1952 was long before European tourism reached a breaking point
The SITA Odyssey Tour of Judy Dinnell from Washington, DC
With the New York Times headline "Was This the Summer European Tourism Reached a Breaking Point?" tourists to European destinations are seen as undesirable. These days, the hordes of visitors are creating a "major tourism backlash."
I’ve had the good fortune to visit Europe 15 different times, but not this summer, so at least this year, I’m excluding myself from the backlash.
I caught the travel bug early. Car trips with my parents fueled that interest when I was young, and my father’s seminal experience of traveling to Europe after his college graduation cemented it. He spoke fondly and fervently of the importance of going to other places and learning from and about people different than oneself.
My dad Jack took his post-collegiate trip in 1965—nearly 60 years before the backlash that the NYT reports. This is a photo of him with his tour group at Versailles; he’s fourth from the left.
Jack told me stories from that trip of French citizens thanking him, just because he was an American. They were grateful for the liberation of France at the end of WWII, and even though he was barely elementary school age when the war ended, he was granted distinction because of his nationality.
Thirteen years before my dad’s trip, 32 Americans went on an incredibly extensive tour across Europe from July 1- September 4, 1952, visiting numerous cities including London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Bonn, Heidelberg, Lucerne, Zermatt, Lago di Maggiore, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Pisa, Genoa, Nice, Monte Carlo, Grenoble, Geneva, Carcassonne, Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Tangiers, Jerez, Sevilla, Paris (where they spent 4 full days), Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Uppsala, Vadstena, Flam, Bergen, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and York.
How do I know this? Because late last month—while I was taking a seminar at The Omega Institute, led by one of our favorite authors, Ada Calhoun—Dan and I nosed around the surrounding area in the Hudson River Valley and at a local antique store found this incredibly cool travel itinerary of Judy Dinell, one of those 32 travelers.
Most on the trip were women: a few sets of sisters, as well as presumed neighbors, given they were from the same cities and lived nearby to one another. I’ve thought about conceiving a novel based on the trip’s itinerary, and those who were on the tour. I’d use their actual names and hometowns, but would have to invent who they were, what they thought, and what they did. And I may yet do it.
Below is a list of the those who went on the tour, and the cities where they lived. In deference to privacy, we removed the actual street addresses. If you happen to be related to, or know who any of these people are, we’d love your insight into what their trip to “the continent” nearly 75 years ago may have entailed.
1. Ethel Adams, White Plains, NY
2. Gloria Benson, Abilene, TX
3. Anita Byington, Flushing, NY
4. Bess Cohen, New York, NY
5. Alta Cook, Seattle, WA
6. John Cooper, address not listed
7. Richard Darragh, Hawthorne, NJ
8. Wallace Dickhart, Richmond Hill, NY
9. Alice Dickhart, Richmond Hill, NY
10. Judy Dinell, Washington, DC
11. Alice Dwyer, Geneseo, NY
12. Emma Fortlage, Cincinnati, OH
13. Barbara Holmes, Hilo Hawaii
14. Carol Holmes, Berkeley, CA
15. Veva Hartsell, Compton, CA
16. Shirley Hartsell, Compton, CA
17. Margaret Kingery, White Plains, NY
18. Donna La Bart, Compton, CA
19. Terese Lehman, New York, NY
20. Mary Jane Lehman, New York, NY
21. Marjorie Lehman, Rochester, NY
22. Wanda Mosbacker, Cincinnati, OH
23. Frank Mumber, New Brunswick, NJ
24. Janet O'Donnell, Berkeley, CA
25. Margaret Roth, Compton, CA
26. Catherine Ullman, Hollis, NY
27. Geraldine Weiner, Brooklyn, NY (never showed)
28. Phyllis Whittaker, Dobbs Ferry, NY
29. Ethel Wise, Cincinnati, OH
30. Alice Alexander, Majestic Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
31. Vernelia Crawford, Tarrytown, NY
32. Dorothy Cathell, Abbington, PA
33. Mary Jordan, Bayside, NY
