Letters Sent Home | Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written by: Richard J. Pietschmann, Sound engineer in field. Retyped for in70mm.com by: Anders M. Olsson (Sweden) | Date: 30.09.2011 |
 Swedish "Seven Wonders of the World poster. Image Swedish Widescreen PagesFeb. 27, 1955 Clark' s Hotel Banaras, India Dear Mona, Last evening I received your letter #16 sent to Stanlyville (Belgian Congo, Africa) and your letter #26 both sent here by Thompson from New Delhi (India) and was glad to learn that the family is fully recovered from the effects of the virus bug. I am pretty well at this time and have not had a recurrance of the diarrhea which had me down but not out for a week. Production has been very difficult in Benaras for reasons of which I have previously written and now because of the extreme caution and finesse that the people of Benara have to be dealt with. These people are very conscious of their shortcomings and do not want to be photographed under such conditions. They only want the outside world to see their progression since India has become a republic, which has been for about seven years now. In spite of these problems we have been able to put together a pretty good sequence, some with and some without sound. If all goes well today with the schedule, we will leave this afternoon for Agra to do the Taj Mahal sequence.. Will be there two or three days and then expect to leave for Darjeeling which is about 7,000 feet high and in the northern part of India. I expect it to be quite cold there, so will bring along my "long johns". The mail seems to be coming through well from W.T . in New Delhi so continue to write there.----- March 5, 1955 Windamere Hotel LTD. Darjeeling Dear Mona, This is the most beautiful scenic country that we have visited to date on this trip. It is located in the northeastern part of India about 50 miles from the border of Tibet in the Indian state of West Bengal. Yesterday I sent the boys some picture postcards of the mountains in the vicinity. One picture was a mountain called Kinchenjunga which is over 28,000 feet high and has never been climbed. An attempt is being made by a British expedition this year. The mountain is about 50 miles from Darjeeling. The reason we are here is to do a sequence on a tiny railroad that runs to Darjeeling, climbing about 7,500 feet over a distance of about 50 miles. The subject is quite interesting and the director, Garnett, has worked out a nice little shooting script. I am afraid however that it will be done, at least for the moment. We have just received word from the unit manager that we are to leave here tomorrow, Sunday, for Mysore in southwest India where Farrow (another director) is awaiting us. I saw a cable today that said we were supposed to be in Tokyo by March 26 and home in New York by April 11 ------- - March 7, 1955 The Great Eastern Hotel LTD, Calcutta Dear Mona, Rich and Roger, As I wrote Mother a few days ago, we are now enroute to Mysore in the southern part of India and have stopped over in Calcutta for the night. The aircraft developed hydraulic brake trouble and the repairs are being made at the PAA base here. Certain parts are necessary for the job and if not available we may have to wait until they are sent from Hong Kong. We shall have to wait and see. For political reasons I believe the sequence that was to have been done in Darjeeling has been cancelled for the time being, with the possibility that we may return. Mr Garnett and W.T. have had trouble between themselves ever since we have been in India. The director Farrow is to do the sequence in Mysore which has something to do with the Maharajah of Mysore, elephants, dancers, music etc. He is a very difficult man to work with and I hope that I will be able to get some good sound. At least I will go down fighting. When we were in Darjeeling the weather was very pleasant and the air cool and clean. We were at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. Here in Calcutta it is the start of the hot season. Right now it is very hot and humid. A pall of haze hangs over the city and the streets are dirty and filled with thousands of people, most of them dirty, and hundreds of animals- cows, goats, dogs etc. I think that it is the dirtiest city in India that I have seen. We expect to be in Mysore about seven days and then either return to Darjeeling or go on to Rangoon or Bankok. I have not been able to ascertain which. As long as we work our way closer to home I am satisfied. This has been a long hard trip and I would have enjoyed it more if you all had been with me. Keep writing and I will too. (Great Eastern Hotel LTD, Calcutta) March 12, 1955 Hotel Metropole Mysore Dear Mona, Rich and Roger, Things here are about normal. Yesterday we worked for the first time in almost two weeks and we are not working again today, mainly because the necessary preparations and arrangements have not been properly made by the people who are in charge. The whole crew with the exception of Squire have been so disgusted at the delays that we wired W.T. to come down here and have an understanding. The director has been criticised for treating the fellows like a bunch of schoolboys and all except Squire are fed up with the whole thing. W.T. called and promised to come down but has not shown here to date. The first mail to reach us in more than two weeks arrived