1952 - 1954 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY OF A MARRIED COUPLE OF AMERICAN SERVICE PERSONNEL TAKING ROAD TRIPS THROUGH RECONSTRUCTION ERA EUROPE

On offer is an original post World War II manuscript travel diary handwritten by PFC Helen Rossan while she was stationed in Germany with her husband SFC William (Bill). She wrote of three vacation trips they took through Europe and Scandinavia in 1952, 1953 and 1954. She also wrote a couple of pages at the end of the book about her return trip home. Uniquely this is not an account of pre-planned touring and staying in beautiful hotels but more of a 'road trip' travelogue with all the ups and downs faced by independent travellers. They drove through Europe, and were often plagued with flat tires and car trouble, which usually resulted in epithets from husband Bill. They did not have much of a planned itinerary, and looked for accommodations when they decided to stop for the night. They stayed at hotels or inns and at times with families. Helen wrote of staying at places that weren't too clean or without a bath and rarely did the accommodations have hot water. Yet they both enjoyed themselves immensely, and the author wrote of the gorgeous scenery as they drove, the countryside, and described the many famous sights they visited. But she also wrote of the devastation caused by the war, and the sometimes cool reception Americans received. Upon her arrival in England, she wrote: "Tonight after all debarking passengers Beulah and I went on pass (Liberty). On our way out saw the "United States" which docked a short ways from the "Darby". We walked around town. Found a place to drink, had a couple but couldn't tell it. I went to the cloak rm, walked more. The buildings are all attached and very much alike. Lots of vacant spaces with large holes in the middle, bombed no doubt. We ran into a large number of people walking from work I suppose, at seven PM. A young fellow walked up to me and said "Hello Little Darling"....tisk tisk. Couldn't find another place for a drink so went back to the same place. Had one, then walked until we found a taxi....." Helen had a wonderful surprise when she arrived in Germany: "Arrived Frankfort at 7:20 AM. Got the surprise of my life when Bill grabbed me as I didn't expect him to be able to meet me until I got to Bad Mergentheim. We stayed at a French Hotel two nites without bath and a soiled towel on the rack. Bill introduced me to hot wine, also coniac. We saw the town and country too. Ate at the PX cafeteria. The town has a great deal of bombing, the ruins still standing in most places..." On a visit to Paris, Helen wrote (in part): "Going towards France (Paris). Beautiful country trees planted along hi way making an arch overhead. At the border, policemen only interested in money so he can make out papers on the car. Called Bill "Mesure Ross-on". Afraid we would take off with his pencil........We didn't plan to go to Paris proper but no hotels on the out skirts so kept looking. Saw a brightly lit place called the Metropolitan. Turned out to be the subway....Stopped at another store. A French man who was a prisoner of Germans and could speak a bit of German so Bill got bread and a can of meat. So we had something to chew on at least. Found apples and pears along the highway.....Just as it was getting dark we had a flat in front of some Catholic bldg with nuns. That didn't stop Bill from cussing. The police came by...." "On to Austria. More beautiful country, still many cows with bells. Up in snow. Got to Innsbruck just about dark. Picked up an old man on the way. Went to the restroom and paid to use slick newspaper instead of T paper. A room in a nice (big) looking hotel but too cold. So I'm going to bed disgusted. Hotel Maria Theresia, Insbruck, Austria. Arrived in Hamburg late. Guess we drove the wrong streets to find a hotel. Finally Hotel Zuman. The strangest hotel we've ever seen. It used to be a bomb shelter. It's a round t---(?) of a thing with thick walls and you walk around and around up a steep runway to get to the top. Tiny rooms all the way up with bunk beds. Not room enough to sneeze in. Quite an experience. Now we know what a bomb shelter looks like..." There are 74 handwritten pages in the 8" x 5" book. Written in ink, the handwriting is legible for the most part, but the spelling is terrible. The hard cover book itself is overall VG.; Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, POST WORLD WAR II EUROPE, TRAVEL, ROAD TRIP, HELEN AND WILLIAM (BILL) ROSSAN, AMERICANA, AMERICAN SERVICE PERSONNEL IN EUROPE, RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, AUTOGRAPHED, AUTHORS, AMERICANA, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, ARCHIVE, DIARY, DIARIES, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, manuscrito, Papel,