The Grand Tour 08, Finale: Kodachrome Slides from Paris and London, 1950

 

After a quick tour of Geneva, my dad took an afternoon train to Paris. 

For Americans in the mid-century, Paris represented sophistication, art, vibrancy, and culture. Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, Oscar Wilde and other American expatriates (even Benjamin Franklin) had lived in Paris and written and created there. American troops helped liberate Paris in 1944 and were heroes at that time. Paris was a glamorous destination. 

 

Oh, oh, tourist photo alert. Every visitor to Paris takes pictures of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. But in these 1950 shots, there is very little traffic. But the good news is that on one Sunday every month, year-round, the Champs-Élysées is for pedestrians only.

View of Paris from the Arc de Triomphe, December 1, 1950

View of la Tour Eiffel and Fame riding Pegasus at Tuileries garden gates, December 1, 1950 

Île Saint-Louis and the Seine

Notre Dame de Paris, the world’s finest example of French Gothic architecture

The stonework looks reasonably clean in this photo. Possibly the government had already started cleaning and restoring monuments after the war. 

 

Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (historic shopping galleria)

The Hôtel de Ville in the 4th arrondissement

After a week in Paris (many days with rain), my dad took the metro to the Gare du Nord and entrained on The Golden Arrow (La Flèche d'Or) for Dover. In In Graham Greene's Travels With My Aunt, one of the characters uses the Golden Arrow to escape to Paris.

 

London

 

The Household Cavalry on the Strand

Back to USA 

 

After six cold days in London, my dad took the boat train to Southampton and boarded the Neiuw Amsterdam on December 12. This elegant ship was built in 1938 and had served valiantly as a troopship from 1940 to 1946. He wrote that several days were rough (it was December on the North Atlantic!). My dad's last diary entry is December 17. He probably landed in Hoboken, New Jersey, a day or two later. 

I do not know why my dad took a sea voyage rather than fly to USA. The early-1950s were the peak of the post-war tourist boom for Atlantic ocean liners. In that era, ship travel was sophisticated and glamorous. But it would not last. The inauguration of Pan American's Boeing 707 jet service across the Atlantic in October 1958 spelled the eventual doom to ocean liner service. Impatient tourists wanted to cross the ocean quickly. (And you all know what a grotesque experience air travel is today, especially in economy class.)

This ended the Grand Tour from Guam to USA. My dad was energetic - I can barely imagine covering three continents and dealing with that many tourist sights, odd foods, hotels, customs clearances, and bureaucratic issues in two months. 

For funds back then, my dad and most tourists carried travelers cheques, which they exchanged into local currency. I used travelers cheques up to about 2000, some even denominated in French Francs and Deutsche Marks. But the almost universal use of credit cards largely eliminated the need for paper cheques. My dad also picked up extra cash at American Express offices, but I do not know how the transaction worked. He also picked up mail at American Express offices, which would hold letters for a traveler.   

My dad did not linger in USA. After two or three weeks, he was offered a job in Athens, Greece. He packed his bags, bought Kodachrome film, and left for Athens on Pan American World Airlines. 

 

Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Nieuw Amsterdam in 1949 after complete post-war refitting

Source: 

Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo
Beschrijving:Vertrek Nieuw Amsterdam uit Hoek van Holland
Datum: 1949-05-31
Locatie: Hoek van Holland
Nieuw Amsterdam Fotograaf: Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo

 Photo Notes

 

This is the Leica IIIC camera and 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens that my dad used on his long trip. This Summitar is coated and has 10 aperture blades. The coating is still intact, unlike many Summitars that were scratched over the decades. 

My dad used the 1940s Kodachrome film in 35mm size. In 1945, the film speed was Weston 8 or G.E. 12. By 1953, Kodak listed the exposure index as American Standards Association (ASA) 10. At that time, Kodak sold their Kodachrome film with a processing mailer. My dad would have mailed his trip films to a Kodak laboratory (probably in Rochester) when he returned to the USA.

 

Page 42 from Kodak Data Book 5th Edition

Kodachrome Films for Minature and Movie Cameras

Gawainweaver.com prepared a comprehensive summary of Kodachrome mounts and timeline. 

 

The Grand Tour 07: Kodachrome Slides from Central Europe, 1950

 

After a week in Italy, my dad took the train to Verona and proceeded north over the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck. Before leaving for Austria, he had to check in at the office of the Allied High Command in Rome to secure the appropriate visa. Although it was five years after World War II had ended, Austria was still under joint occupation by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

 

Salzburg, Austria

  

Bürgerwehr fortification on the Mönchsberg mountain, Salzburg

View from the top (from Hohensalzburg Fortress)

Salzburg is such an interesting and historical town. These scenes probably do not look all that different than they do today. The Europeans manage to preserve their historical architecture and use it for day-to-day life. Compare and contrast with many ghastly American cities with their crumbling strip malls.

