Côte d'Azur, March 1936 - Sepia Saturday 627

 M.007.01 - MONTE-CARLO

178. MONTE-CARLO - Ensemble du Casino (Demerié et Dutroux, arch.) - LL

To: Herr Gustav Samuelsson, Storegården, Fristad, Suède
From: Gerda  (Nice, 10.3.1936)

Käre bror! Tack för brevet. Blir ej av att man skriver här. Nu har vi skönt väder med sol. Första tiden regnade det mycke. Reser härifrån till U.S.A. den 18 ds. med en båt härifrån som heter [Coute de Suire?] Det tar bara 5 dagar, och den går sydligt, så det blir nog skönt. Vi mår alla bra. Kära hälsningar, Gerda  

[Skrivet upp-och-ner på framsidan av kortet:]
Jag har här (Monte Carlo) i söndags och såg mig omkring.

Dear brother, thanks for your letter. One doesn't get round to writing here. We're having nice sunny weather now. At first it was raining a lot. We'll be leaving for the U.S.A. on the 18th with a ship named [Coute de Suire]* It only takes 5 days, and it will take a southern route, so I expect that will be nice. We're all well. Love, Gerda 

[Written upside-down on the front of the card:] 
I was here (Monte Carlo) on Sunday and had a look around.

Monte Carlo is officially an administrative area of Monaco (officially the Principality of Monaco), a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera, bordered by France to the north, east and west.

I had difficulties deciphering the name of the ship they would be travelling with to the U.S.A, but my guess is that Gerda had only heard the name spoken, and had difficulties spelling Côte d'Azur (= the French name for the Riviera). (I've not been able to find any ship by that name either that fits the time period - but it seems likely to me that there may well have been one anyway.)

M.007.02 - CÔTE D'AZUR - Jardin Fleuri

62. COTE D'AZUR - Jardin Fleuri

To: Herr Gustaf Samuelsson, Fristad, Storegården
From: Gerda (Nice, 18.3.1936)

K. bror! Nu är vi resfärdiga igen. Här är mycke skönt nu, skulle gärna stanna längre. Hur har du det, hoppas det ej är allt för kallt. Vi mår alla bra. Kära hälsningar, Gerda

Dear brother, now we're ready to travel again. It's very nice here now, I would not mind staying  longer. How are things with you, I hope it's not too cold. We're all well. Love, Gerda

Readers who follow regularly may remember from my post last week (Sepia Saturday 626), that in mid February 1936, Gerda and her employers, Folke and Estelle Bernadotte (and their sons Folke Jr, age 5, and little Bertil, 4½ months) left the gloomy Swedish winter behind and travelled down to Nice on the French riviera, shortly after the tragic death of the couple's 6-year-old son, Gustaf. After about a month's recuperation for them all in the warmer Mediterranian climate, Gerda's postcards to her brother in Sweden tell us that they're now setting off from there to the U.S.A. As I've read ahead, I think the main reason for that was to spend some time with Estelle's parents in Pleasantville, New York.

- - -

Nice was where Folke and Estelle first met, back in the summer of 1928; and the person who introduced them to each other was Folke's uncle, King Gustaf V of Sweden - born 1858, and king from 1907 until his death in 1950. The reason I'm bringing him back "into the picture" this week is the theme of Sepia Saturday 627: Tennis. Because King Gustaf V was also a competitive tennis player, and was often seen playing tennis on the Riviera. (But also in Sweden and in other European countries.) As tennis player he was also known under the alias 'Mr G'.

King Gustaf V playing tennis.
(Photo found online.)

Newsreel clip from 1934
(https://youtu.be/8noWp0nqD8c)

Linking to: Sepia Saturday 627

"Anyone for tennis?"

Vykort M.007.01: MONTE-CARLO - Ensemble du Casino

Till: Herr Gustav Samuelsson, Storegården, Fristad, Suède
Från: Gerda (Nice, 10.3.1936)

Käre bror! Tack för brevet. Blir ej av att man skriver här. Nu har vi skönt väder med sol. Första tiden regnade det mycke. Reser härifrån till U.S.A. den 18 ds. med en båt härifrån som heter [Coute de Suire?] Det tar bara 5 dagar, och den går sydligt, så det blir nog skönt. Vi mår alla bra. Kära hälsningar, Gerda

[Skrivet upp-och-ner på framsidan av kortet:]
Jag har här (Monte Carlo) i söndags och såg mig omkring.

