Meyer Imports

Photo of the day - A 1950's Trip to Europe - A Day in Denmark

Hello Joanie, Hope you are doing well!

We are having so much fun on our trip! Today we are heading to the mainline from England. It's so nice to be here, we got to see castles, and London was just wonderful. We are hoping to meet some of the locals in Denmark (like the girl above), but first we need to get out of England!

Photo of the day - A 1950's Trip to Europe - The Start - The UK

Everyday once in a while, I will be posting a photo from the collection of images I have of a trip that was made to Europe in the 1950's by a family I do not know or have ever met. The full story of these images can be found here. Back in this era, people did not take picture like we do now. It was expensive and a real luxury. I really feel that getting this treasure trove of old photos was really a find!

Please meet my new friends.

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.....

 

SCORE! Vintage Slides of 1950's Germany

Ok, this really has nothing to do with the business, but I am so excited, I have to tell someone! I just purchased a collection of vintage slides from 1952 through 1954 of Germany. Looks like they were taken during an extended trip by someone, but are not the typical tourist photos, great shots of the Alps, historic buildings, and the people. This is going to to be so much fun to scan and share.

Some of the slides are of a ski trip, and others at the beach (really hot suit suits). So, for a weird guy like me, who loves history, Germany and anything from the 1950s, this was a real find.

Now that I have them, I have decided to not buy a cheap scanner to scan them myself, but bit by bit I am going to get them scanned at a professional photo studio. Once I start to get them back I am going to post and share. I am thinking I will make up a little story about the people and their journeys. As I do not know who they are, or why they took these pictures, all I can do is guess and invent a back story. Who know, maybe the answer about "how and why" will be relivied as we get the photos on my site. I am really jazzed, but it is another project.... Probably something I really don't need right now, but oh well.

So, stay tuned for some really great photos, coming soon!