Here from the October 1970 issue of Mayfair magazine is an article on the, then, relatively new English Civil War re-enactment society The Sealed Knot. I have reproduced it in full and if you click on the images they should be readable!
The pictures in this article were taken by American photographer Philip O Stearns who was a Sealed Knot member himself. He also took the pictures for my favourite wargaming book The War Game, which dates from the same year.
Philip Olcott Stearns was born in Detroit in February 1917. The rather patrician Stearns attended the private Brooks School, in North Andover Massachusets, and then Princeton, where he was a successful rower. It was during his time at Princeton that he developed an interest in sculpting. He graduated with a degree in art and archaeology. During World War 2 he was based in the UK as a Captain in in the OSS (Office of Strategic Services; the precursor of the CIA) working with the French Resistance for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He was a great collector of model soldiers and was also very involved in the early days of The Sealed Knot; the English Civil War re-enactment organisation.
He took the photographs for many books on model soldiers and even wrote his own: How to Make Model Soldiers (1974). He was a successful photographer; taking a cover picture for Sports Illustrated in the 1950s, for example.
Another of his books Six Nymphets (1966), is more appropriate to the work he did in the mid sixties and early seventies as Director of Photography for Bob Guccione's Penthouse and, indeed, many other mens' magazines in London, where he lived in a lavish flat in Mayfair. After he left Penthouse he went on to be editor of military history magazine Campaign. He died in February 2000, two days past his 83rd birthday, in Vermont. Interestingly, his death notice (paid for by his family) mentioned his interest in military miniatures and historical societies but didn't mention his photography at all!
Angela nearly reveals her demi-culverins
After Penthouse he moved on to work for Mayfair and took the cover photograph and centrefold pictorial for the very same issue in which the article on the Sealed Knot appears.
Amber Dean Smith wenches it up
He even managed to combine his two interests when he photographed the first ever Penthouse Pet of the Year, Amber Dean Smith (who appeared as Warren Mitchell's girlfriend in Hammer's curious SF western Moon Zero Two (1969)) in a seventeenth century setting and period clothes for Mayfair in 1969.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for more books by Stearns or that featured toy soldiers.
I found several of his erotica books, and they fetch collectors prices for used books.
I joined the Sealed Knot in 1974 aged 14+ . At the time our family (myself, brother and mum and dad,) were caravanning in the Cotswolds. Then whilst listening to Tony Blackburn on Radio 1 on the car radio he said that the Sealed Knot were besieging Warwick Castle at the weekend. So I begged and cajoled mum and dad to go there and so we did. I had seen the film Cromwell back in 1970 and also the tv serial called the Pretenders again in 1970 about children caught up in the later Monmouth Rebellion. So from the start I was hooked on the 17th century time of history. Also devouring books like the Children of the New Forest, and the one set in my neck of the woods, The Kings General in the West by Daphne du Maurier. We watched the siege which was thrilling! And immediately I tried to find out if there was a Regiment in our area of Devon/Cornwall. There was only one, it was Prince Maurices Regiment of Dragoones commanded by Maurice Burton-Crawford. I joined it and set about getting kitted out. I went to my first small muster at Labrador Bay, near Torquay. At this time my dad and mum became friends with Maurice and his family, and were persuaded to join up. Further, my dad Sid Jones and Maurice Burton-Crawford had both served in the Royal Navy as Chief Petty Officers, so they had much to talk about. At one point our family was split by real civil war as my brother and I became Roundheads (Wardlaws Dragoones) for a time as Prince Maurices Dragoons needed some opposition! Later I was to rejoin the Royalists again at Andover in Sir Marmaduke Rawdons Regiment. Socially the SK was excellent with banquets in old barns, castles, and houses. I joined up in the 'real' Army in 1976 initially the Coldstream Guards and later the Royal Engineers. I joined up a few of my fellow soldiers and we all used to go off to battles at the weekends. Drawing out our muskets dressed as Cavaliers from the barracks Guardroom, amongst the SLR Rifles and Sterling Sub Machine Guns! Much to the amusement of the Duty Officers at the time. So off we would go with Army tents, beds, sleeping bags, cookers, beer and rations procured from the cookhouse on the pretext that we were going on adventurous training, which the Army did encourage, honestly! I had a great time in the 'Knot' up until the 90's. When having been off to war myself (1st Gulf, Bosnia) I found my health deteriorated and I am now a War Pensioner. I have fond memories of fighting with pike and musket and singing and drinking vast quantities of beer in pubs and SK beer tents around the country. And we all helped to raise thousands of pounds for local and national charities. As the Sealed Knot has been a charity from its earliest formation. I hope it will go from strength to strength in these rather challenging times we now live in. David Chandler in that list above (Wargaming) was also in the Sealed Knot with the founder of the Society Brigadier Peter Young DSO MC. The Brigadier was head of Military History at Sandhurst as was David Chandler who penned several books on military history (The Campaigns of Napoleon, Waterloo) as did Peter Young (Edgehill, The Fighting Man, Arab Legion) on the civil war and wargaming. Peter Young was quite a character and I heard about it from two of his Army Commandos who had landed on the beach with him in 1944 on D Day. He led them (3 Cdo) up the beach and off it. These two Chelsea pensioners were with me on the same beach in 2014 for the 70th. When I mentioned the Sealed Knot they had a chuckle, as in 1968 Peter Young had recalled many of his D Day men to Sandhurst. One of them said 'he had us marching about on the drill square with pointy sticks (Pikes).' This made me chuckle too as they are very unwieldy and all over the place when you first start drilling with a long pike. They had lost a lot of their friends on that beach, and so they were not so forgiving to the Germans. Brave men led by a brave man, all now sadly departed. The like of which we shall not see again, may they all rest in peace.
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