I traveled through Salzburg in 1979. Time to return. 

 

Vienna

 

In 1950, Vienna was still a divided city. My dad toured in the International Zone (the Innere Stadt) and possibly the US and British zones. I am sure he did not try to enter the Soviet zone, which would have been dirty and largely unrestored.  

Watch the superb film noir movie, The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed, to get the flavor of 1949 Vienna. It covers some of the issues of a divided city. Even better, read the novel by Graham Green.

 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe outside the Burggarten Gate along Goethegasse

Goethe (1749–1832) was one of Germany's most influential writers and poet (as well as being a geologist). His masterpiece is the drama, Faust. I started to read an English translation but did not get too far. It may be easier to get the flavor of the story by watching a performance of Faust, Charles Gounod's superb grand opera in five acts. 

 

The Votivkirche on the Ringstraße 

The church was badly damaged in the war, but I do not know if this picture shows it after or before renovations.

 

The Wiener Staatsoper with wartime damage still being repaired

This is one of the most active performance houses in the world, with opera, concerts, dance and other functions every day of the week. I remember seeing Tristan und Isolde in 1979 with a student ticket -  I stood in the top balcony for over four hours.

 

Jungfrau, Switzerland 

  

Helping with maintenance on the Jungfraujoch (elev. 3454 metres)

 Zurich, Switzerland

 

In the November sun, Zurich

Zurich

Zurich is in north-central Switzerland. If you have flown to or through Switzerland, there is a good chance your flight passed through Flughafen Zürich (ZRH). This was my dad's last stop in Switzerland before taking the train to Paris. 

 

TWA Lockheed Constellation, Genève Aéroport, August 1952

This 1952 picture is from a later trip to Genève, but I could not resist showing it here. This is a Trans World Airlines Lockheed Super Constellation L-1049. TWA had just introduced it to their transatlantic service, and this would have been one of the early stops in Switzerland. The flight would have required refueling in Goose Bay and Gander en route.

I scanned these Kodachrome slides with a Nikon CoolScan 5000ED film scanner. I adjusted the color of some frames with Photoshop Elements 2024 and manually cleaned some scratches with the heal tool in Photoshop CS6. There is no Ai manipulation or "restoration" of these pictures. They were taken by a real human with a Leica camera.

 

 

The Grand Tour 06: Kodachrome Slides from Campania, Venice, and Rome, 1950

 

Continuing his long 1950 voyage back to the USA, my dad took a steamer from Alexandria, Egypt, to Genoa, Italy, with a stopover in Syracusa. He wrote in his diary it was a rough crossing, with many passengers seasick. After disembarking, he took a bus tour along the coast and to Pompeii. The following day, he entrained to Rome. 

 

 Syracuse, Sicily

 

The famous amphitheater was excavated from the limestone in the early Imperial Era (approx. 100 BC).  The superstructure is gone. 

 

Amalfi Coast, Campania

 

The famous Amalfi Coast, at the southern edge of the Sorrentine Peninsula in Campania, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This view is from the town of Ravello looking south towards Minori and Maiori. The spectacular coast is now horrendously over-touristed.

 

Rome

 

The Arch of Septimius Severus (203 AD), Roman Forum

The Roman Forum - where are all the tourists? (October 27, 1950)

Piazza della Rotondo (Pantheon). The Albergo del Sole is now a boutique hotel.

 

Venice

 

After a few days in Rome, my dad took the train to Venice. He noted that the car was unheated and he had to wear his topcoat in the compartment. Fortunately, Venice was sunny and warmer.

 

View from the top, Piazza San Marco from St Mark's Campanile

Piazza San Marco, November 1 or 2, 1950

Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront

Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal (Nov. 1, 1950). Where are all the tourists?

Venice really is a fantastic destination. The Rialto bridge and the nearby market area is most interesting. I have not been to Venice since 2013 - much too long. By all means, make it a life goal to see the islands, canals, architecture, and the opera - but go off season. Just do it.

Rialto Bridge in 2013 with a few more people (digital file)

  

After a few days in Venice, my dad took the train to Verona and changed to a train heading to Innsbruck via the Brenner Pass. 

My dad took the 1950 photographs on Kodachrome film with his Leica IIIC camera and a 5 cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens. I scanned the slides with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED film scanner run by NikonScan 4.03 software. On some frames, I corrected color casts with the color correction tool in Photoshop Elements 2024. It is surprisingly effective. 

 Next: central Europe. 

 

The Grand Tour 05: Beirut and Kodachromes from Cairo, 1950

  

Beirut, Lebanon 

 

On the Avenue des Français, Beirut, Lebanon, October 14, 1950 (post card)

After leaving Delhi, my dad flew to Beirut on Pan American Airlines. It was a long trip, with stops in Karachi and Basra. Each stop wasted time with passport and cholera certificate inspections.  

