Now, history comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and today I am back with the humble luggage label.*
They were something I grew up with given that Dad’s job took him across the Continent from the beginning of May till the end of September.
Not that he ever used them on his suitcase, instead they sat in envelopes, to be taken out occasionally by me who was fascinated by the magic of the pictures and the destinations.
And now a full sixty years on I am admiring them all over again, more so because of the style of much of the artwork as well as the history behind them.
But the passage of time has been cruel and nearly 40 years stored in a cellar has resulted in some of them for ever being fused together, while others were just lost through neglect.
Still, enough have survived to give a flavor to that world of hotels and travelling during the middle decades of the last century.
The seasoned travelers could also add labels for the steam ships, which took passengers from mundane places of Calais and Antwerp to exotic destinations halfway around the world.
Travel often and far enough and your suitcase was an advert for the holidays you took.
But dad was not on holiday, instead his was the job of driving the coach that took his passengers from London, across the Continent as far as the Swiss and Italian Alps, along with the French Rivera, the Black Forest, and for good measure the Dutch tulips and windmills as well as Paris and a selection of European cities.
All of which meant he accumulated luggage labels from all over, and the fun has been to see just how many of these hotels still exist.
And the surprise is that many are still in business, retaining their old name if a little modified, from the grand Hotel Regina in Venice to the Pitter in Saltsburg and many more.
Of course, most will have undergone change, and I expect dad and his passengers would have wondered what Wi fi was, as well as marveling that each room would come with a television as standard.
Once or twice I have contacted some of the places, offering to share an image of their ancient hotel label, but none have been interested enough to reply.
But then most are now owned by corporations, with hotels across the world, and while the original name may have been retained, most will have added a brand title, and the interior will have taken on a uniformity, which is the same for Paris, Berlin or Rome.
Likewise, each in the chain will sit on the same company web site with little to distinguish its uniqueness and no hint of its distinct history.
Leaving me with just these old bits of their past, when each hotel commissioned their own artist to create something with style, and in some cases a hint of humour which made them stand out from the rest.
Location; across Europe
Pictures; luggage labels, circs 1940s-50s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Hotel labels, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Hotel%20labels
Not that he ever used them on his suitcase, instead they sat in envelopes, to be taken out occasionally by me who was fascinated by the magic of the pictures and the destinations.
And now a full sixty years on I am admiring them all over again, more so because of the style of much of the artwork as well as the history behind them.
But the passage of time has been cruel and nearly 40 years stored in a cellar has resulted in some of them for ever being fused together, while others were just lost through neglect.
Still, enough have survived to give a flavor to that world of hotels and travelling during the middle decades of the last century.
The seasoned travelers could also add labels for the steam ships, which took passengers from mundane places of Calais and Antwerp to exotic destinations halfway around the world.
But dad was not on holiday, instead his was the job of driving the coach that took his passengers from London, across the Continent as far as the Swiss and Italian Alps, along with the French Rivera, the Black Forest, and for good measure the Dutch tulips and windmills as well as Paris and a selection of European cities.
All of which meant he accumulated luggage labels from all over, and the fun has been to see just how many of these hotels still exist.
Of course, most will have undergone change, and I expect dad and his passengers would have wondered what Wi fi was, as well as marveling that each room would come with a television as standard.
Once or twice I have contacted some of the places, offering to share an image of their ancient hotel label, but none have been interested enough to reply.
But then most are now owned by corporations, with hotels across the world, and while the original name may have been retained, most will have added a brand title, and the interior will have taken on a uniformity, which is the same for Paris, Berlin or Rome.
Likewise, each in the chain will sit on the same company web site with little to distinguish its uniqueness and no hint of its distinct history.
Location; across Europe
Pictures; luggage labels, circs 1940s-50s, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Hotel labels, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Hotel%20labels
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