today but there was no mail for me. Naturally I was disappointed but assume you have written but the mail has been mislaid enroute. Everything here is quite a secret. One minute we are going back to darjeeling and the next we are to leave India for Japan. One thing I do know is that the PAA people have requested that the aircraft be in New York by March 24 at the latest. This news has been withheld from the crew at Farrow' s orders but I happened to hear of it by accident. This is some of the policy that has the crew so mad. They treat us like we were a pick-up crew from Hollywood and not associated with Cinerame for over four years now. For future mail information contact Evans in New York for the best address. Here we know nothing and I cannot give you any better information. ------- March 13, 1955 Staff Quarters, Mysore, India Dear Mona, Last night at about 12:30 PM I was given your letter #27 together with Richard's. I was glad to hear from you and to know that all was well. Although I dislike doing so, I must tell you that the status of things here is not good. As I have told you previously, we have only done one or two day's work in the past two weeks. Everyone is sick and tired of being shuttled to a place and then pulled out without accomplishing anything. I hear now that we were pulled out of Darjeeling without even starting the sequence there because this director Farrow wanted to take the Maharajah of Mysore on a hunting trip in our airplane. This too has been cancelled because the Maharajah's astrologer said that this time was not good for a hunt. Have been here six days and worked one day with sound and today without sound. The director is overbearing and insufferable to the point that the following cable was sent to W. Thompson in New Delhi; "Priestley, Pietschmann, Bosch, Conroy, Genkins, Maloney and Marshall request your immediate presence Hotle Metropole for conference stop Preferential treatment and indecisive field policy condition unbearable" Regards, Crew. This was not a spur of the moment deal but carefully thought out and sent only when the crew could no longer stand these delays and indecisions. They are at the whim of one or two men and have cost thousands of dollars to the company and many days of delay and extension of this trip. This is the cable that was sent but we are now being told that the cable said that we were all going to quit and wanted to be replaced. We do not want to quit, just finish the job in the best manner and interest of the company. March 16, 1955 Maiden's Hotel, Delhi Dear Mona, I started to write you as per the enclosed. (above) Plans have been changing so fast that it is difficult to keep up with them. Nothing has happened yet as far as the cable is concerned. Arrived today in New Delhi and received your letter #29. Am missing #28 and several others so this is the first I have heard of Roger's poison ivy but am glad to hear that it is better. How did he get it at this time of year? The present schedule still calls for us to be home by April 15th. We are going to work in New Delhi for one day, tomorrow, and then return to Darjeeling the job we left to come to Mysore. Then the plan is to go to Ankor Wat in Cambodia, then Bangkok, Rangoon, Hong Kong and Tokyo. We will have to work fast to finish by April 15th. I hope that nothing interderes as I also very much want to get home. Word has been received from PAA in New York that our plane must be there by March 24. As of now the crew plans to leave here March 18 unless Cinerama re-negotiates the contract --- March 23, 1955 Windamere Hotel LTD, Darjeeling, India Dear Mona, We are back again in Darjeeling and arrived here on March 19. Since our arrival we have been getting up early each morning and go to the location site which is about 1 1/2 hours drive from the hotel. As I have previously written, this place is close to the border of Tibet and one can see the Himmalyan mountainsrange about 50 miles away. While we were in Mysore and just before leaving for this place two men, Marshell and Genkin were sent home. Sometime ago they had asked to be replaced. The cable to W.T. that I wrote to you about did not bear much fruit so I will not dwell upon it. Today we leave India on March 27 and arrive in Ankor Wat on the 28th. We thene have a short stay in Rangoon and Bangkok and from there go to Tokyo via Hong Kong. Thompson has told everyone that he cabled New York our next address which probably will be Peninsular Hotel in Hong Kong. The work here is progressing and I am making all wild sound to go with the picture. The director does not want to take the time to set up for sync sound shots and of course Squire has helped him to make this decision. I have explained to him that this is not the best method, but of course wild sound is better than no sound at all. Word has been received that our aircraft must be in New York by April 8th. PAA needs the ship and wants it back on that date. We expect to be in Tokyo on April 3rd and the ship to leave from there. New York office may re-negotiare the contract to keep the plane to return to New York about April 15.-------- | More in 70mm reading: Log of "Seven Wonders" Production for Lowell Thomas Production in Cinerama in70mm.com's Cinerama page Historic Big Screen Films Get Major Digital Makeover Internet link: |
