Monday, December 29, 2014

Part XII -- Marion and Ken Go to Europe





The Bea Blog consists primarily of excerpts from the diaries my grandmother Bea Cohen (1899-1985) kept for 38 years, starting in 1913. For more background, see Part I -- Intro and 1913 (under Blog Archive).

Bea and Elizabeth 1977


Ed. Note In her later diaries (1951-1980), Bea describes her legal battle with my grandfather Milton over the terms of their separation (they never divorced). She also writes at length about her struggle with anxiety and depression and her strained relationship with her daughters (my mother Ande and my aunt Jean). Of course she also writes about other topics, including me, after I was born in 1961.  I was Bea’s only grandchild and my relationship with her was a happy one. But much of the later diaries is pretty grim. So, while I may post some more excerpts from Bea’s diaries, I plan to draw mainly on other family documents for items of broader historical and cultural interest.



Marion and Ken Go to Europe

1926

In this installment – based on the 1926 travel diary of Bea’s sister Marion – Bea’s siblings, Marion (24) and Ken (17), take a three-month automobile trip through Europe – driving over 5000 miles to and from more than 50 towns and cities in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy and England. They sail from New York, along with their Chrysler roadster, on the SS Belgenland and return on the SS Veendam. (Unfortunately I have no photos from this trip but I have reproduced two pages from Marion’s diary and whatever pertinent illustrations I could find on Google.)

Marion’s record of mileage









May



Marion and Ken set sail for Europe on the SS Belgenland on May 29, 1926. (This was Marion's second trip to Europe and Ken's first.)



The Belgenland was built in 1914 and originally served as a freighter and World War I troopship for the White Star Line under the name SS Belgic. She was given to the Red Star Line for reconstruction and on April 4, 1923 made her maiden voyage as the Belgenland from Antwerp-Southhampton-New York (http://www.geocities.ws/luxury_liners/Belgenland.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Belgenland_(1914)).



A cutaway brochure showing a cross-section of the SS Belgenland, c. 1925 (http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/d49364/d4936410r.jpg)

June

June 7

Marion and Ken arrive in Antwerp
Antwerp at last after a rather disagreeable crossing! […] Quite a thrill to see the car come out of the ship’s hold. Not a bump or a scratch on it. A Belgian exclaimed “Tres chic” when he saw the car.

1926 ad for Chrysler 70 Roadster (http://www.amazon.com/Antique-Chrysler-Roadster-Automobile-Pricing/dp/B006ERZV8O)



En route to Brussels
It’s very simple driving and the sky’s the limit for speed. No regulations at all.

Luxembourg
We had a bottle of crème de cacao and feel quite gay and hysterical.

NB The US was in the midst of Prohibition.

Paris
Marion and Ken spend most of their time shopping and dining out

Ken is much occupied trying all kinds of liquor and a new Dunhill pipe.

Dinner at La Tour d’Argent was perfect but cost us about $4.00 a piece. The food was marvelous and we had Duck No. 78732 (since 1890).

Four dollars in 1926 is approximately $52 today. (http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=100&year=1926).


An example of the duck number card given to diners at La Tour d’Argent (http://gherkinstomatoes.com/2012/04/27/la-tour-dargent-poinct-ne-leurre-or-pressed-duck-blood-and-guts-and-all/)

July


Lourdes
It’s a strange place and I waited to see a cripple get cured but nothing happened.



Lourdes is a small town in the Pyrenees where Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1858 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes).




 Dutch poster for "Le Miracle de Lourdes," a French movie released in 1926 (http://www.cinemacontext.nl/id/F005220)

Geneva
Finally I’ve come to a place I really like. Geneva is spotlessly clean and a beautiful city and such an air of prosperity [. . .] We had our first taste of mountain climbing. What a thrill to be among the clouds.


Lugano

Marion finds a bit of romance -- not uncommon for young Americans travelling abroad, but fascinating to me as Marion never married and I had no sense of her romantic life.

An early morning visit to Pickfords [travel agency] to purchase railway tickets to Venice brought a little more romance my way. A handsome romantic-looking chap in charge of their office and as courteous and gracious and romantic as could be. He promised me a letter in Venice so I wait to see.

Venice
My letter came at 10 this morning and I was excited – almost a love letter. What a souvenir to take home.

Pickfords poster c. 1930s (http://www.antikbar.co.uk/original_vintage_posters/travel_posters/venice,_pickfords_travel_service/PT0392/)

Marion and Ken spot some celebrities

Sat at Florian’s all evening [. . .] we watched everyone pass and saw Jules Bache and Noel Coward.








Jules Semon Bache (1861–1944) was a German-born Jewish American banker, art collector and philanthropist. He founded the brokerage house J.S. Bache & Co in 1892 and his name survives in the current corporate name Prudential Bache.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Bache)



Jules Bache














Noel Coward (1899–1973), English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No%C3%ABl_Coward)
 
Back in Lugano, Marion goes out with her Pickfords agent
Giovanni De Michaeli – that’s all there is to write about today! […] We walked and I heard the “nice things” that were promised me should we ever meet alone. I think it is well we leave Lugano tomorrow as I am sure I could easily succumb and actually fall in love! Is it possible he was sincere in all he said? I sometimes wonder! […] How different life seems when there is someone who cares!

But, en route to Paris, she knows the romance is not to be
He phoned me tonight from Lugano even before he had gotten my letter. It’s hard to think I shan’t speak with him again.

Paris
Back to Paris and so happy to be here! […] Ken and I saw the Sultan of Morocco this morning at Fountainebleau.


The Sultan at Fountainebleau (http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/france-moulai-youssef-sultan-of-morocco-on-a-visit-at-the-news-photo/152240353)



August

To Normandy and Brittany – accumulating their eleventh flat tire since their trip began
I changed the tire myself while Ken held the car up.

And finally to England
“Merrie England” at last. I knew I’d love it and I do.

Had a late tea and went to see Cochran’s Revue with Will Rogers which we enjoyed very much.

American humorist Will Rogers performed in Cochran's Revue for four weeks during the summer of 1926. He is said to have ripped up his Revue paycheck, claiming that he was grateful for the publicity the show had brought him and happy to aid the success of his friend, producer Charles Cochran (Betty Rogers, Will Rogers, p. 195-196; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._Cochran).


Will Rogers (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rogers-Will-LOC.jpg)
September

I’m dieting in a final effort to lose a little weight before I get home. Lunch of lemonade and two cigarettes and dinner of tea and toast and fruit.

They send their car ahead on the SS Majestic

Returning home on the SS Veendam

September 9

Now after a day’s inspection of the people I’m sorry to say it looks as though we’re out of luck again. No Jewish people our age at all! Those that are here are much older and I feel out of it. Damn it! Seven more days of this.











The SS Veendam made her maiden voyage on 18 April 1923 with a sailing from Rotterdam via Boulogne and Plymouth to New York.  (http://www.hollandamericablog.com/holland-line-ships-past-and-present/the-ss-veendam-of-1922/).


SS Veendam