{"id":4043,"date":"2021-02-13T12:10:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T12:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=4043"},"modified":"2021-02-13T12:13:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T12:13:42","slug":"travelling-in-the-1930s-a-flea-market-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/travelling-in-the-1930s-a-flea-market-find\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelling in the 1930s: a flea market find"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the mid 1930s a young couple set sail on the SS Moldavia with a group of friends, cruising to Lisbon, Madeira and the coast of north Africa on what they termed a \u2018r<\/span>eal holiday\u2019. They captured their adventures in photographs which they carefully stuck into an album and labelled. Later they added to the album: photos of a walking holiday in Germany, camping in Devon and more.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rummaging among the antique stalls at Greenwich Market about eighty years later I came across their album. As I scanned the pages I knew that I had to buy it. Their evident love of travel mirrored my own and I felt I wanted to get to know them better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The travellers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Their photos naturally demonstrate some significant differences between travelling in the 1930s and today, but also more intriguingly, some similarities. They explored historic sites; visited markets and wineries; took photos of the locals going about their daily lives as well as of each other; captured their own lives on board ship, staying in hostels and camping. I am pretty sure that were they alive today at least one of them would be a travel blogger!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know almost nothing about these people, only what I can glean from the captions on the photos. They were clearly gregarious, travelling mostly with a group of friends. The group seem quite young, possibly their late twenties or early thirties; although an older man labelled as \u2018Uncle Bill\u2019 is included in one group photo on the cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Old
Introducing the Gang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They were open to new experiences, curious about the places they visited. They were fit and active, enjoying walking and swimming. And they were not at all insular, making friends with people of all nationalities in an international camp, including it seems German (despite the impending threat of war) and Indian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, their lives are a mystery. I\u2019m not even sure of their names, although Esme features prominently in the photos and is probably one half of the album-owning pair. My guess is that Cyril, who stands next to her in the group photo and looks as if he could be her partner in some shots, is her husband. But that\u2019s only a guess. Despite sharing the photos via a Facebook page and a dedicated website, I have never been able to find out more about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The holidays<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A real holiday<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

These photos show our travellers cruising the Mediterranean on the SS Moldavia, calling at Lisbon, Madeira and various places in Morocco. The date isn\u2019t given but appears to be the early\/mid 1930s \u2013 possibly 1935 as the next holiday is dated 1936.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although I haven\u2019t been able to find out anything about the travellers, I had a bit more luck researching the ship that they sailed in. The SS Moldovia was a passenger liner in the P&O fleet. She was built in Birkenhead and in service from 1922-1937. So the cruise our couple took must have been one of her later ones. In the 30s she was mainly used on voyages between the UK and Australia, with passage to the latter costing as little as \u00a338. But she also did some Mediterranean cruises, of which this must have been one.<\/p>\n\n\n