Three “Cartes Taride pour Cyclistes et Automobilistes” of France with an interesting post-WWI association.
Paris: 1917. Three “Cartes Taride pour Cyclistes et Automobilistes” of France with an interesting WWI association. Folded inside one of the maps is a note “Then Great Grandfather took a leave of absence from the Army, and with his wife and small daughter, toured France and Switzerland driving a Ford Model T.” The owner of the maps was “W. W Carruth,” William Walter Carruth (b. 5 Jul 1884, Oakland CA, d. 25 Aug 1954, Oakland, CA). His draft card is dated September 1918, so he would most likely have arrived in France as the war was ending. His draft card stated he was a self-employed musician. His future wife was Bessie Connell Keefer (b. 8 Nov 1895, San Luis Obispo, CA, d. 16 Oct 1884 Oakland, CA). They married sometime between 1920 and 1924. (She is listed as a single church organist in the 1920 Census; there is no 1920 census information for Walter, possibly because he was in Europe.) In 1924 they were married and traveling together to Hawaii.
Alas, there is no evidence of a small daughter in the 1930 census.
One map bears the stamp of Brentano’s, Paris. And one map has a small date in the bottom right corner of 8-17 (August 1917). The maps are Bretagne (Section Ouest No 5 bis), Bretagne et Normandie (Section Nord No. 5) and Centre de la France (Section Sud-Est, No. 15). Large maps backed on linen and folding into a convenient travel size of 4x7”.
One can only imagine touring France in the 1920s and seeing some of the incredible destruction that the World inflicted on each other and the landscape during WWI. Item #24115
Price: $225.00