We have two old Portuguese travel guides, given as gifts by good friends and fellow travelers. The first is from 1913, right at the beginning of the First Republic (the end of the monarchy). The ads and prices are great fun; the maps show the nascent infrastructure of modern Portugal and the sparse urban fabric of Lisbon.
com Itinerarios deExcursões em todo o paiz, e para Madrid, Paris, Vigo, Mondariz, Sant'lago, Salamanca, Badajoz e Sevilha4 mappas e 7 plantas a côres, de cidades;4 plantas demonamentos e museus e 17 mappas dos districtos.4.a EdiçãoCompletamente remodelada e augmentadaSetembro de 1913Typ. da «Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro»Rua Nova da Trindade, 48, 1.oLisboa
Se o solo portuguez, se as grandes correntes fluviaes e as cadeias de montanhas que atravessam o paiz são apenas o prolongamento das formadas no interior da Peninsula, se as fronteiras teem em muitos pontos uma delimitação arbitraria, á falta de fundamento geologico ou orographico — certo é, todavia, que a nacionalidade portugueza tem, no temperamento e na indole da sua raça, caracteres accen-tuadamente distinctivos que lhe talham, na vida historica da Peninsula, um papel inteiramente diverso e á parte do da nação hespanhola.Explica-se isso na vida de oito seculos, como organismo independente e autonomo; e se mais remotamente quizer-mos buscar a origem d'essa differença de raças, de vida e de costumes, não é dificil encontrá-la no facto dos elementos celticos se haverem tornado mais acentuados nas regiões da Peninsula que hoje formam o territorio portu-guez, porque se os dois paizes peninsulares são celtiberos, em nós, ha, porém, maior transfusão de sangue celta.[If the Portuguese soil, if the great river currents and the mountain ranges that cross the country are merely the extension of those formed in the interior of the Peninsula, if the borders have an arbitrary delimitation in many places, due to the lack of geological or orographic foundation - it is nevertheless true that the Portuguese nationality has, in the temperament and nature of its race, markedly distinctive characteristics that give it, in the historical life of the Peninsula, a role entirely different and separate from that of the Spanish nation.That explains it in the life of eight centuries, as an independent and autonomous organism; and if we want to look more remotely for the origin of this difference in races, life and customs, it is not difficult to find it in the fact that Celtic elements became more pronounced in the regions of the Peninsula that today form Portuguese territory, because if the two peninsular countries are Celtiberian, in us, however, there is a greater transfusion of Celtic blood.]
As promised, the "Manual do Viajante" includes a dozen 'Itinerarios', which are illustrated in the tiny maps. Obviously intended to encourage travel by rail (Caminhos de Ferro), the journeys typical start in Lisbon or Porto. Tickets are valid for thirty, sixty, eighty, or one hundred and forty days, with prices for both Primeira and Segunda Classe.
Aspectos. - Com um porto que em belleza excede o de Napoles, recostada n'um amphitheatro que a torna, pelo ettei-lo panoramico do conjuncto, rival de Constantinopla, Lis-hoa, é, sem exaggero, uma das mais bellas cidades do mundo. Recostada sobre sete collinas de linhas pictorescas (Castello, Craça, Sant'Anna, S. Pedro d'Alcantara, Chagas, Alto de Santa Catharina e Buenos-Aires) produz, vista do mai, um etieito maravilhoso principalmente nos dias, tão frequentes, em que o claro sol peninsular recorta as torres dos templos e as fachadas dos edificios sobre o fundo d'um céo cujo azul é sem rival.[Aspects. - With a port that surpasses Naples in beauty, set against an amphitheatre that makes it, due to the panoramic appearance of the whole, a rival to Constantinople, Lisbon is, without exaggeration, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Resting on seven hills of picturesque lines (Castello, Craça, Sant'Anna, S. Pedro d'Alcantara, Chagas, Alto de Santa Catharina and Buenos-Aires), seen from above, it produces a marvelous appearance, especially on the days, so frequent, when the clear peninsular sun outlines the towers of the temples and the facades of the buildings against the backdrop of a sky whose blue is unrivaled.]
