25 - Dinner Menu - 8 June 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile was on her way to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She had crossed the country by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. The Europa, a ship with the North German Lloyd ship line, was carrying her across the Atlantic.

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Some of Grandma Cecile's souvenirs from this trip were menus from meals onboard the ships. She had only one saved from the trip going to Europe. If she saved more than that, they are gone. If she did save them originally, perhaps she gave them to her siblings. Or perhaps she was being thrifty with space in her suitcase, and didn't want to have to lug them all around Europe. In any case, only one survived from her journey east. There are more from her trip back home.

Here is the dinner menu from Monday, June 8, 1936:

front cover of  the menu

On the top of the front cover, "Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen," means "North German Lloyd, the ship line. "Bremen" may refer to the home port of the North German Lloyd, or possibly to the other ship that was very similar to the Europa.

Underneath the print of a sailing ship, "Meerestille" translates to "Calm At Sea".

Inside, the menu is written in German on the left side and in English on the right. Courses are divided into categories of Hors d'Oeuvres, Soups, Fish, Meat Dishes, From the Grill, Salads, Cold Dishes, Vegetables, Potatoes and Sweets. Children could have shredded wheat with cream - presumably very small children. Apparently if you were still hungry after 10 pm, you could still order tea and sandwiches. No one should have gone away hungry with that menu!

Inside: German on left, English on right

Some menu items sound delicious - Roast Sirloin of Beef with Gravy, New Stringless Beans & French Fried Potatoes. On the other hand, Calf's Kidneys on Toast with Water Cress might have been for the more adventurous appetite, especially if the sea was rough!

Below the menu is the ship name, date and "Tourist Class". First Class must have had a different menu. Last, there is an advertisement for the Olympics. "The entire management of the "Olympiad Village" in Berlin for the Olympiad sportlers is in the hands of the North German Lloyd". "Sportlers" must refer to the athletes.

The back page is blank.

To see the menu, just click on the image.

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Story to be continued......

To read Post "26 - Letters From Betty & Stella - 9 June 1936" Click here

24 - Diary Entry - 8 June 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile was on her way to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She had crossed the country by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. The Europa, a ship with the North German Lloyd ship line, was carrying her across the Atlantic.

***** 

The first day or two had been quite pleasant, with calm seas. By her third day out, apparently the ocean had changed.

Here is her next diary entry:

Monday, JUNE 8 This morning the sea is pretty high, there will be many that wish they would be home and one of them is I. Not so much fun if the floor gives way and you think you are flying. Many of the passengers use the elevators. I prefer it too instead of walking. There are 3 elevators on this floor; one for baggage; 2 for people.

I went to Mass this morning and received Holy Communion. The Lord is with me, let come what may.

I have 7 dresses with me, but I feel out of place because I ought to have 20 if I would want to dress like many of them do. A different one for every meal and an evening dress besides.

I wish we would meet a steamer, but so far we have not seen any.

O my! Everybody gets pale and complains of not feeling just right. The roses and fragrant flowers fill the air full with the finest perfume. [1] Stewarts [sic] and stewardesses are walking with medicines and eats to the rooms.

I thought I seen[sic] the captain of the ship but it was the first officer. The captain must have 4 stripes around his coatsleeves. The boy on the floor wants to help me so I can see Captain “Ahren”. Our priest has light trousers on this morning.

This morning I was called to the guide. He [2] even wanted to know how much money I was carrying with me. He goes along to Prague.

[1] - Photos in the ship brochures show a bouquet of flowers or potted plant on almost every table, whether in the dining room, lounge or other room. Many stateroom pictures show a small arrangement of flowers on a shelf or desk. From Grandma Cecile's comments, they must have indeed had flowers all around the ship.

[2] - "He" must refer to the Val Peter tour guide, since "he" is going along as far as Prague.

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There is one more bit of entry in Grandma Cecile's diary for June 8. Sr. Agnes did not mention it in her writing up of the dairy. Grandma appears to have been trying to calculate how many miles it was from New York to Bremen. Here is a scan of her notes (to see it up close, simply click on the picture):

calculations on diary page

If you've ever been out on the ocean, you'll understand what Grandma was experiencing when she mentions the "floor gives way". The motion of the waves causes the vessel to rock back and forth, so walking becomes difficult until you get your "sea legs". Sometimes the floor just is not where you expect it to be!