Oddly, I did not see any slides from Beirut but came across a commercial post card. He never mailed it, and there was no location information. Was it Manila? Alexandria? Using the Google image search function, I saw a photograph taken by Mahmoud Hammad, a Syrian photographer featured in the Atassi Foundation for Arts in Damascus. He photographed some gents standing at the same balustrade with the same arched building in the background.

This was the famous corniche along the sea, the Avenue des Français. But it no longer exists because the bay was filled in with garbage during the horrifying Lebanese civil war of the 1970s. 

My dad wrote, "Beirut turned out to be a pretty clean place and the people looked European altho many of them wore the fez and there were some Arab costume." 

I vaguely remember Beirut from a visit with my mother some time in the late-1950s. She liked the city. It was sophisticated, cosmopolitan, and clean, and the women were modern and dressed stylishly. The cuisine was famous. It was known as the "Paris of the Middle East" prior to the 1975 Civil War. 

 

Cairo, Egypt

 

On the rent-a-camel

What do most tourists do immediately after they have checked into their Cairo hotel? They go to the Giza plateau to see the pyramids and the Sphinx. Where did the fez come from?

 

View west towards Giza

In this scene, this part of Cairo is a nasty collection of dirty 3- and 4-floor flats. As I recall from 1978, many parts of the city did not look much different, but some of the flats were crumbling. (One day, I will scan my 1978 Cairo slides.)

 

 Tea shop 

Tram - once one of the world's largest streetcar systems

Pet camel

Talaat Harb Street in downtown Cairo

Semiramis Hotel (built in 1907) on the left and the "new" Shepheard Hotel

My dad stayed in the Shepheard Hotel in 1950. My wife and I also stayed there in 1978. But by then, it looked rather tired and well-used. The original Shepheard Hotel, the one you see in mystery movies and Agatha Christs stories, was somewhere downtown, but it burned in a 1952 fire.

 

Mosque and madrasa of Sultan Hassan, Salah al-Din Square, built between 1356 and 1363 CE 

This ends a quick trip to 1950 Cairo. It is a fantastic destination. Go there as one of your life goals. Just do it.

My dad took these Kodachrome slides with his Leica IIIC camera and its 5 cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens. I scanned them with a Nikon CoolScan 5000ED film scanner running NikonScan 4.03. I made minor color corrections with Photoshop Elements 2024. 

 These were all real photographs taken by a real human 75 years ago - NO Ai GARBAGE.

 

Addendum 

 

My mom and dad returned to Egypt possibly in 1955, but I do not have an exact date. 

 

On the rent-a-camel

Happy rent-a-camel

  

The Grand Tour 04: Kodachrome Slides from Thailand and India, 1950

 

On my dad's trip westward, he flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok and then proceeded on to India.

Bangkok, Thailand

 

At the Grand Palace, Bangkok

Unfortunately, I did not see any pictures of the once-famous floating markets. In the last 50+ years, many of the canals were covered and turned into highways. 

1957 Update:  My mom and I toured the Grand Palace, too.

 

  

Delhi, India

In 1950, India was also in turmoil because the chaotic and terrible 1947 partition between India and Pakistan was only three years in the past. I do not know why my dad chose to fly to Delhi on his grand tour, but he arrived there on October 6 of 1950. Many of his pictures were typical tourist snaps. I will skip the temples and monuments and show street scenes or markets. 

I love the cars in the last scene. A big Chevrolet, a Citroën Traction Avant, some little English cars, and some horses. It is hard to see on this scale, but the Chevrolet has right-hand drive. 

 

 

New Delhi 

 

 

This is the Ritz cinema, possibly near the Kashmere Gate in New Delhi. It took some searching in Google to find the location, but fortunately, people in India post thousands of photographs of everything. 

 

The Old Delhi Railway Station is only a few blocks away. I wish my dad had taken some pictures there of the architecture and of trains. 

 

 

This incredible edifice is the Laxminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple in New Delhi, India. I thought it must date to the Mohguls, but I was surprised to read that it is modern. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1939. 

Agra

 

Agra is a city on the Yamuna river in Uttar Pradesh. Most tourists go there to see the famous Taj Mahal, a marble mausoleum built by Shah Jahan. My dad took 10s of snapshots there, but here are some of his street scenes, instead.

 

Drum brake repair shop. Note hand-cranked blower

Procession or funeral (?)

 

This ends a short visit to north central India in 1950. In 1958, my dad returned to Delhi with my mom and me in tow, but I do not remember any details. It was another life, another era. 

 

I scanned these Kodachrome slides with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED film scanner operated by NikonScan V. 4.03, running on WIN 7. I corrected some colors with Photoshop Elements 2014.

 

 Addendum

 

 

My mom and me, somewhere near Darjeeling, north India, April 1958.