The Heaven and Hell Clubs

Paris in the 1890’s had the best nightlife around, especially for the morbidly curious. Many clubs sought (and still do) to be the most unique in order to get the cash flowing.

One of these was the Caberet du Néant (The Cabaret of Nothingness) where patrons could sit on coffins and served Libations by monks and funeral attendees. The drinks were themed this way and so it meant that the whole thing was a night out away from the mundane.

Having had a few in the ‘sale d’intoxication’ they would move to other rooms, the revelry would include parlour tricks like making the illusion that they were turning into skeletons as they walked through. It is unfortunate but the club did not survive World War II.

You couild also go to Cabaret de l’Emfer (The Cabaret of the Inferno) which was satanically themed. The club had people witness a snake turn into a devil, were heckled by the devil himself and even warned about going further in due to the heat of hell. It’s amusing to note that anecdotes from the time say that people actually complained it was chilly however!

The Cabaret de l’Enfer was still around for a while, the last picture was taken in 1952. It is of the outside with a policeman walking past it.

Not everyone would want the darkest of sides, so relief there was also the Caberet du Ciel, (the Cabaret of the Sky) where Dante and Father Time would greet their visitors.

Today we have themed pubs, but I can’t help these places paved the way for lovely and interesting things by being just that too.

OUOSVAVV

No I didn’t forget spell check, that’s the inscription on a monument at Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire. It’s never really been explained and so gathers curiosity even now.

The Shugborough Inscription is carved on the 18th Century monument, below a mirror image of a painting ‘Shepherds of Arcadia’ by painter Nicolas Poussín. The inscription became known more widely having been mentioned in a 1982 book, ‘The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail’.

The monument dates between 1748/63 and contained between the letters D and M sits an inscription OUOSVAVV. The letters DM are seen on Roman tombs, Diis Manibus which means “dedicated to the Shades”.

A google search will give you many offers for resolutions, perhaps it’s just a version of Grafitti or a secret message between one lover to another. This writer is happy to leave the code busting to others.

Charles Horsfield

Transporting the dead has been one of those things that has to be organised. Alongside the dedicate funeral line in London and other places, there were other options even if they were less grandiose.

Sometimes passenger rail services would carry the coffins in their brake vans. It unfortunately led to one grisly report that happened 21st June 1912. The train from Manchester to Leeds was derailed near Hebden Bridge. A coffin containing Mr Horsfield’s remains was thrown from the brake van and spilt out on to the track.  The 55 year old’s coffin was shattered so he was kept in the signal box until a new one was available.

Halifax Courier’s reporter had this comment: The coffin was found all splintered and the corpse, though unmarked, was pinned under the debris and partly exposed. There was also an untrue rumour at the time that his body was one of those recovered from the Titanic just ten weeks earlier.

It wasn’t until 1988 that British Rail announced it would no longer allow coffins to be transported.

Curious Round Up

Strawboer 

Whittlesea (England) used to have a custom that on the Tuesday following plough Monday (the 1st Monday after twelfth night) they would dress one of the farmers in straw, he would head out to entertain people with his clumsy gestures to hung over/tired revellers from the night before.

The last sighting had been in 1909 until it was revived in 1980. It’s not all good news for the straw, the “bear burning” is carried out the Sunday after the festival ready to make one for the next year.

Dungeness

England, Kent’s Dungeness area is a large place with an interesting ecology, and nearby 2 nuclear power stations. Nearby is Denge with its Acoustic Mirrors, they were not as effective as radar and and left abandoned.  The English Heritage and English Nature have now given a way to gain public access to them.

The Prodigy’s video “Invaders must die” was filmed around that area.