The Post War European Trip Collection-London Calling 4

It must have been a hard place to live, London 1948.  Buildings that still hadn't been repaired or replaced, food rationing.  Also fascinating I'd think.  Click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more. 

The Post War European Trip Collection-London Calling 2

Let's continue with a tour of post war London, bombed out ruins and all.  Click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more.

The Post War European Trip Collection-London Calling 1

It's time to return to this collection.  It's been awhile so I'll give some basics and let anyone who want's to get more detail to click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to get more info.

Gloria Lee Bigewet was a teenager from the St. Louis area.  She was visiting Europe on an American Youth Hostel cycling trip.  There's a much bigger collection of her travel materials for sale at a used book store in St. Louis.  At least there was when I started posting this lot.  I couldn't afford it, so I'm limited to what I originally purchased.  I thought about posting the entire London guide at once, but for those who  want to bring things up in a bigger window and actually read the whole thing, it'll have to be done in four parts.  There is some damage, making things a bit tricky in the scanning, but hey, it is what it is.

Egypt via France

I've been picking up Egyptian postcards for a few years now, and I think it's about time to start posting them.  I'm breaking my usual practice of not publishing the backs of cards because I like the Arabic script, and because I'm too tired to try and decipher the hand writing.  And yes, it is Egypt.  Le Caire means Cairo.

Culver City Trash, European Trip 3

Is there more than one Tower Bridge in England?  Perhaps one kept up for the tourist trade?  Is it just me, or do the proportions look off on the top picture?  It looks like the top two images are from England, at least the Ye Olde England tourists love.  The others, I'm not so sure.

Anyway, I may never get another chance to quote Noel Coward, so here goes...."The stately homes of England we proudly represent.  We only keep them up for Americans to rent."

Click on Culver City Trash collection for more.

Views of the World, Cheapside, London, England

Cheapside is a street in London's financial district.  Lots of horse power in the original photograph.  I thought it might be possible to find the original black & white photo on line, but no dice.   I found quite a few that were very similar, but not this exact image.

Click on Views of the World in labels to bring up other cards in this series.

I don't know him!

Written on the front, lower, border, "Southampton-Taking train for London."  Written on the back, "I don't know him!  He must have been standing at next compartment.  Boat comes up to dock on left, and so-to London."

Southampton has been a major British port for centuries.  It's been a hub for passenger ships since the nineteenth century.  When this picture was taken, it was also a ferry port, connecting England with Europe.

The Albert Memorial

In his book about George Orwell, Christopher Hitchens argues that Orwell was unique among intellectuals in being right about the three important political/moral issues of the mid twentieth century. He was opposed to communism, fascism, and colonialism. Commissioned by Queen Victoria after her husband, Prince Albert's death, the Albert Memorial is a monument to England's colonial power as well as Prince Albert.

This is an interesting stereoview because is appears as if it might be a bootlegged copy of an original. The two images are one print, it's mounted off center, and the usual curved top of the image has been sliced of to fit on the card.

The Rebel Maid

These photos of a theatrical production have "The Rebel Maid" written on the backs, in pencil. Stamped, "J.W. DEBENHAM Photographer 182, ROUNDWOOD RD., WILLESDEN, N.W. 10 PHONE; WILLESDEN 5718." Without a date, and with everyone in period costume, it's difficult to know when these were actually taken. The Rebel Maid was a light, romantic opera written by Montague Phillips with lyrics by Gerald Dodson. It made it's premier at The Empire Theater in London on March 12, 1921. I've found several references to J. W. Debenham on the web, the earliest is a credit for a photo taken of school children celebrating the silver jubilee of Queen Mary and King George V at the Chamberlayne Road School, May 1935. I looked up The Empire Theater in London, and it's still there, though now it's a movie theater. I looked up a site that gives movie listings and found a theater on Chamerlayne Road, listed as being 4.6 miles from the Empire. These photos could have been from a revival of the play, though the close locations of Willesden, Chamberlayne Rd. and The Empire increase the likelihood that these are from the 1921 production run. If these photos are from the original production, then The Rebel Maid is played by Clara Butterworth. I've gone to http://www.npg.uk.org/ and ttakena quick look at a photo, from 1923, of Butterworth. The third image has a couple, standing in the rear, right in front of the painted backdrop. The lady looks like the British National Portrait Gallery photo of Butterworth, the same jaw line, at least, but I can't write, with certainty, that they are one and the same.