Tram Tuesday - Milan, Italy

This is a phantom streetcar. Board at your own risk, because you never know where it could take you. It reminds me of the title of Buñuel's movie, Illusion Travels by Streetcar.

I am not an expert on perspective, but logic tells me that the man on the left is farther away than the streetcar, therefore he should appear smaller than the people riding it--the ones that are so tiny you can't even see them. Maybe he's walking away dejected because the conductor told him he was too big to board. More likely it's a case of turn-of the century photo editing. The image probably seemed a little dull, but nothing the addition of a streetcar wouldn't fix!

It doesn't look similar to the other streetcars in the background either, but it could be that there were different kinds operating at the same time. Still, the numbering of trams wasn't introduced until 1910, and I have a feeling the base image is earlier than that.

Trams have been operating continuously since 1876 in Milan, with transitions from horse-drawn to steam-powered, and then electric. Although there were also post WWII cuts that persisted through the 1970s, the system survived. As in a number of other cities, trams have managed to regain favor in Milan resulting in a revival of tram service.

The second card shows a seemingly congested center terminus in front of the magnificent Piazza del Duomo in Milan. There was no photo editing here. They didn't even remove the wire or cable that crosses the image diagonally.

Here's the ultimate edited postcard image, showing Berlin's Nollendorfer Platz. My guess is that the street was empty on the original image. I like the final result though.

Here's the back of the card.

Tram Tuesday - Frankfurt, Germany

Trams have been operating in Frankfurt since 1872.  The tram system is alive and well and integrated with light rail (U-Bahn), suburban rail (S-Bahn) and the bus system. According to Wikipedia,  two new sections have been added to the streetcar system in the past few years and additional service will be added to serve neighborhoods with medium transit needs. The reason cited is that "trams are more attractive to the traveling public than buses and cheaper to build than underground railways." It's interesting to see trams replacing bus service, a reversal of trends in the mid 20th century.

Here are some postcards showing early views of Frankfurt with streetcars. The first two are both from about 1910, showing the same church from different angles.

The next two cards both show views of Zeil, Frankfurt's vibrant shopping street. The first one was sent in 1898, at a time when there were still horse-drawn trams, as well as steam-powered and electric ones. I can't tell which kind this one is, because it's tiny and there are some carriage horses in front of it.

On the next one, sent in 1903, you can see the overhead wires.

The last card shows an electric tram in front of the magnificent Circus Schumann, which was destroyed by Allied bombs in World War II. According to Circopedia, the U.S. Army used what was left of the building (the facade, foyer, and restaurants right behind it) until 1958.  The remains of the building were demolished in 1960.

That white object in the sky to the right of the building is a highly-stylized cloud, probably the strangest one I've seen, added by the person who tinted the card. This tinting process was also used to obscure unsightly things like overhead streetcar wires.

I love it when people write dates and document other happenings on the back of cards.  If we had been around 100 years ago, we too could have celebrated Otto's birthday at Circus Schumann.

The back of the first card looks just like the one above, but with no writing, so I won't post it. Here are the backs of cards 2, 3, and 4.

Tram Tuesday - Heidelberg, Germany

Electric trams had been around for about five years when Dr. Bine sent this card to his sister Marie. Decades later, I would board a streetcar here every day on my way home from school. There are still streetcars in Heidelberg, along with an S-Bahn and a funicular that goes up to the castle.

The message on the card (written on August 2, 1907) is a continuation from another card that I don't have. I's still interesting though:

_____ from his mother just now. She was writing from the Adler Sanitarium where Schmoll (?) placed her for 2 weeks - he treating her with Moffitt consulting. It is thus much more satisfactory to know her there as we start out on the trip to-morrow Saturday and a weight off our minds as her Los Angeles doctors were by no means as reassuring. She says Moffitt is to write to us as soon as he gets time + Schmoll is to write to Liss about her in a day or so.  Heard from Sadie yesterday. She says  Marcelle got Jeanne ___, a David Salomom- are desirous of knowing whether fish for an Isaac henry ___ Sadie says I'll take her present home later. Also says her dad sent us money. How much? 
I can't make out the last few lines at all.

Here's another card Dr. Bine sent from Heidelberg.

The message reads:

Many a time I ____ I turn up the Bunsenstr. which leads up the RohrbachStr. to the GaisburgStr. Where you see the word "Hotel" stands the Hotel pension "Alt Heidelberg", a more or less modern Pension. That is the Rohrbacj Str. + up that last block to the end + then a block to the right + we are home. You can thus begin to get an idea of where we have been living. Here are the backs of the cards in the same order. 

For more posts on Dr. Bine, Click HERE. 
Another Dr. Bine post (probably the last) coming soon.

Tram Tuesday - Hannover, Germany

This unassuming card is special in a couple of ways. For one thing it is a very early card, sent in 1899, and showing an electric tram.  Although there is no message, the recipient and the story surrounding him, manage to trump the card itself.

