A month ago I purchased four boxes of 35MM slides that were labeled Germany, 1952. I bought these sight unseen, and while I did not pay alot for them, the idea of scanning hundreds of slides into jpeg files was more than I really wanted to do myself, so I sent them to ScanCafe where for $100, all the slides were hand scanned into high res images.
So, now I have photos of someone's lost lost trip to Europe. Maybe it was a ignorant "kid" that tossed mom's slides into the dust bin, or maybe they held a garage sale and someone brought them for some unknown reason. It is just hard for me to believe that something that was probably so valuable to someone in their family would be tossed out, like old bread. So, now I have them, and I treasure them as these photos provide a glimpse into a time and place that does not exist anymore. The fifties, in Europe. WWII ended less than 10 years earlier, Germany was split in West and Eastern and people dress nicely, wearing gloves and hats and used proper manners.
All I know about these images is that 50+ years ago, someone I do not know, took a really nice trip and captured it in hundreds of photos that for some reason, their family saw no value in. Very sad.
So, while I do not know anything about these people, their trip, their dreams, their experiences I am going to recreate this trip for all us us to enjoy, the best I can.
From what I can tell our four friends, who I have named Margaret, Claire, Jean and Shirley had a bit of money and traveled in style. They seem to be on their own, however, some mystery person did take the photos, so maybe a husband, boyfriend or European lover was with them. I do not know.
I think Margaret was the leader, she looks strong, determined. As we will see over the next few weeks, Margaret had alot of fun in Europe. I am thinking she is married, and has kids, probably grand-kids now. Maybe somewhere, somehow, a family member will see this tribute to their their trip, and will also enjoy what she saw, so many, many years ago.
Their story will unfold slowly, a leisurely pace, in fact. Travel was not speedy in those days, and likewise I will need to study these images to craft a their story, as imagined by me, a person far, far away from them in time, gender and life experiences. I hope it will be an interesting journey for all of us to enjoy. More to follow next week.....
Wow! What a fabulous find! I am looking forward to the next chapter in this mid-century travel adventure!
Posted by: Florine Bettge | July 02, 2010 at 07:14 AM