Two pieces of ephemera still live in the book. The first one is an old business card from an optician in Paris stamped with an announcement for Lemaire binocular glasses (opera glasses) – so the previous owner may be French and a fan of opera. The card's 'stain' on two of the folded panels in the large map of Lisboa (top image) is evidence of its hiding place.
Optique MédicaleArnholdMaison Fondée en 185613, Rue Auber – Paris (9E)OpéraVerres Ponctuels et a Double-FoyerNos Lunettes Sont ParfaitementAjustées Et GarantiesR. C. Seine 508.683JUMELLES-GLASSESLEMAIRE
The second one is a receipt from a pensione-restaurant in the Praça da Liberdade, which must refer to the Praça in Porto (though is tucked between pages 238 and 239 (Portalegre and Elvas); the paper lists one 'Diaria' for 22$50, and appears to be from the 1930's.
Pensão - Restaurante Central(Antiga Casa da Rainha)deManuel Blanco VasquezTelefone, 1869 66, Praça da Liberdade, 67
The second book is an English language pocket guide – no tourist maps, but lots of pictures. This edition is covered with a colorful jacket, reminiscent of the murals from the Museu Arte Popular (which we saw last March), and helps confirm its date of publication (c1949; the Museu is from 1948); S. N. I. is the publisher of the book and the organizers of the Museu's early exhibits, too.
The Country of Eternal Spring / PortugalBird's Eye View of PortugalS. N. I. Books, Lisbon(c1949, full book can be found here)
Portugal is an ideal country for tourists. It offers a great variety of landscapes and monuments. There is abundant sunshine, the rivers run through beautiful country and are plentifully stocked with fish. Scented herbs grow in the meadows and perfume the air. In the winter, there is good skiing on the snow-covered hills and there are immense stretches of golden sand on the coast. Moreover, Portugal is one of the gateways of Europe and whoever passes through it cannot fail to appreciate the charm and the beauty of this westernmost country of Europe. There are splendid motor roads which enable travellers to go in comfort across the length and breadth of the country, in a few hours.
LISBON is enchanting on account of its sky, colouring and situation as well as for the picturesqueness of its various quarters, of its inhabitants and their customs. It is a city at once ancient and modern, with wide avenues bordered by magnificent houses and crowded with swift motor-cars. The traffic is regulated by competent and friendly policemen worthy of London, Paris or New York, There are streets of steep steps, in which houses of many-coloured fronts jostle one another confusedly, while between them passes a motley crowd in typical costumes, fish wives bare-legged but wearing golden necklaces, women carrying jars of water on their heads with classic poise.The city is set on seven hills and commands beautiful views of the 'I'agus and of distant horizons, with a variety of scenery drenched in a strange and golden light. And from some of the high lying terraces and gardens, from São Pedro de Alcântara, Penha, Monte da Graça, the city itself, with its squares, its main streets and its buildings, offers to the eyes of the visitor a picturesque and harmonious foreground.' The foreigner can never tire of exploring this city. Other capitals may provide the tourist with a greater number of artistic monuments or historical memories, but in none do the stones evoke so much greatness, adventure and poetry.
"Bird's Eye View" also includes a wonderful folded map in a pocket in the back cover (some math is added to convert the distance from Vilar Formoso to San Sebastián – 580 kms to 362 1/2 miles). Compare this map to the 1913 map, and it's easy to see a half century's growth of the infrastructure.
For example, Lisbon airport is just a few years old in 1949 – well-known destination of Ilsa Lund, whose plane arrives during the airport's inaugural year in 1942, the middle of WWII.
From the open space in front of the church [of Nossa da Penha de França] one sees the eastern side of the city which is connected by means of the new highways with the Portela de Sacavem Airport, one of the busiest in the world.