The other element that's unusual is the City of Hannover's tram service. Hannover started out like many cities with horse-drawn trams, transitioning to electric trams. Bus service was also introduced for rural routes, but the tram service remained until the real transition, to light rail, started taking place in 1975. Some of Hannover's tram cars are now transporting passengers in Budapest, Hungary.

I am curious about the sender of the card. There is no message, but there appears to be a name, "Eustacie", on the front of the card. The recipient is Monsieur Philippe de Las Cases, at the Château de la Baume in Marvejols, Lozere, France. I occasionally check to see if I can find anything about the recipients of the cards I post. I don't usually find houses like this, but this is where Philippe lived:

Source

These days the château is open to visitors. You can see more photographs and read the history (in French) at this site.

Here's what I know about Philippe. He was born in 1881 and wrote a book on the rustic art of Brittany. His father was Emmanuel, Count de Las Cases and a Senator of the 3rd French Republic.  Philippe's great uncle, was also Count Emmanuel (1766-1842), a hugely successful atlas maker, and a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte.  The count accompanied Napoléon on his exile to St. Helena, where he acted as his secretary, recording his thoughts and later memorializing them in Mémorial de Ste Hélène. 

Apparently the count also made efforts to teach Napoleon English during their time in St. Helena. Earlier this year a letter that Napoleon wrote to the count, in very broken English, was being auctioned in June, 2012 and was expected to fetch £65,000. Instead, it ended up selling for £325,000.

Part of the château is dedicated to the time spent at St. Helena and some of the memories and souvenirs from the trip.

Here's the back of the card with a big inky fingerprint.

Tram Tuesday - Hamburg, Germany

This card is so rich with detail, good views of the trams, but also people going about their business, a coffee-roasting business, an auto-mat cafe, and a sign for Union Castle Mail Steamship Company.

Hamburg had a tram system from 1866 until 1978. Horse-drawn trams were in operation until 1922, running alongside steam-powered from 1878 until 1897 when electric-powered trams were introduced. There has been some discussion about re-introducing streetcars to Hamburg, but there are no plans right now.

Here's the back of the card.

From Fritz to Gillita

Recently I posted another card that was sent to Gillita Workman. We know that she worked in the book department at Bullocks in Los Angeles. It appeared that she never married, but she may have been romantically involved with someone named Honoré.

In August 1913, Gillita was staying at the Pension Frank in Partenkirchen, Germany. There she received a peculiar postcard from Fritz Pfaffenzeller, owner of the Oriental Museum in Partenkirchen. The card is addressed to Miss Gillita Workman from Los Angeles, Pension Frank Partenkirchen. The written message says only:  Best Greeting, Fritz Pfaffenzeller. On the other side of the card, he has attached a newspaper clipping.

The newspaper clipping is a death announcement for Adolphus Busch! Here's the English translation:

News of the Day
Adolphus Busch, the American industrial brewer and philanthropist from St Louis, died in Langenschwalbach. Busch was the president of the largest brewery in America, the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co., as well as many other important ventures. Above all, Busch was a devoted facilitator of American-German understanding. The construction of the Germanic Museum at Harvard University was made possible through his financial support. Busch had an estate in Langenschwalbach and went there every year for a cure.

Langenschwalbach (now known as Bad Schwalbach) has been a spa resort for centuries. Busch's mansion, Villa Lilly, is now used as a drug rehab facility. Anyway, the question that comes to my mind is "Why did Fritz Pfaffenzeller send this to Gillita with no further explanation or note?" I guess we'll never know, but I did find a little more information on Fritz. He was a world traveler and wrote a few travel books. Someone, perhaps Fritz himself, saw fit to print postcards of him on a camel in front of a pyramid in Egypt.  I found this image of one for sale at worldpostcards.com.

Tram Tuesday - Berlin II

These early views of Berlin show many forms of transportation, including horse-drawn trams, buggies, and carts, a stunning omnibus, and some more modern trams on the Oberbaumbrücke crossing the River Spree.  In the view below, it would seem that all of the passengers on this bus are men, with the possible exception of the one in the very front.

Here's a view of the dramatic Oberbaumbrücke. In later years, this bridge became a pedestrian-only border crossing between West and East Berlin. Today the Berlin U-bahn provides service across the upper part of the bridge.

The card below provides a wonderful contrast of the more modern electric tram with a traditional horse-drawn carriage. In the background, you can see the Neue Wache (guard house for the troops of the Crown Prince of Prussia), with some sort of military event in progress.

This next view of Friedrichstrasse includes a horse-drawn tram and carriages. Is the vehicle on the lower right an automobile? I can't tell.

Finally, here's a view showing the famous Cafe Bauer, destroyed during World War II, and now the site of the Lindencorso Restaurant. This is the just across the street from the former Victoria Hotel and Cafe shown on the first card.

All of these cards are blank on the back.

Fröhliche Ostern

These two Easter cards were both sent to Trinchen von Oesen, the German maid featured in last Saturday's post.

The first card was from her sister Lina, who thankfully had fairly legible handwriting. The message reads:

Dear Sister!

