June 26, 1963
“Who ever thought I’d see these wonderful old places, I read about in books! It is really cold here & everyone wears coats. The hotels are very lovely & the food excellent. Took a bus trip about the city this A.M. & this P.M. a boat ride around the harbor. I love Amsterdam & we saw Pres. Kennedy in West Berlin. What a reception he got! On our way to Stockholm. This trip is tremendous and hope it last thru. Mary & Alice Donavan.”
The post cards from the sixties forward, are to me less and less interesting, in terms of their artistic value, by century end, most cards are printed in China, and a textural element has been lost. However, still fascinating, are the comments made by those sending their cards.
As I started to read Mary and Alice’s card, I was charmed by the thrill they felt seeing places they had read about, and their comments about food and accommodations, all innocuous; then suddenly out of nowhere, I read that they actually bore witness to one of the most historical speeches of the Twentieth Century, President Kennedy, at the Berlin Wall, where he proclaims “Ich bin ein Berliner” and they are now thinking about their next stop! I absolutely love sharing their trip.
To see the speech for yourself, Mary and Alice are in that cheering crowd, pretty amazing to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJNM0C-7lPk
Also, worth a few minutes, helping to put this all in context, President Regan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei1HnWwzmNk
