HANDWRITTEN TRAVEL DIARIES - England - Ireland - Scotland - Amsterdam - Paris - Alps - 1929 - 32
Item History & Price
TWO FANTASTIC HANDWRITTEN TRAVEL DIARIES KEPT BY PHYLLIS MORRISON FROST OF ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS. SHE SAILED TO EUROPE AND TOURED SEVERAL COUNTRIES IN 1929 AND 1932. Our diarist Phyllis Frost wrote in such crisp, clear and descriptive entries that one could almost feel like they are along on these voyages with her and her traveling companions. She goes into great detail of all the places she visited "disappointed with London, "; "Not keen on Geneva,... but the good thing is we won't be here long, " and certainly did not hold back when things were of her disliking. But for the most part our author loved and enjoyed every minute of her voyages and her tours. She was wined and dined and sought after by numerous male passengers while aboard ship, (dancing and partying) and by male fellow travelers when touring. She was an affable, enjoyable and spirited young woman who loved to travel. On July 4, 1929, her voyage began in New York as she sailed on the R.M.S. Cameronia.
On July 7, Phyllis was worried as there was so much fog and on July 8, when the fog cleared she could see an iceberg. On July 12, she first caught sight of land, and it was Ireland, a place she now yearned to have included in her travel itinerary as it looked so beautiful. Her touring began in earnest when on July 14, she arrived in Liverpool, caught a motor car to Glasgow, and the absolute joy of meeting new people; seeing all that she could by taking numerous trains; jaunting carts; buses; motor cars; staying in beautiful hotels and boarding houses (even an apartment at one time), and recording all that she saw and did in this beautiful 1929 journal. She meets so many folks and makes friends with them all. She usually writes their full name and where they are from which she kept in a copious list at the back of each diary. Another long list contains the names of friends and family back home that she sent postcards and letters to. This alone covers two pages, and one could see that she loved to record even the tiniest details in these two journals which are a very worthy acquisition indeed.
July 4, 1929. Her Itinerary for this took her to Glasgow; Edinburgh; Kenwick; Windermere; Chester; Warwick; London; Boarded the S.S. Vienna for a cruise in the North Sea; The Hague; Amsterdam; Brussels; Cologne, Germany; Koblenz; Wiesbaden; Heidelberg; Lucerne, Switzerland; Interlaken; Montreux in the Alps; Geneva, Switzerland, and Paris, France. Typically she writes the name of the hotel she stayed at next to the town where she will be for a few days or more. On her stay in Brussels she was awestruck when realizing that 45, 000 houses were destroyed here during the war, and felt a bit of guilt for sailing on a German ship. July 26, she writes "I feel so strange to be enjoying myself in Germany. I can't help thinking about the war. Not that I'm bitter by any means." She then went on visiting museums, libraries, monuments, churches, climbing in the Alps, shopping for hours on end, &c. When she took this trip Phyllis was 23 years old. On August 11, 1929, Phyllis sailed home on the R.M.S. Aquitania. She arrived in New York on July 16, and took a train out of Grand Central Station to her home in Arlington Heights / Boston, MA.
June 24, 1932. Phyllis arrived in New York where she stayed and visited for a couple of days before boarding (what became an infamous ship), the MS St. Louis, the German ocean liner infamously known for carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany in 1939 intending to debark in Cuba, where they were denied permission to land; a horrendous outcome, and a blot on history. This 1932 voyage for Phyllis was a bit rougher and she was sea sick for a few days. Upon feeling better she would have breakfast in bed, lounge on the deck, and dance the night away, meeting several gentlemen/doctors who were quite taken by this beautiful young lady. Party hoping from cabin to cabin was almost a daily event; falling asleep in a lounge chair, staying there all night and being awakened by the steward as the sun rose over the ocean was an experience she enjoyed all the while holding hands with a young man (Bill Sinclair) she had met on board. She identifies all those she met on board and also her guides while on tour.
