Sleepless in Midland

Paparazzi 1950

One of the treasures in my neighbor's box from her time in Europe in 1950 was a photo of a genuine celebrity, Constance Bennett, 46 years of age in this photo. My neighbor lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, at the time while her husband worked in the Air Force Counter Intelligence Corps.

The handwriting says "Constance Bennett movie star - Nov. 1950 Now Mrs. Coulter, her husband is a colonel stationed here - I went to a "Tea" at her house the 22nd Nov."

Ms. Bennett's IMDB.com page says, among other things, this:

Her last marriage, to a U.S. Air Force colonel, was happy and gave her a key role coordinating shows flown to Europe for occupying troops (1946-48) and the Berlin Airlift (1948-49), winning her military honors. Still young-looking, she died suddenly at age 60 shortly after completing the last of her 57 films.

Quite a looker, she was. For more photos from this series click Europe 1950.

WWII bomb defused -- more 1950 German street scenes

According the AP, a 1.8 ton British bomb and a 275 pound American bomb were discovered in Koblenz, Germany, last month. And this weekend, after the temporary evacuation of thousands of people, both bombs were were successfully defused.

And that's all the excuse we need to display more photos taken in 1950 in Germany. 

Cologne, Germany, is about 120 kilometers Northwest of Koblenz, and Cologne endured a lot of Allied bombing during WWII, also. The first two photos were taken from a train one day in 1950.

Although the buildings appear to have been damaged, apparently they were still liveable. The handwriting on the back of the one above reads, "Taken from the train at Koln (Cologne) Germany." No dirty laundry there.

The back of this one reads, "A typical scene taken from the train just outside Koln (Cologne)." More visible damage. More clean laundry.

Some kids. I believe this was taken on the streets of Wiesbaden. "Little German boys - typical street urchins."

And finally, some young men in Garnisch. Cool pants, dude.

These are snapshots of old photos there were in a box loaned to me by a neighbor. Click Europe 1950 for more like this.

Getting around Europe in 1950

This series of photos show some of the means of transportation available in Europe in 1950. There's nothing here you wouldn't expect, except that the everyday vehicles would be classic cars now. And there's a horse.

The photos were in a box loaned to me by a neighbor who lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1950 with her husband who was stationed there with the USAF CIC. (The official meaning of CIC was Counter Intelligence Corps., but insiders said it meant, "Christ, I'm Confused.")

The photos below were taken in London.

The series of three thumbnails, above, is the front and back of one photo, along with a closeup of the motorcycle. A friend identified it as a BSA. The handwriting on the back says, "Entrance to Clarence House St. James Place."

This one shows a taxi. The handwriting on the back says, "Typical taxi - in London - 'Hacks' taken near Trafalgar Sq."

There is, of course a bus. And there had to be foot traffic. The note on the back of that one says, "Crowd & a typical well to do Englishman note Bowler hat and cane."

Nice to know Germany was exporting VW Beetles in 1950. The one next to it has a car way off in the background, and the handwriting says, "Mr. Berlins home & car in Carlton Gardens."

Moving on to Germany.

There's a German guy posing with his bicycle. Next to that one is a street scene with cars and a horse. The handwriting says, "See how narrow the street is? Always there are wagons & things traffic is a mess. I thought the comparison of the car (Ford) & the wagon was pretty good. Note the old man out in the middle of the street - this is typical & makes driving very difficult."

Bonus: See cover of August 1925 issue of Popular Science Monthly for How we may live and travel in the city in 1950.

Wiesbaden 1950

Armchair time travel.

A neighbor loaned me a box of old photos and souvenirs from the time she lived with her USAF CIC husband in Wiesbaden, Germany, after WWII.

Looks like she happened upon a building fire one day.

That's a very distinctive helmet the firefighters are wearing. War surplus, perhaps?

German lookie loos.

Check out that firetruck.

See Lunch on the RMS Queen Elizabeth - 1950, previously for more from the time travel box.

Lunch on the RMS Queen Elizabeth - 1950

Sauerkraut juice, thick ox tail soup, head cheese, and devilled veal kidneys. Yum! Doesn't that make your mouth water?

A glass of Bordeaux to go with it would cost 1s. Better get the whole bottle for 5s.

Those delectable selections were from the RMS Queen Elizabeth lunch menu for Tuesday, December 19, 1950. There were other items on the menu that looked tastier, but those just demanded attention -- the kind of food that could make one's eyes water before they made the mouth water. At least they didn't serve haggis.

Click lunch menu 12-19-1950 PDF to see it.

A neighbor's husband was stationed in Europe in 1950, and she brought back a box of photos and souvenirs which included a set of menus from the voyage home.

It's great fun going through old stuff, and there may be some old photos posted here in the near future. But those menus certainly do serve as a reminder that they just don't make good devilled veal kidneys like they used to.