2.Soiree CD
3.Marie Antoinette Chronicles/Royal CD
4.Fashion Plate CD
5.Art Deco Fashion Plate CD
6.Grandville/Ballet/Botanical CD
7.Holiday CD
8.Halloween CD
9.Opera CD
10.Children Storybook/Ephemera CD
11.Vintage Greetings CD
12.Kitchy Chic CD
13.Doll Chronicals CD
14.Travel/Archaeology CD
15.Queens of the Sea CD
16.Seaside CD
17.Circus CD
18.Vintage Wedding CD
19.Compilation CD (parts of each available cd)
20.Geisha CD
21.Victorian CD
22.Fairytale Follies CD
For more information on these cds's, what's in them, previews and to order visit
my webshoppe:
http://moonfairesworld.com/curiosity_shoppe.htm
my etsy shoppe:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5074220
moonfaires.etsy.com
my ebay shoppe:
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Queen-Lisas-Art-World__W0QQ_armrsZ1


If you have additional questions regarding what's on the cd's send me an email at:
lisakettell@yahoo.com please put CD question in the title.Enjoy the freebie's I have posted today, just click on the photo, it will bring you to my flickr site.

Have a magic filled day!