A European Grand Tour Diary—Part 1
Almost everyone in the Historic Toxaway community has heard of Lucy Armstrong Moltz.
Back in the heyday of the old Toxaway Inn, she and her then-husband George Armstrong, a prominent Savannah businessman, were part of the elite set that vacationed here. Lucy, in fact, was so taken with the area that she convinced George to build her a lake home, which she christened Hillmont (today, it’s The Greystone Inn).
There are many stories to tell about Lucy and George (not to mention her second husband, Carl Moltz); and in the coming months, you’ll see some of them here on our blog.
Today, though, we’re focusing on the recollections of her young nephew, Frank Bennett (perhaps influenced by this trip and others, he become an award-winning set designer).
In the summer of 1930, though, when much of the world was suffering through the Great Depression, Aunt Lucy offered the trip of a lifetime to her younger sister’s son, who was then a young man of all of sixteen. For two months, Frank traveled on a whirlwind tour through Europe with his sophisticated aunt, her young daughter (also named Lucy), and a friend of the family, Aline Ward. Fortunately, he also kept a diary of the trip.
In this three-part serialization, we’ll excerpt parts of his story. In the last of the series, we’ll include the link to his full diary, which features many more images and anecdotes.
Part One
August 15 Departure from New York aboard M.V. Saturnia
August 16-29 At sea, with short shore excursions:
August 25 Marseilles, France
August 26 Naples, Italy
August 28 Athens, Greece
August 30 Disembark at Trieste, Italy
August 31 En route to Budapest, Hungary (by train)
Today, a young American interested in European culture might be able to take advantage of a range of travel options to and from our country to the other seaboard—or at least have access to an array of virtual connections available at the stroke of a keyboard.
But in 1930, travel options were limited, and of course there was no Internet—not to mention that much of the world was then suffering through the Great Depression era. So it was quite extraordinary to be taken on a European tour, and Frank’s parents (Leta Camp Bennett Davis, his mother and Lucy’s younger sister; and her husband and Frank’s stepfather, Norton Davis) wanted to make sure he knew it.
Norton wrote in a send-off letter: “My son, I want you to realize what an opportunity Aunt Lucy is giving you this summer and I want you to do everything in your power to show your appreciation…Sometimes it is hard to be the life of the party at all times but remember you must always try to think of others and it will not be so hard. That is where we get the most pleasure out of life. At your age it is hard to understand at times, but you will grow to realize it. This is not a lecture, I just wanted to mention it to you as you can think about it from time to time.”
The concept of a “grand tour” for young men (and less often, young women) was not new, having been first introduced in a 1670 treatise by Richard Lassells, who suggested that this type of travel provided an “intellectual, social, ethical, and political” education that could prove useful in later life.
At sixteen, Frank was younger than a typical grand tour candidate, so he might be excused for journaling some less high-minded thoughts about the trip—at least initially.
Upon boarding the luxurious M. V. Saturnia in New York, and through the long first leg to Gibraltar, he notes in his journal that he was sleeping late, swimming, reading, watching movies, dancing, playing deck tennis and ping pong—all while making the acquaintance of several other young men and women and enjoying “all the liquor you want – had wine for lunch and supper (dinner). Had a time getting into my dinner suit. After Aunt Lucy went to bed, Lucy, Aline and I went to the ‘bar’ and had what Lucy calls “knock out drops” which really are.”
