BELGIUM AND FRANCE 1931 SNAPSHOTS PHOTO ALBUM

Item #1339

48 leaves/96 pages, black with simple, white-ink captions; 11 1/4” x 7 3/8” x 1”, landscape orientation. 119 photos total - many of which are postcards - plus two small newspaper clippings, and one business card (in French) pasted onto the inside front cover for Gommaire L. J. Domaige, who owned the album. A search of his name finds his wife Hazel, who was a nurse who served in the US army during WWII. She met her husband in Europe and they were married in a church that he had built in France. This album is elegant with sepia real photo postcards and oval cropped images, among others. Photos range in size from 2 1/2” x 4 1/2 to 5 1/2” x 3 1/2.” Only the first 30 leaves are in use.

Photos range in size from 2 1/2” x 4 1/2 to 5 1/2” x 3 1/2.” Photos are held to the black pages by corner tabs. Only the first 30 leaves are in use. The calling card Gommaire L.J. Domaige is held to the inside of the front cover.

This album tells of a grand oceanic journey aboard the SS Lapland to visit Belgium and then France in the summer of 1931.

First stop is Bruxelles, amidst gardens and brick homes, possibly in the countryside near the capital. Our couple visits Terveuren - more garden parties, and a stroll among the Chateaux. Then a trip to the Meuse Valley, including a stop at a war memorial (the Death Wall of Dinant); Ypres - the Gate, the Cathedral; Ghent - along the canal, the Chateau de Comte and the Chateau de Richard Coeur de Lion. (Many of these images are in fact professional postcards.) An impressive photo of the giant lion statue in the village of Jalhay, uncaptioned, is included. Liege follows - a stroll among the ruins of Fort Loncin. One photo invokes the K.K.K.

Crossing the border into Paris, a final stop before the trip home. This trip takes up the final third of the illustrated pages. Tour Eiffel, Place Vendome, the Louvre - they hit all the highlights, and took a day to visit Versailles, before returning as they came, aboard a transatlantic steamer.

This album is in excellent condition. The photos are well-laid out in an artistic fashion, and none missing or damaged. The standard of photography is quite high.

Price: $300.00