Her itinerary for 1932 included Cobb, Ireland; Cork; Blarney Castle; Bantry; Glenageary; Kenmare; Killarney; Limerick; Dublin; Belfast; Portrush; Ardrossan, Scotland; Glasgow; Balloch; Inversnaid; Drouschlacker; Troussachs; Callander; the Lochs; Edinburgh; Queensferry; Forth Bridge; Abbotsford; Keswick, England; Windermere; Lakeside; York; Stratford-on-Avon; Warwick; Oxford; London; Bath; Salisbury; Southampton; &c. "July 3, Took the train from Cobb to Cork and arrived here about noon. Staying at Edinburgh Temperance Hotel on Camden Way. This afternoon went to Blarney Castle by bus and kissed the Blarney Stone. Visited St. Giles Cathedral and back in time for tea. Interesting people at our table - like a small family hotel." She took more than 2 tours that day and on one of them she met Charlie Collins, and Richard Maloney - "Dartmouth 26' and he lives in Nantucket, MA." That night looking across the lake from her hotel everything is magical and gorgeous, and she loves Ireland. "July 5, Last night on the way home from our walk we met an old man with a cane, wearing a derby and driving a cow home. Tonight I saw a dog piglet which scared me to death and an old man, drunk, fell in a store window and smashed it in. The store belonged to three old maids and everyone in the town was laughing about it. Mr. Philippi from Canton Ohio is staying at our hotel. Very nice." She then writes about all the beautiful places; people; museums; vistas; mountains; &c that she encounters as she travels throughout her planned itinerary.
"July 23, We went through Pennyfield - the Chinatown of London. Only about 800 Chinese left, all married to white women and with poor little half-breed children. From here we went to Charlie Brown's and saw many wonderful treasures, " &c. Her voyage home commences on July 29, as she leaves Southampton, England on the S.S. Albert Ballin, an ocean liner of the Hamburg-American line launched in 1923 and named after Albert Ballin, a German shipping magnet, and the visionary director of the line who had committed suicide several years earlier.
Genealogy: Phyllis Morrison Frost was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 4, 1906. Her father was Lorenzo Sadler Frost (1877-1929) and he was born in Maine. Her mother was Cyrene Louise Cook (1878-1946) who was born in Canada. Phyllis had a sister, Hilda L. Frost, who was born in 1908, and a sister Florence E. Frost born in 1913. Phyllis attended Simmons College in Boston and upon graduation became secretary to The School of Household Economics at Simmons. She married Charles Breck Parkman, a native of Washington, D.C. and a member of the legal staff of the office of legislative council, House of Representatives, Washington. He retired after 35 years of service, and he and Phyllis moved to Winter Park Florida and then to Dundedin where he died in May of 1975, at the age of 75. They had a daughter, Mrs. Henry L. Carlisle, of Potomac, Maryland and four grandsons.
Condition: Both early leather bound diaries remain in good condition, internally fresh and tight and each retains the original pencil still attached to the side as seen in images. They measure approx. 4 1/2 x 7 inches, with gilt edges all around, and Phyllis has signed them both. Travel diaries are both full with the exception of a few blank pages. Phyllis kept track of every penny she spent; every person she met; every hotel she stayed at; every boarding house; every card she wrote; any correspondence she sent; &c. A superbly detail oriented woman.
Payment and Shipping: Please see our feedback and bid with confidence. Never a reserve and very low opening bid as always bidders with no established feedback must contact us before bidding. Payment must be received within 3 days after close of auction. Thank you.
On July 7, Phyllis was worried as there was so much fog and on July 8, when the fog cleared she could see an iceberg. On July 12, she first caught sight of land, and it was Ireland, a place she now yearned to have included in her travel itinerary as it looked so beautiful. Her touring began in earnest when on July 14, she arrived in Liverpool, caught a motor car to Glasgow, and the absolute joy of meeting new people; seeing all that she could by taking numerous trains; jaunting carts; buses; motor cars; staying in beautiful hotels and boarding houses (even an apartment at one time), and recording all that she saw and did in this beautiful 1929 journal. She meets so many folks and makes friends with them all. She usually writes their full name and where they are from which she kept in a copious list at the back of each diary. Another long list contains the names of friends and family back home that she sent postcards and letters to. This alone covers two pages, and one could see that she loved to record even the tiniest details in these two journals which are a very worthy acquisition indeed.
July 4, 1929. Her Itinerary for this took her to Glasgow; Edinburgh; Kenwick; Windermere; Chester; Warwick; London; Boarded the S.S. Vienna for a cruise in the North Sea; The Hague; Amsterdam; Brussels; Cologne, Germany; Koblenz; Wiesbaden; Heidelberg; Lucerne, Switzerland; Interlaken; Montreux in the Alps; Geneva, Switzerland, and Paris, France. Typically she writes the name of the hotel she stayed at next to the town where she will be for a few days or more. On her stay in Brussels she was awestruck when realizing that 45, 000 houses were destroyed here during the war, and felt a bit of guilt for sailing on a German ship. July 26, she writes "I feel so strange to be enjoying myself in Germany. I can't help thinking about the war. Not that I'm bitter by any means." She then went on visiting museums, libraries, monuments, churches, climbing in the Alps, shopping for hours on end, &c. When she took this trip Phyllis was 23 years old. On August 11, 1929, Phyllis sailed home on the R.M.S. Aquitania. She arrived in New York on July 16, and took a train out of Grand Central Station to her home in Arlington Heights / Boston, MA.