 Supplement to the "Log of "Seven Wonders"Letters sent home March 27, 1955 Windamere Hotel LTD, Darjeeling Dear Mona, Today is Sunday and we have finished our work in this lovely mountain town located in the northeastern part of India. After lunch we will take a three hour motor trip down this 7500 foot mountain to a town called Bagdogra where the DC 4 is parked and about 4 PM take off for Calcutta. We expect to arrive in Calcutta about 5:30 PM where we will stay overnight. Tomorrow morning we will clear customs and leave India. After customs clearance we will leave for Bangkok in Thailand and Ankor Wat in Cambodia and will be there three or four days. From there to Rangoon in Burma and then to Tokyo via Hohg Kong. Expect to be in Tokyo by Apri1 3rd. As yet I do not know how long we will be in Tokyo but hope to be in New York about April 15th. Still have not heard from you and the boys since March 8th and am anxious to see if there is any mail at Calcutta. How have you and the boys been? The weather must be getting nice at home and I wish I were there to take care of some of the chores that have accumulated since I have been away ------- March 31, 1955 Grand Hotel d'Ankor, Cambodia Dear Mona, Happy Anniversary from a place almost surrounded by Communist countries. Arrived in Calcutta on March 28 and was delivered your letter of March 17, #31. Thanks for the St Pat's Day greeting. Yes the man referred to is the $5,000 per except I have heard it is $6,000 (Farrow's salary weekly) He expects to be finished and return to the States when the work in Ankor Wat is completed and Walter Thompson is supposed to take over. The director Garnett has returned to the States also. He left our well-run (?) organization in Bangkok. He was supposed to do Tokyo but W.T. is also going to do that sequence, if it is to be done. Although we were to have lost our plane, that is it was to return to New York on March 31, today, we have been told that the contract has been again renewed and does not have to be in New York until April 18. It is my fond wish and belief that we will return with it. I have just come in from the location where we are working and the heat is terrible. Although I have not seen a thermometer it must be 90 degrees or more with high humidity. The "B.C.G." vaccination for tuberculosis prevention also interested me. I saw the campaign poster in the railroad station in Darjeeling and asked one of the Indian natives the meaning of "B.C.G." but he did not know. What you say about the Hindu religion interests me. It is true that it is is most interesting but also in my opinion on if the things that the Indians will have to modify in some respect if they are to make progress. They believe that all they have to do for penance of sin is to give away food and alms. Since there are apparently lots of sinners, there are lots of beggars who profit thereby and do nothing for their own livelihood. There are thousands of these people, men, women and children. The way it looks here we leave Ankor Wat tomorrow on Saturday for Bangkok, work there a few days and leave for Tokyo via Hong Kong. -------------- April 3, 1955 Ratanakosin Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand Dear Mona, Arrived in Bangkok last night and we are leaving tonight at 11 PM for Hong Kong. Expect to stay in Hong Kong for a day or two for airplane maintenance and then leave for Tokyo. As described in the article, "Bangkok, Jewel of Asia" , this is a very charming city and well deserves its name. The city is quite modern in many respects with its myriad electric signs advertising American products, Coco-Cola etc., and yet it still has the mysterious flavor of the east with its colorful Buddhist temples, saffron robed monks and its ancient highways of commerce- the klongs or canals. The heat during the day is very oppresive and not much can be done after 12 o'clock noon. We worked this AM in one of the temples and our director as usual showed as much inspiration as a dead fish. We have made two insignificant scenes and are ready to depart. The director is leaving for home this Tuesday. I do not know what we are to do in Tokyo. The latest rumor is that when we arrive in Tokyo, the camera crew is going to back-track to Europe to take some fill-in scenes that were not gotten. As you can see from past experience this is par for the course. Fred and I will probably return home from Tokyo. As soon as I know I will let you know. Your letter of March 23 arrived here from Hong Kong yesterday and was glad to know that all is well ----- April 7, 1955 Shamrock Hotel Kowloon, Hong Kong Dear Mona, After traveling most of Sunday night we arrived in Hong Kong early in the morning on April 4th. Have been in Hong Kong for three days and the reason for the layover is required maintenance of the aircraft. If all goes well we expect to leave for Tokyo this afternoon at 2:30 PM. The season is Spring here, the same as home and the weather has been cool and cloudy and a severe change from the climate of India and the Indo-China peninsular which we recently have left. The city of Hong Kong is a facinating place with its people, shops, bazaars and narrow winding streets. The harbor is very busy with ships from all over the world and it is the fourth largest harbor in the world. the people are small and petite, espacially the women (the male view of course) and the modern women affect a skirt style which is sexy to say the