I received your card many thanks for that. I'm traveling to Grambkermoor

The Baetjers got a little girl but I would have gone anyway. Now you can write me about how things are with you there. Now ___ your time is soon up.

Happy Easter along with friendly greetings

Your Lina

I am unable to decipher the message on the second card.

The Life of a German Housemaid

One of the things that's so wonderful about postcards as documents of social history is that people of every economic and social status sent them - from royalty and world rulers to farmers, laborers, and housemaids. Children just learning to write sent cards to each other and to relatives. Old people sent them too. If you were somehow able to pull all of these cards together, you would have an amazing collection of first-hand accounts of world and local events, epidemics, and trends in fashion and technology,  all from varied individual perspectives. Along with this, you would also get a sense of their values, daily routines, interests, and education.

If you have a collection of cards to or from one person, that's where it can get very interesting as you try to piece together the events that shaped their lives. I bought a collection of about 100 cards sent to a young German woman named Trinchen von Oesen over a span of years from 1909 to 1926.  I wondered at her ever-changing addresses, inevitably in care of someone else. I speculated that she had been a domestic servant of some kind. With the help of genealogical information, I was able to confirm that this was indeed the case. Her social status did not prevent her from sending and receiving lots of beautiful cards, including real-photo cards of herself and family members, as well as co-workers.

Based on the other photos I have, I believe that Trinchen (pronounced Treen-shen) is the one in the middle. She was born in 1892, so she would have been about 23 in this picture.  It's hard to see, but there's a sign above the door that says 'Wilkommen.' The three young women, with their well-worn shoes, likely worked at a guesthouse in the vicinity of Bremen.

This is a somewhat earlier picture. I think Trinchen may be the third from the right. The card was sent in 1911, so she would have been about 19 at the time.

The second card was sent from her sister Lina, although the handwriting, as on many of these cards, is very difficult to decipher. Trinchen also received many cards from her twin brothers Karl and Hermann from home and as they went off to fight in World War I. I know that Karl returned, but I suspect that Hermann did not.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order. Once I learn to read this Suetterlin handwriting (any day now), I will have a translation for this.

The second card from her sister is a discussion of keys, in particular keys for Trinchen's chest of drawers and for a safe of some kind. She is requesting that Trinchen bring all the keys she has when she visits.

If you want to observe more people at work (as you relax this weekend), head over to Sepia Saturday.

Cats and Dogs

Here is a photo of my mother (on the left) with her Scottish terrier Bluebell and her best friend Audrey. They even have matching pants! The year is about 1939 and they're in California. Although she was young at the time, she vividly remembers hearing the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor two years later.

Several years later and my mother looks very different, but Bluebell looks about the same.

My father didn't have a dog, but here he is at about the same time (1940) at the Berlin Zoo posing with his sister and two lion cubs. Soon, my parents' countries would be at war with each other.

In 1943, allied bombing destroyed the Berlin Zoo, resulting in the death of  many of the animals.
My father emigrated to the United States after the war.

Walk a dog down Memory Lane at Sepia Saturday. Click on the box below to begin your journey.

Berlin State Opera - Germany

This opera house, now known as Staatsoper Unter den Linden, was destroyed not once, not twice, but three times, only to emerge each time like a phoenix from the ashes. The original building was inaugurated in 1742 and burned down 100 years later. The reconstructed building was inaugurated in 1844.  The opera house was bombed in 1941, but managed to reopen in 1942. A more severe bombing in 1945 resulted in ten-year rebuilding time.

After 1961and the Berlin Wall, the opera house was a bit isolated over on the east side. I went to see an opera here in 1981 when the wall was still up. The street was oddly quiet and there was something eery about the surroundings in general. Since the reunification, this street is once again vibrant and lively.

This card is from about 1898. Here's a picture of the opera house taken by Josef Lehmkuhl in 2005.

And here's the back of the card, printed on the strange blue card stock.

Opera House - Frankfurt, Germany

The grand old Frankfurt Opera House still stands, although it is now known as the Old Opera, having been replaced by a newer building. The original Opera House was inaugurated in 1880. Kaiser Wilhelm attended and remarked that he would not be allowed such an extravagance in Berlin.

Carmina Burana premiered here in 1937, but only seven years later, a bomb nearly destroyed the opera house. It lay in ruins for many years amid proposals to demolish it and build an office building. Instead, a citizens' initiative started raising money for a reconstruction fund in the 1950s. The opera house was finally reopened in 1981.

At the time this card was sent (sometime before 1907), senders were not allowed to write a message on the back of the card. Many people scribbled message over or around the picture on the front. Salomon Marx simply imprinted the front of the card with his personalized stamp.  He sent the card to Rachel and Esther Rousseau of Ghent, Belgium.

I couldn't find anything on the Rousseau sisters, but I did find that Salomon Marx was born into a prominent Jewish family in Frankfurt. I can only assume that this is the same Salomon Marx. He was born in 1863 and was able to emigrate (to the United States?) sometime after 1933.