Of course, this also can cause sea sickness. It does not appear to have bothered Grandma, at least not enough for her to mention. Some of her sons had no problems with sea sickness. Tony and Florence, "Squeak", often took a small boat out in the Pacific to fish. John, on the other hand, stayed away from boats. He did his fishing from shore at the ocean, lakes and rivers. Gus fished, too, but I don't remember if he ever got sea sick.
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Story to be continued......

To read Post "25 - Dinner Menu - 8 June 1936" Click here

23 - Diary Entry - 7 June 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile had planned her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She had crossed the country by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. In New York, she had transferred from the train at Grand Central Station, spent part of the day walking in NYC, then boarded the Europa and set sail for Europe.

*****

Grandma Cecile settled into life aboard the ship. This is her next diary entry, her second day at sea:

This is Sunday, JUNE 7. How the time is fleeting! We had Mass at 7:00, High Mass [1] at 10:00. There were so many in the chapel it was filled to every corner. There were 2 ushers; Collection for the disabled Catholic Seamen. After church, Te Deum [2] was sung. They rang the bell just like at home, only I believe it was something like a graphophone behind the altar. 

This ship carries a crew of 1000, and 1800 passengers. It is all filled. 

I am sitting at a writing table in the writing room. There are such deep soft carpets and such wonderful furniture.[3] The sea is so quiet, nobody is sick, and if it would not be for the machinery down below, (the vibrations) we wouldn’t know we are on water. I would be perfectly contented, but there is a tingle of homesickness mixed with it all. If Betty and Papa would be here, or at least one of the boys, such you are almost unable to have it alone in spite of everybody is very kind. 

We are 4 in a room[4], I would rather I'd be alone. I heard the trumpet. Do not know what it is for, but everything has a meaning and you have to get acquainted first. 

It is warm and the windows are open all around the ship. One thing I notice is the german doorknobs, European style. That’s what I have not seen for 35 years.[5]

[1] - High Mass - a solemn service where most of the Mass parts are sung, not simply recited, and this was back when the Mass was all still in Latin. From my experience as a child, the High Mass was the later service of the day, as here in her diary. All the singing made it a longer service.

[2] - Te Deum - a special hymn of praise 

[3] -  to see some of the furniture, check out the pictures in the brochure here

[4] - to see an example of the room for four, check out the photo of the stateroom in this brochure 

[5] - german doorknobs, I couldn't see any in the photos in the brochures, not sure what it was that she had missed

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Story to be continued......

To read Post "24 - Diary Entry - 8 June 1936" Click here

22 - Sr Agnes' Letter - 7 June 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile had planned her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She had crossed the country by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. She was finally at sea. The previous posts showed pictures from some of the ship brochures Grandma brought back home.

*****

As Grandma Cecile rode the waves of the Atlantic on the Europa, her oldest daughter, Sr. Agnes (then known as Sr. M. Liliosa) was anxiously awaiting word from her mother. Almost a week had passed since Grandma set off on the train.

Sr. Agnes wrote this letter June 7. It was postmarked June 10, Beaverton, Oregon, 8:30 AM. Grandma would not have received the letter until she reached her destination. The letter was addressed to her at her sister's (Hermine Bernt) address:

J.M.J.

St. Mary's of the Valley

Beaverton, Oregon

June 7th, 1936

Dear Mamma,

If everything went the way you planned

Beginning of the letter

you must at this time be about in the midst of the Atlantic. With my imagination I've been following you quite closely. Did you really get to go to Mass in New York on Betty's birthday. I've been anxiously waiting for a letter or card from you as I felt certain you would write while on the train - but so far I haven't received a word.

Sister Mercedes is going to visit her relatives for the first time since she has been in the convent. (over 12 years). It will mean quite  a long trip for her also as she is going to North Dakota and Alberta, Canada. 

I seem to to be rather absent-minded but for once I have a good reason for it. You remember I told you about our chapel leaking so badly when it rains? Well, it rained quite hard last night and Sr. Caroline and I were given the privilege of staying up from 10:30 P.M. on and mop up the water as it drained in. We were in bed quite long today but for some reason I can never sleep well during the day.

John Zuber and his sons are doing the concrete work on our chapel [1]. They began today and it will probably take almost three weeks.

Friday evening the commencement exercises will be held here. After that the academy girls [2] go home and our sisters [3] from the different missions come home. That is when this becomes a very busy house.

I haven't had a chance to copy that prayer that you want but I will try to have it for you the next time I write.

My throat hasn't been bothering me for a long time and I feel just fine. I'm so glad it's over with. [4]

Do you know how to talk with your new teeth [5] by this time?

It is nearly time for supper and I must serve, so I shall bring my short letter to a close, with much love to you and my relations.

