ANTWERP (Belgium)
ANTWERP (Belgium)
This photo, seen on the Internet, rekindles some personal memories.
On October the 4th, 1954 (I was 10 y.o.), we went on a trip to Antwerp in a car belonging to one of my father's friends (my father never owned any car). The car was a 1952 (or earlier) black Chevrolet. By the way, at the age of 10, it was the first time I stepped into a car !
The photo shows the escalators leading down to a pedestrian tunnel under the river Schelde estuary. The tunnel is 500 meters long. It was also the first time I ever saw an escalator, and this one was a good one to start with, as it was the longest in Belgium at the time.
The tunnel is still in use today. I'm sorry there is no date on the photo, but it must not be very old, judging by the different logos in use.
Beautiful memories ❤❤
ReplyDeleteIt’s always interesting to hear one’s childhood memories and now I am wondering when I first saw an escalator. The one pictured looks like a wooden staircase!
ReplyDeleteAnn Kennedy
ReplyDeleteI've checked on the Internet and this photo represents the escalator as it is today. It's amazing that the staircase may be the original one, as well as the stairs...
Great share, thank you! The first escalator that I recall as a child was in a department store with my grandmother. Apparently I could not say "escalator" so I kept calling it "alligator". To this day I call escalators "alligators", lol.
ReplyDeleteLaurent Truillet Thank you for sharing this wonderful memory. It is hard for me to get my head around the fact that you were 10 before these things happened for you, but that comes from living in a different country where things were different. For me in 1954 I was brought home from the Hospital in my father's car after being born, and I remember the escalator at a local department store at 5 or 6 years old. Which is not to say that we were more affluent than you were, just the difference made by not having a major war fought in our country.
ReplyDeleteIt surely makes me wonder if yours wasn't the richer childhood.
INDIA STREET ANTIQUES / DANISH MODERN SAN DIEGO That's cute, Alligators.
ReplyDeleteINDIA STREET ANTIQUES / DANISH MODERN SAN DIEGO That's funny. I think my mom was so anxious that she got stuck in my head the idea that my shoestring might get caught in the escalator and pull off my foot!
ReplyDeleteYes, Roma Arellano, then the Alligators could feast on your toes! Another adorable remembrance.
ReplyDeleteRoma Arellano Your mom was wise, Roma. I know that serious accidents have happened that way, and I'm glad to see that you are still alive !
ReplyDeleteMargaret Siemers
ReplyDeleteYour comment is almost right, Margaret. The war is certainly a good part of the explanation. My father was hungry and sick during the war and our house was half blown up by Von Braun's V2's. So the house had to be re-built. Although my father had a good job in the 50's, he prefered buying other houses rather than a car. In 1952, we moved to a very basic house in the countryside. We had no domestic appliances such as refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, etc... Our washing machine was a wooden barrel. There was not even water supply in the street. Our water had to come from a deep well in front of our house, wherein you lower a bucket attached to a chain and hope that it comes back with some water.
We stayed in that house from '52 until '56. As a kid, our games were building mud dams on a little stream, exploring forbidden forests and chasing indians.
Those four years have been the happiest in my whole life...
Laurent Truillet That I can well understand as I know the simple life we lead on our farm (we were poor but never knew it as kids) when I was young was the best also. I have to wonder how many children in this country now will be able to say that looking back in later years. I hope they all do, but I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteRoma Arellano Me, too! To this day, I have a fear of a clothing item getting stuck!
ReplyDeleteLaurent Truillet Interesting post. My father never had a car and he never learnt to drive. I believe I must have been about seven when I had my first ride in an uncle's vehicle. Living in west London there were frequent buses so a car wasn't an essential to life.
ReplyDeleteHave known escalators though, from a young age as there was one in a local department store.