Visualizing Camelot in Everyday Life
McCormick Whiskey Sir Lancelot and Guinevere decanters.
Most people associate King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table with literature, especially such classic works as Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, and with such celebrated art as George Frederick Watts’ “Sir Galahad.” In fact, over the years, the Arthurian legends have been reinterpreted, adapted, reimagined, and occasionally democratized, so that the stories of Arthur and the tales of Camelot are now ubiquitous in our daily lives, routines, and practices.
School calendar.
Lancelot and Elaine postcard, ca. 1902.
Parsifal calendar.
Blotter, with ad for Brinks & Sons, featuring Galahad.
EVERYDAY LIFE
Arthurian imagery is prevalent in everyday life and everyday objects—not only in movies, television shows, plays, paintings, drawings, statues, murals, stained glass windows, book illustrations, and dust jackets, but also in calendars, stamps, postcards, practical and decorative dishware, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, cartoons, comic books, comic strips, and product and company logos.
Displayed here are items from everyday life including two calendars: the 1916 Parsifal calendar (for Liberty of London), with illustrations by Willy Pogany from his Parsifal or The Legend of the Holy Grail, and a 1934 school calendar, with each month illustrated by an event from the Arthurian legends, with captions appropriately bowdlerized for children. Other items include a blotter with an ad for Brinks & Sons, merchants of poultry and eggs, with an image of Galahad, “the ideal type of manhood”; and an Arthurian postcard.
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Set of Gambian Sword in the Stone stamps.
Art sheet with Gambian Sword in the Stone stamp.
Sheet of Dominica Monty Python and the Holy Grail stamps.
STAMPS
Like much literature, art, and popular culture, the imagery on postage stamps draws on major Arthurian works like those of Malory, Tennyson, and T. H. White. Other popular sources of philatelic imagery include Edwin Austin Abbey’s Holy Grail murals, the Prince Valiant comic strip, and the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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Merlin music box which plays "Camelot".
Sheet music for "Once and for Always", 1949.
King Arthur transistor radio.
ARTHURIAN MUSIC
Music is an auditory rather than a visual medium, but Arthurian images nonetheless appear as music boxes, transistor radios, album and CD covers, and on sheet music for Arthurian-themed songs.
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Sir Lancelot Halloween costume, ca. 1950s.
Lancelot Steinbach nutcracker.
Merlin Steinbach nutcracker.
Christmas tree ornament of Merlin. Gladys Bolt, Appalachian women's cooperative.
Christmas tree ornament of Guinevere. Gladys Bolt, Appalachian women's cooperative.
Christmas tree ornament of Arthur. Gladys Bolt, Appalachian women's cooperative.
ARTHURIAN HOLIDAY ITEMS
From Halloween costumes to Christmas tree ornaments, Arthurian motifs are often incorporated into the celebration of holidays. Arthur and his Knights are especially popular subjects for Mardi Gras krewes, floats, doubloons, and favors.
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Monty Python Spamalot Spam.
King Arthur whisky marmalade.
King Arthur Flour, Round Table Pastry Flour baking dish.
King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalogue.
Label from King Arthur Chow Chow.
King Arthur and His Knights, promotional book from Kellogg's.
Butter Toffees Wrapper.
Ad for Red Cross Coffee.
Mr. Merlin (TV show) Lunch Box.
FOOD-RELATED ARTHURIANA
The association of Arthurian figures, especially King Arthur, with food products from toffee to “chow-chow” is in part related to Tennyson’s notion of Arthur as a “blameless king.” King Arthur Flour, for example, uses the name to suggest the purity of its product. Promotional items with Arthurian connections—like a collection of stories about Arthur and his knights told by the “Kellogg’s Adventurer” or the mini-toy giveaways by Wendy’s fast-food restaurants—were another way for companies to attract customers to their products.
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Royal Doulton King Arthur's Knights Dinner Set.
Sadler teapot.
Shenango china.
DISHWARE
As with other everyday objects, Arthurian-themed dishware reflected the influence and popularity of Tennyson’s and Malory’s versions of the legends. The appeal of the legends was not restricted to Britain (see, for example, the Royal Doulton dishes and Sadler’s “King Arthur” teapot displayed here) but also extended to American households (Shenango china made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania).
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McCormick Whiskey Sir Lancelot decanter.
Ad for Absolut vodka.
Six pack holder for Grail Ale and Grail Ale bottle.
McCormick Whiskey Guinevere decanter.
ARTHURIAN ALCOHOL
Even producers of alcoholic drinks seized on the popularity of the legends. Their naming of products—like Grail Ale (produced by Middle Ages Brewing in Syracuse, New York) and Merlin’s Ale—after Arthurian characters and symbolic items or their promotions in magazine and newspaper ads (by Absolut Vodka, Seagram’s King Arthur Gin, and others) proved a longstanding and successful tactic to entice buyers. One especially innovative alcohol marketing campaign was McCormick Whiskey’s “King Arthur Series” (1976)—collectible whiskey-filled decanters in the shapes of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Merlin.
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