WELCOME TO SALLY’S DIARIES:

Before I get started describing this piece, I want to let you know that I have a podcast. I’ve taken some diaries from my private collection and shared them on our podcast called “Diary Discoveries.” We’ve got 50 episodes out now and you can find it on all the usual podcast venues. So if you enjoy the compelling and adventurous stories from vintage diaries then please check it out.

Plus, I was asked to do a TEDx talk in Vienna about this very thing, collecting diaries, and if you are interested in this sort of thing just put into the search engines “10,000 diaries” and you should come up with it. It was a privileged and blessing to be able to share what I’ve learned in the last 36 years. And with all that said……

I wish I had time to thoroughly read and research this diary but with 182 handwritten pages and with between 150-250 words per page, that makes over 36,000 words that I will leave for the winning bidder. Her writing is small but also very neat so it’s easy to read. It’s all about a woman’s 3 month trip to Europe.

She had kept her diary in a six ring notebook, with a teal cover (back cover has fallen off the binding but is accounted for) and a title page that says, “Trip to Europe, 1956.” I couldn’t find her name but I believe after you read it there should be several clues within its pages to give you an idea of who the author is. She is sailing on board an ocean liner to get there which leaves June 22nd and then the last entry (page) of the diary is dated September 12th showing that she is arriving back home in the states, also by ocean liner. So, there are not only entries while in Europe but shipboard entries as well which can be quite exciting.

Now she doesn’t seem to state in the beginning which ship she is traveling on but when I read the first two pages she said they met two men and one they were going to enter in the “Miss Arosa Contest.” So I’m assuming that’s the name of the ship. When I went to look up the Arosa I came up with this fascinating information….

“A little known shipping service – THE AROSA LINE – it provided Trans-Atlantic service for immigrants, students and families seeking lower fares. The company carried thousands of German and European immigrants to Canada and the USA during the 1950s.”

I’m going to quote the first two pages and then try and pick out a few more to either quote or scan so you can get an idea of the contents. And I did see a full 3 page entry from her visit while in Rome where she attended a viewing of the Pope. An interesting fact that I found out about this particular Pope, and I quote..….

“Pope Pius XII was the head of the Catholic Church and the Vatican City State from 1939 until his death in 1958. In 1956, he issued the encyclical Haurietis Aquas on May 15, which was about devotion to the Sacred Heart.”

There’s so much to this diary, much that has yet to be discovered….

1956

“June 22, John and I went to Church in Quebec. At the Citadel we took a tour and watched the changing of the guard. The lieutenants carried sticks to signify their rank. We ate lunch at Kerhale’s and had divine French pastries. At one we tried to board the boat but our tickets were not there. We spied some luggage like mine and we began to inquire. At about 3:30 the train came and we boarded. By that time the band had started and stopped playing many times. Everyone and their brother was aboard. We had a hard time finding our cabin. The boat was much larger than it seemed from the outside. For its size, the bars are quite simple to find. The drinks are very cheap and everyone takes advantage. The members of our group are very nice. It seems so funny that we’re started at at last; it doesn’t even seem as if we’re moving. We eat in the second ship which is suppose to be the best. Emily received flowers and gave to some Italian speaking, deck hands; they will be her friends for life. Dinner was a panic because we chowed down on rolls and then we had soup; after that we had omelet and I thought that meal was over but that was just the appetizer. After dinner we played bridge. At first outside and then inside when it became cold. We went to bed fairly early….” (And that’s just the first page!)

“June 23rd, I woke up about 8:00 and I found out that our breakfast is at that time. By the time I washed I was so cold that I went back to bed. At about ten we finally got up and got dressed. It was so cold because we had some blowers on in our room. After we dressed they turned the blowers off. We went to a meeting sponsored by TRIP and singed up for French, German and Italian. I’ll either come back quite the linguist or else quite confused. They also offer other languages which I intend to attend. We played some bridge and it was time for lunch. The lunch was just as large as the dinner. It is rumored that we are carrying lemons and Scott tissues for ballast. This morning I took my money and camera to the porter, thank goodness that I don’t have to carry around the purse anymore. It is mighty cold on the deck and we are all rapt in blankets. I haven’t found half the things that are supposed to be on the boat. I went to my French class with Emily’s Collett talked in French only and I did not get too much out of it. After that we went to an art lecture which was very good. Then the lecture ended. We explored the ship and found everything but the swimming pool and we know approximately where that is. Our fire drill was quote hilarious; everyone dressed (2nd page of this day) in their life preservers so that it looked like an enter-planetary invasion. We ran to our master station when the bell blew. The master station was a bar that I had never seen before. Before dinner Emily and I had a cocktail. We “wised up” a speck about the dinner line as we didn’t go until the bell rang but we weren’t wise enough because your should wait until the second bell. For dinner we had a luscious glass of wine. I met Lee, Sylvia and Bill. We are going to run Bull in the Miss Arosa fun contest (Giehart) brought us the tea cakes to eat with our sherbet. At 4:00 we went to tea. After dinner we went walking (it was bitter cold) out on the deck, we sat out and watched the stars. We were nestled in blankets. We went to the German movie but the captions were in English instead of French as was rumored. It was so jumbled that I went to bed. The ship rocked more than it had done the previous night. We have decided that there are many characters afloat. Martha told us about the constellation. At 2330 I went to bed.” (Next day she said there were “unexpected” icebergs. On July 2nd they land in Germany near Bremerhaven where they disembark. Then there 3 month adventure begins.)

Then after she lands back in the states she writes this, her last entry….

“September 12th, I went to Mass and then to breakfast. Heintz looked as if he had a rough night. He was so funny sneaking coffee and juice to bolster himself. I watched Sylvia draw a cartoon of our table. She drew Adolph with his happy smile and a fish with only the head and tail. Norma was drawn downing her consume. We are at a rather drunkin party. Heintz is pouring coffee about the floor and he has just broken a dish. The forum on dating in the U.S. and in Europe was a panic.”

The diary is in pretty good shape other than the broken back cover. It measures about 4 1/2” x 7”.