least. It consists of a long front and rear panel with an open slit on each side revealing a good portion of the thigh, most of which are shapely. The shops are wonderful places to visit, containing beautiful silks, brocades, carved ivory, jade, chinese rugs, beautiful porcelain, camphor wood chests, jewelry and beautiful furs, especially mink. I have been considering a fur coat for a very lovely lady that I know. April 10, 1955 Hotel kokusai Kanko, Tokyo Dear Mona, We arrived in Tokyo yesterday after a four hour flight from Hong Kong. Walter Thompson met us at the airport and handed me your letter of March 31 together with a Christmas card and note from my mother. The card had been sent at Christmas time and missed me en route and returned to Kew Gardens. I was glad to hear from everyone and know that everyone was well. As usual the preparations for shooting in Japan have been nil. Also the status of our return date is uncertain and I cannot say definitely when I will reach New York. Still have hopes that the date will be between April 15 and 22. I think the trip home will be via the Philippines, Wake and Honolulu to San Francisco or Los Angeles . When we arrive in California, will call and give you the ETA (estimated time arrival) in New York. Our DC 4 is supposed to leave for the states this Wednesday. If it does it will probably return without any members of the production crew. However I have a feeling that the plane crew will receive orders to remain another week or so. Time will tell. No one here in command seems to know any details and if he does it is being kept quiet. The weather in Tokyo is cloudy and rainey and certainly not good for photographing. As far as I know the work to be done will include a sequence with the plane (ad for PAA), a Judo wrestling match and a sequence of dancing girls. I just thought of a new title for the picture, "Seven Blunders of the World" -------- April 14, 1955 Dear Mona, WE have been in Japan a week now and have worked two days doing a scene with the DC4 for advertising for Pan American Airways. Yesterday all personal effects were crated and placed aboard the plane for shipment to New York. The plane, that is, our charter plane "Clipper Cinerama" # 88888 left for New York at 3:15 PM today and is scheduled to arrive at Idlewild on April 18th. All personal gear is packed in wooden crates and consigned to Barnett International to be held in customs pending our arrival. Evans and Mercado of Barnett should know about this. Last Evening Thompson held a production meeting. Since nothing has been arranged in Japan, he said that our return to the States would be delayed. He expects that the camera crew will return about May 1st. There are two sequences which will require sound and as soon as they are completed Fred and I will return, probably ahead of camera. They will remain to pick up some silent scenic shots. You can't imagine how disappointed I was at their turn of events. However we will be together soon. Remember the increase in pay we asked for in Agra? Spoke to Thompson about it yesterday and he was very bague. I am certain that he never put the request in to New York after promising to do so. The lesson learned is to be tough in the initial negotiations, which I will be in the future. With Squire's poison, this has been the most difficult job that I have had to contend with and only by perservance am I able to come up with a sound product which will match the picture. Emerson, the assistant director, returned to the coast with the plane. He was unable to take Squire or Thompson any longer. He told me that Squire was always crucifying me to the director, and that as I knew, was making the job so difficult. The funny thing is that everyone is afraid to speak their mind to Squire with the exception of Tay Garnett and myself. So much for that. During the past week we have had 2 nice days, the rest have been cold and damp. The cherry blossoms are in bloom but have seen very few in Tokyo, which, as far as I have seen is a most interesting city. On Easter Sunday I went to Church at the Chapel Center -------- April 18, 1955 Tokyo Dear Mona, Well here I am still in Tokyo. The weather has been terrible- cloudy, rain and cold. The camera crew left Tokyo yesterday to cover some silent scenic shots of Mt. Fujiyama about 75 miles from here and also a place called Kamakura. I doubt if they can photograph if the weather there is like it is here. The sound crew are waiting to do two or three sound scenes which have not been arranged as yet. One scene will be a typical Japanese dance with music; the second a Judo wrestling match and I do not know the details of the third. Yesterday I received your letter of April 12 and it was good to hear the news from home------ I will be unable to attend Al's birthday dinner----the gift I had planned to bring home for him as well as for the rest of the males is a pearl stick or tie pin----- the information about my parents selling the country place was the first I have heard, the vacation trip to Florida should do them a world of good----our aircraft should arrive at Idlewild today with 4 crates and two paper suitcases for Fred and me,, to remain in bond care of Barnett International-------. April 22, 1955 Tokyo Dear Mona, Today is Friday and we are still here in Tokyo awaiting a decision as to what we are going to do in Japan. The weather cleared