The Post War European Trip Collection-Swiss Postcards.

I'm back.  It took a few days but I've replaced the used monitor I bought five years ago.  I spent a few days looking in thrift stores, finally gave up and decided to buy new.  It's really hard to find good computer equipment, on sale, without a computer.  Come on people, put some advertisements in the newspaper.  I swear, I'm not cheap, just perpetually short of money.

So, we know that Gloria Jean visited a handful of countries on her bicycle tour of Europe. England, France, Switzerland,  and Italy.  All of which are connected.  What we don't know is the order.  Too, we know that she got to Europe on a ship, so it seems reasonable that she went back to the U.S. in the same way.  Logically, as an example, start in England, a channel ferry to France, then Switzerland, and then a big finish in Italy, another country with seaports. Or the opposite.

The top two postcards clearly started life as photographs, and the third, another illustration.  The top one is of a city in Switzerland, Thun. Apart from the caption on the front of the card, there is one on the back, in French, "Thoune et la Blumlisalp."   The middle one in the column has a caption on the back, "No. 2711 Lauterbrunnental Staubbach."  And the bottom, "No 2372 Chapelle Saint-Jean, Val d'Annivers (Suisse)"  Here's a good question, Switzerland has three national languages, French, German and Italian. Why is that all the Swiss material in this collection is either in French or German, but not Italian?

So, click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more.  Only two more posts to go.

The Post War European Trip Collection-A Letter Home

As I noted in an earlier chapter of the Gloria Lee Bigewet story,  the only exception to the photos only rule of this blog is when I have ephemera that is directly related to a single source with photos.

So, in a letter written by Gloria Lee to her parents, dated "July 17, '48" she writes about her cycling trip around Europe, her dreams of being in fashion advertising and complained about the bad influence Europe was having on Bill who has taken to drinking and cussing in a very continental way.  Hey, don't be lazy, click on each page, bring up the letter in a bigger window and read it for yourself.  And speaking of clicking on things, The Post War European Collection in labels says it all.

The Cure House

The Kurhaus at Cadmario, Switzerland is still there and still in business.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find out when it was built.  There's scaffolding and a date on this print.  12-IV-25, the 12th of April, 1925.  Repairs or construction, I wasn't able to determine.  Visiting the spa is fairly expensive now, but in 1925?  I suspect it wasn't cheap then, either, as the wealthy of Europe took the waters to cure what ailed them, and after the horrors of World War 1 and the Spanish Flu epidemic, I suspect people felt in need of a curative rest.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Lausanne 4

I was going to wait until tomorrow to finish up this travel brochure, but I decided to just get it over and done with.  To sum up, Lausanne is in the French speaking part of Switzerland, it's on Lake Geneva, and it's home to the International Olympic Committee.  Here's a fun fact.  The Swiss have hosted the Winter Olympics twice, the last time in 1948 and they've never hosted the summer games.  I guess they're smart enough to pass on the bankrupting thrill of sport.  Too, Lausanne is another word that Blogger doesn't recognize. 

Yes, yes, click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels.  If you don't I'll come back and haunt you after my death. 

The Post War European Trip Collection-Lausanne 3

For our English speaking friends?  Bored Englishmen going off to live in Switzerland or on the Rivera where they could indulge their more "continental" tastes.  The plot of many a bad British novel.  Lay back and think of England is my advice.

Yes, I know, click on The Post war European Trip Collection in labels to review, and review....

The Post War European Trip Collection-Lausanne 2

I can't be 100 % certain without seeing the entire Gloria Lee Bigewet archive.  As I wrote in an earlier post, there is a rare book dealer in Saint Louis who is selling thousands of pictures and documents for far more money than I have.  However, from what little I've seen from my small sample of the archive, Gloria Lee and her tour group spent a lot of time in Switzerland.  That makes sense.  In 1948, the rubble of World War 2 may have been cleared from the streets, but many of Europe's cities were years away from being rebuilt.  Throw in food and fuel shortages, and a thriving black market and the criminals who ran it, and Switzerland was a safer place for American teenagers than much of the continent. .