Monte Carlo är ett område i centrala delarna av furstendömet Monaco, som ligger på Franska rivieran vid Medelhavet, några kilometer från den fransk-italienska gränsen men i övrigt omgivet av Frankrike.

Jag kan inte riktigt tyda namnet på båten de skulle resa med till U.S.A, men jag gissar att Gerda hade problem med att stava till Côte d'Azur (det franska namnet för Rivieran). Jag har inte kunnat hitta något fartyg med det namnet som passar in i tidsperioden, men det verkar ändå troligt att det kan ha funnits ett sådant.

Vykort M.007.02 - COTE D'AZUR - Jardin Fleuri

Till: Herr Gustaf Samuelsson, Fristad, Storegården
Från: Gerda (Nice, 18.3.1936)

K. bror! Nu är vi resfärdiga igen. Här är mycke skönt nu, skulle gärna stanna längre. Hur har du det, hoppas det ej är allt för kallt. Vi mår alla bra. Kära hälsningar, Gerda

Den som följer den här bloggen regelbundet kanske minns från mitt inlägg förra veckan (Sepia Saturday 626), att i mitten av februari 1936 lämnade Gerda och hennes arbetsgivare, Folke och Estelle Bernadotte (med sönerna Folke Jr, 5 år och Bertil, 4½ månad) den dystra svenska vintern bakom sig och åkte ner till Nice, kort efter att den äldre sonen Gustaf (6 år) tragiskt hade avlidit i komplikationer efter en svår öroninflammation. Efter omkring en månads återhämtning för dem alla i det varmare medelhavsklimatet, så får vi nu veta (från ytterligare vykort skrivna av Gerda till hennes bror i Sverige) att de nu är på väg att resa vidare till U.S.A. (Och eftersom jag ”läst i förväg” lite, så vet jag att huvudsyftet med det nog var att tillbringa lite tid med Estelles föräldrar i Pleasantville, New York.

- - -

Det var i Nice som Folke och Estelle först träffades, sommaren 1928; och den person som förde dem samman var Folkes farbror, kung Gustaf V. Han var född 1858, och var kung av Sverige från 1907 till sin död 1950. Att jag för in honom i sammanhanget igen i just det här inlägget beror på veckans temabild för Sepia Saturday, som råkar handla om tennis. Gustaf den V var nämligen också aktiv tennisspelare, och sågs ofta spela tennis på Rivieran. (Men också i Sverige och i andra europeiska länder.) Som tävlingsspelare kallades han ofta 'Mr G'.

Fotot av kung Gustaf V på tennisbanan återfinns på flera olika web-sidor.
YouTube-klippet är från 1934. (https://youtu.be/8noWp0nqD8c)

G.085.01-02 - Greetings from Monte Carlo and Nice (Spring 1916) - Sepia Saturday 606

In March and April 1916, Gerda is writing to her brother Gustaf from Nice on the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur) - the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. (Obviously her employer/s is/are still free to travel in the eastern parts of France.) She switches languages between English and Swedish, perhaps partly because she is used to speaking/thinking in English, but it may also be that she's trying to figure out if letters/cards in English will be forwarded faster than if she writes in Swedish (if the post has to pass censorship on the way). She knows that Gustaf understands English well enough, as they both lived in America between 1902-1911. 

G.085.01 - Monte Carlo

?42. MONTE CARLO. Vue sur le Casino. 
Courses d'hydro-aéroplanes et de Canots automobiles. ND Phot.

Monte Carlo Casino "is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco" [Wikipedia]

This card also features a hydro aeroplane and a motorboat. 

