• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • The Latest
  • Families
  • Archives
  • Contact

Thompson Family History

Telling the story straight, no matter how painful or unsavory.

By Boyce Thompson

Rebecca Kruttschnitt Was a Published Illustrator

I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise, given how many people in my family draw well. Nevertheless, I was astonished to discover recently that Rebecca de Mendes Kruttschnitt (1889-1974), my great-grandaunt, was a professional illustrator.

Rebecca Kruttschnitt adeptly illustrated a drawing-room novel — that’s right, a roman de salon — published in 1910. The book, “In Town, and Other Conversations,” written by Janet Ayer Fairbank, includes more than a dozen of Rebecca’s delicate pencil drawings. Read it by clicking here.  no one will be blamed for just looking at the pictures.

Rebecca de Mendes Kruttschnitt was the daughter of Julius Kruttschnitt, the former board chairman of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Rebecca married Henry de Clifford Woodhouse when she was 22, one year after the book was published. A Canadian, Woodhouse was a veteran of the Boer Wars in South Africa.

As we have previously blogged, Woodhouse was no good to Rebecca. He carried on during wedlock with the poet Elinor Wylie, who even wrote love sonnets about their affair in her last book. Elinor and Rebecca were friends. Elinor frequently visited the Woodhouses after they had moved to England at their household at Henley-on-Thames. Maybe she visited too frequently, if I may be so bold.

It goes without saying that, to me at least, Rebecca’s illustrations are the most interesting part of the book. The book began as a play serialized in the Sunday editions of the Chicago Record-Herald under the name “The Tea Table.” The same characters appear in each scene to talk about issues of the moment. The talk is handled “in an amusing and highly natural manner,” according to one reviewer.

A rare picture of the loverly Rebecca Kruttschnitt at her brother’s house in Arizona circa 1906

I can’t vouch for this because I have no interest in reading the book. Someone else can read it and tell me if it’s any good. But I can tell you that I completely agree with the reviewer when he evokes the “uncommon delicacy” of the illustrations. This is a book that you can judge by its pictures, starting with the covers.

Sadly, the only color illustration is on the cover. color. It features a lone passenger in an early automobile, about to set off on a weekend adventure, no doubt. I guess I’m not sure why the driver is all covered up with leaves still on the trees. Maybe that’s because I haven’t read the book.

Inside, there are lots of lovely pictures of beautifully dressed, thoughtful women doing exciting things — pouring tea, wearing furs, getting dressed by maids to go to the opera, stirring tea, that kind of thing. They are all really, really good.

Interestingly, men really aren’t a factor in the illustrations, except to hide behind newspapers, sit dully in armchairs, or wear old military outfits. That may be one reason why I have no interest in reading the book.

Filed Under: Families, Kruttschnitt, Woodhouse Tagged With: Elinor Wylie, Henry de Clifford Woodhouse, Rebecca de Mendes Kruttschnitt

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristina Rebecca de Mendez Bayliss says

    May 10, 2013 at 4:42 pm

    Hi Boyce, My husband came across this when googling my Grandfather Paddy Woodhouse (Becky’s son). It was great to see these illustrations as I wasn’t aware she had had any published. I’m guessing you’re Gwyn’s great grandson – is that right? We’ve ordered the book.
    I’d love to hear from you. Rebecca

Primary Sidebar

Families

  • Thompson
    (80)
  • Kruttschnitt
    (30)
  • Boyce
    (14)
  • Simmers
    (11)
  • Benjamin
    (10)
  • Gingras
    (7)
  • Boner
    (6)
  • Pickering
    (6)
  • Ough
    (5)
  • Maguire
    (5)
  • Wright
    (5)
  • Clark
    (4)
  • Biddle
    (4)
  • McCullen
    (4)
  • Woodhouse
    (3)
  • Wigmore
    (3)
  • de Mendes
    (3)
  • Kock
    (3)
  • Libby
    (2)
  • Cunningham
    (2)
  • Wilson
    (1)
  • Williams
    (1)
  • Mercier
    (1)
  • Hohenlohe
    (1)
  • Filor
    (1)
  • Herman
    (1)
  • Kithcart
    (1)
  • St. Martin
    (1)
  • Hickman
    (1)

Latest from Boyce

Greer Historian Preserved Relic from J.E. Thompson Lodge

10:55 am 27 Apr 2023

The Unexciting Truth About William Boyce Thompson’s Picket Post Mansion

4:14 pm 24 Apr 2023

Philip Benjamin: Portrait of a Small-Time Con

11:27 am 03 Apr 2023

Explore the History

Benjamin Biddle Boner Boyce Clark Cunningham Deathbed Letters de Mendes Doty Families Fiction Filor Folklore Gingras Herman Hickman Hohenlohe Kithcart Kock Kruttschnitt Libby Maguire McCullen Mercier Miscellaneous Murray Ough Pickering Simmers St. Martin Thompson Wigmore Williams Wilson Woodhouse Wright

Popular

  • Rancho Joaquina Needed a Facelift Before It Could be Shown to the Public
  • Hatevil Nutter Was A Cruel Religious Hypocrite
  • Judah P. Benjamin’s Homes Largely Forgotten In New Orleans
  • Old Letter Is Probably Fake, But Still Makes Good Reading
  • Bernard Kock Colonized Cow Island With Freed Slaves

Get in Touch

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2023 · Thompson Family History · Boyce Thompson Media, LLC