up yesterday for the first time in over a week and today the sun is shining brightly. The camera crew is still inland in the country waiting for a clear day to photograph Fujiyama. They are supposed to make two scenes, both silent and then return to Tokyo and we will work together doing a dance and wrestling sequence. Thompson is now in Osaka working out a deal, but I have not been informed of the progress. Jack Priestley returned from the Fuji location two days ago not feeling well. The doctor claims it is a vitamin deficiency and several other fellows have the same symptoms, breaking out in a skin rash. W.T. suggested that Jack return home and I saw him off last night at 6:00 PM on a PAA flight to New York via Wake Island Honolulu and San Francisco to New York. I certainly wished that I could have been on the plane. Traveling east he will pick up a day and should arrive in N.Y. on Saturday April 23 at 9:10 PM. He said he would call you upon arrival. The prospect of being so close to the conclusion of the trip and not being able to do the job necessary to finish has kept me awake nights. I have been sleeping poorly but otherwise feel OK --------  April 23, 1955Dear Mona, Your letter of April 18 received this morning and was glad to know that Clipper Cinerama's arrival sans your husband did not cause any undue excitement.------- The camera crew returned from the Fujiyama location and did not shoot a foot all week. The latest word is that we will leave Tokyo for Osaka, about 8 hours by rail, on Monday. This will be a central operating point for about a weeks work, less than that I hope. Will probably do the dance and wrestling match there. -------- April 27, 1955 Nara Hotel Dear Mona, After traveling almost two days by train and car we arrived in the town of Nara, about 50 miles from Osaka in the southern part of Japan. The weather just before leaving Tokyo was good and the two days spent in traveling were very beautiful. On the train trip to Osaka we passed quite close to Mt Fujiyama and it was a spectacular sight with its snow covered cone shaped peak. I took some 16mm pictures from the moving train but do not expect too much from them. This place is quite a tourist attraction and is visited by people of the Buddist faith and school children from Japan. In my opinion there is not very much in the way of color; most of the temples, shrines etc. are quite drab now although at one time they had been painted with bright colors it would appear. The flowers are not at their best as yet, it is too early in the spring. The cherry blossoms are gone but there are azeleas . We were scheduled to work today but camera was cancelled because of cloudy weather. However I was able to make some wild sound track this morning and will go out again tomorrow if it does not rain. There is about three days work in Nara, one day in Kyoto, one or two days in Osaka and then return to Tokyo to do the wrestling. Thompson told me today that as soon as work scheduled to end in Tokyo was completed the entire crew would leave for home. I imagine by this time Jack has called with the latest dope. Also Ed Sipple, Pat Hogan and george Mueller of the airplane crew said they would call. The day we left Tokyo, Terry, the acting unit manager, decided he had enough and left for the states. It is hard on me too, since I expected to be home by this time.------ May 1, 1955 Nara Hotel Dear Mona, Today is Sunday and May Day in Japan. All night the rain has been coming down but this morning it is trying very hard to clear up. There are a few patches of blue in the sky. All around us people are celebrating May 1st which is the day Communists all over the World celebrate. We have been warned by the American military force in the area to stay close to the hotel today in order to avoid any contact with these people which could possibly turn into a newspaper headline. Many of these people belong to certain labor groups which may be pro-communist so it is best not to take any chances. The last letter I received from you was dated April 19 and I have been expecting some mail since my arrival here--------- On May 7 I will have been away for a full seven months----- The inclement weather has been holding up production except for yesterday when the camera made three scenes. The sound dept has been recording "wild track" every day since our arrival but we have to stay on to do the music etc. If the weather breaks we can be finished in short order so we will hope for the best. The hotel where we are staying is old but very neat and clean and the food is excellent. The other night I had a typical Japanese dinner called "Sukiaki with "Saki" which is a rice wine served warm. The meal consisted of finely sliced beef and various vegetables cooked by girls at the table where everyone sits on a straw mat on the floor with his legs crossed. We also had tea, boiled rice and fruit. The meal was OK but I sure miss your roast dinners------- May 7, 1955 Nara Hotel, Japan Dear Mona, Your letter of April 25 was received in Takarazuka, a town about two hours drive from Nara. We spent Three days and two nights in Takarazuka doing a musical sequence in a Japanese Garden and theater which proved to be the most interesting assignment on this trip to date, because I was at last able to do some musical recording which should sound good. The sequence consisted of the finale of a