Your loving daughter

Sister M. Liliosa

P.S. Please write soon, and tell me all about everything.

The envelope for Sr Agnes' letter, dark streaks are from smoke damage

[1] - the concrete work was part of the building of the new chapel for the convent, as mentioned in Sr Agnes's early note of April 19, 1936 , John Zuber was probably from Stayton-Sublimity area.

[2] - The "Academy girls" referred to the girls who attended high school at the convent, school would soon be out for the summer

[3] - "our sisters" referred to the nuns who were out in the parishes, mostly employed as school teachers in the parochial schools throughout the valley. While the students at the convent went home for the summer, the teaching nuns all returned home to the "motherhouse" for the summer, making it a very busy place indeed!

[4] - Sr Agnes must be referring to her tonsilectomy which she told about in her note of May 21, 1936.

[5] - "new teeth" Grandma Cecile's new false teeth, as mentioned in Sr Agnes' letter of April 19, 1936.

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Story to be continued......

To read Post "23 - Diary Entry - 7 June 1936" Click here

21 - More Ship Brochures

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile had planned her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She had crossed the country by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. She was finally at sea. The previous post showed pictures from one of the ship brochures Grandma brought home.

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That was not the only brochure she had. Here are more images from her collection:

Cover

On close examination of the cover of the "3 Class" brochure, shown at left, a small message is stamped across the "3". It says "THE STEAMER FORMERLY NAMED 'ALBERT BALLIN' IS NOW THE HANSA". According to an article on Wikipedia, which can be read here, this was done in 1935 by order of the new Nazi government in Germany because Albert Ballin was Jewish. This brochure was printed May 1, 1935, before the ship was renamed. Just a reminder of the horrors that were starting to unfold in the world in 1936. Grandma was sailing straight into it.

Here are more images from this brochure:

Inside of the front flap

Gym and promenade deck

Stateroom for 4, like Grandma's room

They ate well!

The above photo of the Stateroom on the Europa has 2 bunk beds, so room for four people. Grandma mentions that she shared a room with 3 others (from June 7 - "We are 4 in a room"), so her room would have looked similar to the one in that photo.

A different leaflet in Grandma Cecile's collection listed all the sailings:

front

back

Besides these, Grandma Cecile had two other ship brochures, one for the Columbus, on which she returned, and one other about the "Famous Four", the New York, Deutschland, Albert Ballin and Hamburg. She did not sail on them.

To view any of the images up close, just click on any of them.
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Story to be continued......

To read Post "22 - Sr. Agnes' letter - 7 June 1936" Click here .

 

20 - Go Tourist - Ship Brochure

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile had planned her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She had crossed the country by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. She was finally at sea.

*****

Among Grandma Cecile's "souvenirs" were some brochures she had acquired that were all about the ships in the line on which she was traveling, the North German Lloyd. They give information on the various ships and show pictures of the facilities on board.

Worn cover of brochure

This is the largest of the brochures in Grandma's collection. It appears that she folded it to fit in with her other pamphlets.

Inside the front cover is this page:

Waving farewell at the pier

The Bremen and Europa were fairly similar, but the Europa was smaller by about 2,000 tons.

Compared to life on the farm, the ships were fairly luxurious!

 

Information on the Bremen and the Europa

 

Lounge on the Europa

A room from the Europa, but not Grandma's, hers had 2 bunk beds

An indoor pool

scenes from either the Bremen or Europa

Chapel on the St. Louis

Last page of the brochure

This brochure advertising the luxuries of "Going Tourist Class" covered several ships. Ships from the North German Lloyd line included the Bremen, Europa, Columbus and Berlin. The Hamburg-American line ships were the New York, Hamburg, Deutschland, Hansa and St Louis.

Since Grandma sailed on the Europa, those are mainly the pictures shown here. The chapel on the St Louis was included since Grandma Cecile mentions attending Mass (Catholic religious service) on board. That was the only chapel photo in the brochure and probably similar to what she found on the Europa. The brochure itself is 28 pages total. Again, some of the grime on the pages is due to smoke damage from the house fire.

One note of coincidence. When Grandpa Alois  immigrated to the United States, he and his parents, sisters and cousins, sailed in to New York on a ship named the Hansa. It would have been a different ship than the one listed in the Hamburg-American line. To read about the Hansa that was probably the one Grandpa Alois came over on, use this link. The name Hansa seems to have been a popular ship name.

Again, to see  the pictures, click on any one of them and you'll be able to scroll through them all.
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Story to be continued......

To read Post "21- More Ship Brochures" Click here