"The first experimenter to succeed in making an aeroplane rise from the surface of the water was the French inventor, M. Fabre, who accomplished this feat with a monoplane of his own invention the last of March, 1910. About a year later Glenn Curtiss, at San Diego, fitted a float to his biplane and made it rise from the water and alight thereon with complete success during the course of his experiments."   https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-hydro-aeroplane/ 

 

 

To: Mr. Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède (Sweden)
From: Gerda (Nice, 8.3.1916)

Nice, March 7.16 - D.B. [Dear Brother] Thank you very much for your letter today. Glad to hear from you that you are well. I am still writing to the Swedish-American soldier. Yes, he is very glad to have found somebody that cares for [him?] a little. Can you read this. Love, Gerda / I will write to you soon. It is so beautiful here. / I wish I could go with to Sweden. *
[* This PS written next to the aeroplane on the front of the card]

Nice, mars 7.16 - K.B. [Käre Broder] Tack så väldigt mycket för ditt brev idag. Glad att höra från dig att du mår bra. Jag skriver fortfarande till den svensk-amerikanske soldaten. Ja, han är glad att ha funnit någon som bryr sig om honom lite. Kan du läsa detta. Kära häls. Gerda / Skall snart skriva till dig. Här är så vackert. / Jag önskar jag kunde åka med till Sverige. *
[*Detta PS skrivet intill flygplanet på bilden.]

It seems that in some context, Gerda has come into contact with a Swedish-American soldier. I've not seen any other references to this among the postcards, so she must have mentioned him in a letter (as Gustaf has obviously asked if she's still in touch with him.) I'm feeling a bit puzzled about where she might have met him. America didn't enter the war until 1917. Were there American soldiers in France even before that? Or was this someone she had met before the war? Somehow it doesn't sound to me like she's referring to an acquaintance going back as far as to her years in America. 

A few more searches, and I find an article entitled Over There, Before 1917. 

"World War I essentially began Aug. 4, 1914, with the German army’s invasion of Belgium. The United States entered the conflict on the side of the Allies (Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy and Russia) on April 6, 1917. During the intervening 32 months, America remained neutral ­– but many Americans did not. Thousands volunteered for the Allied cause."

Some of them joined the French Foreign Legion. As Americans, they could not swear allegiance to another country, but "in the Foreign Legion, one theoretically swore allegiance only to it, not to France". 

"If anything characterized Americans who joined the Foreign Legion, it was their variety. They had only one common denominator: the desire to fight for France. [---] Some came from wealth, others did not; some were college graduates, others dropouts; some managed to at least graduate high school, and others did not. Some were black, others white. The Foreign Legion was the only military unit of World War I in which Americans of different races were comrades in arms."

And one of them, I suppose, may have been a Swedish American, with a bit of his heart still in Europe - or maybe just feeling he didn't have much left to lose, and no one to care for him? 

A search for "French Foreign Legion Lyon" informs me that there is (now) a French Foreign Legion Recruiting Center in Lyon. I can't find the history, but it seems plausible that if they're there now, they were there back in WW1 as well. 

As for how Gerda might have met him, the photo of her as a Red Cross volunteer comes to mind for me - previously posted here for Sepia Saturday 596. (Copying the photo below as well.) Date and place for the photo unknown, but as I now feel sure that Gerda lived in Lyon for the duration of the war (apart from occasional 'holiday' trips to Lake Geneva and the Riviera!), it seems likely that it was also in Lyon that she sometimes helped out as a Red Cross volunteer. 

It's rather satisfactory when one manages to come up with a theory - even if I'll never know for sure! ;-)

G.085.02 - NICE

34 - NICE - Avenue de la Gare

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède
From: Gerda (Nice, 3 April 1916)

Nice d. 2. 4.16 - K.B. [Käre Bror] Det är visst länge sedan jag skrev till dig. Hur har du det, är du ännu kvar på samma plats. Vi äro nu här i härliga södern, 25 gr. varmt i solen i dag. Vi reser nog till Lyon igen om ett par veckor. Kära hälsningar, Gerda. / Jag undrar hur det går med vinsten?

Nice 2.4.16 - D.B. [Dear Brother] I think it's been a while since I last wrote to you. How are you, are you still staying at the same place? We are now here in the lovely south, 25 degrees in the sun today. We'll probably be going back to Lyon again in a couple of weeks. Love, Gerda. / I'm wondering how things are going with the winnings? *

*The Swedish word 'vinsten' could be interpreted either as winnings like from a lottery, or profit from an investment etc. As Gerda  on previous postcards has been wondering about "luck" connected to the 15th of a few different months, I assume that she is still  referring to some kind of lottery.

Compare the postcard from Sally in last week's post, written 27.3.1916. She too was wondering if Gustaf was still in the same place - or "if you have moved to your own farm now in March, or if you have sold your farm".  

Linking to Sepia Saturday 606

"I think it's been a while since I last wrote to you."