japanese musical show called "Spring 1955" and a nice musical score for an exterior garden scene with Japanese girls walking and dancing in a setting similar to Cypress Gardens in "This is Cinerama". For a change we had two good days of sunshine and we were able to finish and return to Nara the night of May 5th. Yesterday was a clear day too and we were to do some of the work scheduled for here, but today is cloudy and I am hoping that the sun will break through. One clear day will finish up the work here and we will then return to Tokyo to do the wrestling. While I was in Takarauzka I slept for two nights in a Japanese Hotel and it was quite an experience. Most of the floors in Japanese homes, hotels etc. are made of straw mats about 3" thick, 2' wide and 6' long. The size of the room is determined by the number of mats to be placed in the room. Before on enters a home, hotel or restaurant he first removes his shoes and dons a pair of slippers supplied. This is an excellent way to keep the house clean. For sleeping, a flat pad is placed on the floor on top of the straw mat and a pillow filled with what appears to be rice is furnished together with a heavy quilt. Most of the places are very clean and comfortable. The dining room has a community table which is about 20 feet long and 3 feet wide where everyone sits on a pad placed on the floor. The table is only about one foot high. Except for breakfast I did not eat any food at the hotel but that did not bother me since I do not care too much for the Japanese style of cooking. These people are always bathing themselves. In the hotel was a community pool where the water is kept at 110 degrees F and one enters this after taking a hot or cold soap and water shower. The people whose homes have this type of bath all enter it at the same time, Father, mother and children with no thought of immodesty. -------------  May 11, 1955 Hotel Kokusi Kanko, TokyoDear Mona, We are back again in Tokyo, arriving this morning via J.A.L. (Japan Air Lines) from Osaka. That is the Sound Dept arrived. The camera crew is working its way north and should arrive here tomorrow. Yesterday in Nara I received your letter of May 1st. The fellow who called you from PAA was probably Ed Sipple. He is a very perceptive person and from what you wrote I guess that I am not the only one that feels that way about Squires. Your surmise is correct, I have gotten very little support and that includes W.T. I have made up my mind not to work with S. again. Basically I feel that he was the reason for Jack P. going home. This is the fourth time that jack has left a job while working with S. Upon arriving at the hotel I found your letter of May 4th. You will be interested in knowing that for the past 2,000 yrs. the Japanese have been feeding their ever-growing population (over 80 million) by growing food in an area that would fit into the state of California. They do this by cultivating their ground with "night soil", which is human excrement mixed with water. The concoction is malodorous but the crops are enormous. The disadvantage is that the microbes present in the mixture attach themselves to the vegetables and if not properly washed are taken into the system and cause a disease which affects about 50% of the population. May 11 continued They eat very little meat but are great fish eaters. On the whole they are strong and wirey although short in size. A strange fact is that most of the population over 30 have very poor teeth and their mouths are full of gold or silver or aluminum caps or crowns etc. The "night soil" treatment also solves another problem, that of disposing of 33,000,000 tons of dung per year. (You can see that I have been reading statistics) There is current legislation to educate the farmers in the use of chemical fertilizers which in the long run may do more harm than good, but it will sell chemicals. The change will be gradual since the farmer is steeped in centuries of tradition. Now as to current events, we have the wrestling sequence to do in Tokyo and I will know more tomorrow when W.T. arrives. In any event I will be home soon.------ No more letters May 11 and 12 were clean-up and preparation for return home May 13 Left Tokyo Japan for return home to New York via Wake Island Honolulu and San Francisco The United States segment started in June 1955 There is no log or letters. The journey was with essentially the same personnel with Walter Thompson in charge traveling by automobile and equipment truck with some wives along in our own family cars. sound shipment data places the dates and location as follows: 6 21 55 Bronxville New York 7 11 55 Riverside Calif 7-13 55 " 7-21 55 Boulder City, Nevada 7-20-55 Kilgore, Texas The Pom-pom girls 7-21-55 Las Vegas, Nevada 7-22-55 Flagstaff, Arizona 7-23-55 El Paso, Texas 7-24-55 Minneapolis, Minn Mens Church Choir 7-25-55 Flint, Michigan Auto Manuf capital 7-26-55 Chicago, ill 7-27-55 Oyster Bay N.Y. 7-28-55 " 7-29-55 Pauling, N.Y. Lowell Thomas Studio Richard and Roger were put on the plane by Marj in New York and travelled with Ray Sharples to Burbank airport where I met them and drove to Riverside to join the crew at the motel. The trip took us to the California redwoods, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon Travel Log of "Seven Wonders of the World" | |
| Go: back - top - back issues - news index Updated 26-09-24 |