Early 20th Century Loving Cup in Honor of Julia Wharton Griffith From Her Admirers

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This unique artifact will send you time traveling to the American Gilded Age... its survival would already be a miracle, … Read more This unique artifact will send you time traveling to the American Gilded Age... its survival would already be a miracle, but we ALSO managed to find a photograph of the young lady to whom this wonder was dedicated. Her portrait is amongst the photos.

It will transport you to Isola Bella, Maine, in 1907 where the rich would go to escape the summer heat of their city homes, and also, where the younger set of the well to do if not downright wealthy might meet and mingle and court and playfully flirt in a more relaxed and sporty and less strictly chaperoned atmosphere (though still quite proper) than Newport. Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island was the pioneer and lodestar. Think canoes... and the hope of some canoodling.

We'll let the cup (or tankard or vase) speak for itself. Because it has a voice, lettered on metal strips riveted to the copper of the three-handled vessel in three columns.

1. "This splendid specimen of the silversmith's art was given to the founder of the Julia Wharton Griffith College of Osculation* at Isola Bella, Maine Sep 1 1907 on the first anniversary of the institution by its alumni who wish to register their fealty and loyalty to their alma mater & to spread broadcast from the rock bound coast of Maine to the sun kissed sands of Florida the esteem and honor in which they hold the college."

2. (it goes on...) "Like wise their song: 'Why Is There Only One Julia Wharton Griffith College of Osculation? Because there's Only Room for One, Only Room for One. So here's a swig of a toast so list, straight from the lips of those who've kissed: Only Room for One. We drink to you a toast or two, Only Room for One.'"

3. (...and on...) "They here record their university motto - 'The June Bug's wings are Golden, The Fire Bug's wings are Flame, The Kissing Bug's got no wings at all, but it gets there just the same.' Also their class yell - 'Rah, rah, rah, Tiger, tiger, tiger, Kiss, kiss, kiss, Julia Griffith!'"

*Osculation is a very fancy word for kissing in case you didn't know or haven't guessed.

So...how did she take it? Well, folks... she never married.

Isola Bella is indeed currently the name of a house designed by Peter Pennoyer Architects. on a private island in Maine. It's not a town or a common geographical feature like a lake or island. The present house was designed to evoke the atmosphere of the original Shingle-style houses that had existed before on the site. According to available information, William H. Folwell owned a property called "Isola Bella" in Maine in 1912. It's likely that he also owned it in 1907. Further details suggest that the name "Isola Bella" was chosen as a tribute to one of the Borromean Islands in Italy, a place Folwell had visited. While other properties with similar names or in the region are mentioned, the specific context of Isola Bella in Maine being owned by William H. Folwell in this timeframe seems consistent across the search results. See less