June 24, 1932. Phyllis arrived in New York where she stayed and visited for a couple of days before boarding (what became an infamous ship), the MS St. Louis, the German ocean liner infamously known for carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany in 1939 intending to debark in Cuba, where they were denied permission to land; a horrendous outcome, and a blot on history. This 1932 voyage for Phyllis was a bit rougher and she was sea sick for a few days. Upon feeling better she would have breakfast in bed, lounge on the deck, and dance the night away, meeting several gentlemen/doctors who were quite taken by this beautiful young lady. Party hoping from cabin to cabin was almost a daily event; falling asleep in a lounge chair, staying there all night and being awakened by the steward as the sun rose over the ocean was an experience she enjoyed all the while holding hands with a young man (Bill Sinclair) she had met on board. She identifies all those she met on board and also her guides while on tour.
Her itinerary for 1932 included Cobb, Ireland; Cork; Blarney Castle; Bantry; Glenageary; Kenmare; Killarney; Limerick; Dublin; Belfast; Portrush; Ardrossan, Scotland; Glasgow; Balloch; Inversnaid; Drouschlacker; Troussachs; Callander; the Lochs; Edinburgh; Queensferry; Forth Bridge; Abbotsford; Keswick, England; Windermere; Lakeside; York; Stratford-on-Avon; Warwick; Oxford; London; Bath; Salisbury; Southampton; &c. "July 3, Took the train from Cobb to Cork and arrived here about noon. Staying at Edinburgh Temperance Hotel on Camden Way. This afternoon went to Blarney Castle by bus and kissed the Blarney Stone. Visited St. Giles Cathedral and back in time for tea. Interesting people at our table - like a small family hotel." She took more than 2 tours that day and on one of them she met Charlie Collins, and Richard Maloney - "Dartmouth 26' and he lives in Nantucket, MA." That night looking across the lake from her hotel everything is magical and gorgeous, and she loves Ireland. "July 5, Last night on the way home from our walk we met an old man with a cane, wearing a derby and driving a cow home. Tonight I saw a dog piglet which scared me to death and an old man, drunk, fell in a store window and smashed it in. The store belonged to three old maids and everyone in the town was laughing about it. Mr. Philippi from Canton Ohio is staying at our hotel. Very nice." She then writes about all the beautiful places; people; museums; vistas; mountains; &c that she encounters as she travels throughout her planned itinerary.
"July 23, We went through Pennyfield - the Chinatown of London. Only about 800 Chinese left, all married to white women and with poor little half-breed children. From here we went to Charlie Brown's and saw many wonderful treasures, " &c. Her voyage home commences on July 29, as she leaves Southampton, England on the S.S. Albert Ballin, an ocean liner of the Hamburg-American line launched in 1923 and named after Albert Ballin, a German shipping magnet, and the visionary director of the line who had committed suicide several years earlier.
Genealogy: Phyllis Morrison Frost was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 4, 1906. Her father was Lorenzo Sadler Frost (1877-1929) and he was born in Maine. Her mother was Cyrene Louise Cook (1878-1946) who was born in Canada. Phyllis had a sister, Hilda L. Frost, who was born in 1908, and a sister Florence E. Frost born in 1913. Phyllis attended Simmons College in Boston and upon graduation became secretary to The School of Household Economics at Simmons. She married Charles Breck Parkman, a native of Washington, D.C. and a member of the legal staff of the office of legislative council, House of Representatives, Washington. He retired after 35 years of service, and he and Phyllis moved to Winter Park Florida and then to Dundedin where he died in May of 1975, at the age of 75. They had a daughter, Mrs. Henry L. Carlisle, of Potomac, Maryland and four grandsons.
Condition: Both early leather bound diaries remain in good condition, internally fresh and tight and each retains the original pencil still attached to the side as seen in images. They measure approx. 4 1/2 x 7 inches, with gilt edges all around, and Phyllis has signed them both. Travel diaries are both full with the exception of a few blank pages. Phyllis kept track of every penny she spent; every person she met; every hotel she stayed at; every boarding house; every card she wrote; any correspondence she sent; &c. A superbly detail oriented woman.
Payment and Shipping: Please see our feedback and bid with confidence. Never a reserve and very low opening bid as always bidders with no established feedback must contact us before bidding. Payment must be received within 3 days after close of auction. Thank you.