Note that Lucky Jordan starring Alan Ladd was playing at the ABC theater.  Lucky Jordan was released in 1942.  Even though Switzerland was neutral during the war, and there was contact with the non Nazi world, it must have been hard to get an American movie to Switzerland.  So, Swiss Alan Ladd fans had to wait to see their favorite star.

Yes, I know I'm repeating myself, but click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Lausanne 1

There are a few photos in this travel brochure.  Not many, but a few.  Some of the ads are great, so there is that.  As usual, click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels for more, more, more! 

The Post War European Trip Collection-Flower Postcards

Again, the top image in the column, a photo postcard, and the rest, illustrations.  The top "printed in Switzerland."  The other two made in France.  The second and third card have the same inscription that can be found on most of the cards from the previous post, "Bought in Cannes, France-June 26, 1948."  The bottom card has a bit more information, "In Switzerland these flowers grow on the very top peaks of the mts. & they're so few & far between.  That's why they cost so much at florist shops."  And before I forget, "ETOILE DES GLACIERS-EDELWEISS." 

And if it still needs a reminder, click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels. 

The Post War European Trip Collection-Luzern Lucerne 3

Time to finish up this postcard folder.  By the way, there are three main languages used in Switzerland, Italian, French, and German.  Lucerne is from a predominately German speaking part of the country.

As Usual, click on The Post war European Trip Collection in labels and all that that entails. 

The Post War European Trip Collection-Luzern Lucerne 2

I looked it up and was surprised to see that Lucerne, one of Switzerland's most famous cities, only has a population of a little over 81,000.  Bakersfield, California has 356,000.

Click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more photos and get some background information.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Luzern Lucerne 1

Time for some more of the Gloria Lee Bigewet archive.  So, part one of three, a postcard folder from Lucerne, Switzerland.  Click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Swiss Mountains

All postcards, all published in Switzerland.  I wrote in an earlier  post that Gloria Lee was on an American Youth Hostel cycling trip of Europe.  My source for that information was ABE Books.  It's a website that allows book dealers to join together to sell their wares, and if you're a book lover like me, an indispensable resource.  Anyway, I found a rare book dealer in St. Louis who was selling the Gloria Lee Bigewet European trip archive.  Scrapbooks, diaries, photographs, postcards, letters and other ephemera.  Sadly there was an asking price of over $2,000, so it doesn't look like I'm going to reunite my few scrapes with the greater collection.  At that price, one would  think that Gloria Lee must have been someone with at least a level of fame in Missouri.  That would be wrong.

So yes, it is necessary to click on The Post war European Trip Collection in labels to see more and wet your appetite for parts yet to be posted, which won't happen for awhile. 

The Post War European Trip Collection-Berne 7

I'm beginning to wish I'd posted this travel brochure as one post.  Well, at this point it doesn't really matter.  This is it, the last two panels.

There are two names in the La science panel, Nicolas Manuel Deutsch, and d'Albert de Haller.  Near as I can tell, Deutsch was an artist and not a scientist, though I have to admit, I was too lazy to go beyond the less than reliable Wikipedia. Haller was also an artist, but also a doctor and anatomist. 

As usual, click on The Post war European Trip Collection in labels for lots more.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Berne 6

So, where does  the water come from?  L'historie was easy, but I had to look up Les fontaines.  I assumed it was fountains and was right, but everyone I know makes the mistake of assuming that words from languages other than English, that sound similar to words in English mean the same.  Sometimes they do, but more often than not, they don't.

Click on The Post War European Trip Collection, and all that.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Berne 5

Yesterday I wrote that Gloria Lee might have been tired from all the cycling.  Keeping my earlier promise to continue with my research into her trip, I discovered that she was on an American Youth Hostel cycling trip through France, Switzerland, and Italy.  The trip lasted three weeks, excluding the voyage from the U.S. to Europe and home again, so it's a good bet that they used some sort of ground transport between countries.  Dare I mention it again?  Click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels.....