Yesterday I received my copy of R. Francis' Egypt and How to See It. I had ordered Khoori's Cairo and How to See it, but I got this one. NOT a problem. So many goodies!

It was first published in 1907 for Egyptian State Railways. The edition I have is from 1947. But it was used by Ann C. Turner in 1953. She wrote her name in the front! And she pasted the calling card of the American Ambassador to Egypt.

Here's where this gets really interesting! She was on the FIRST mass tourist trip to Egypt after the revolution in 1952 and the nationalization of the country by Nasser. Here, Turner cut and pasted a newspaper article about their group.

What about the M. V. Brittanic? It was the most profitable ship in the Cunard line. In 1953 it had some engine trouble so apparently it couldn't go all the way from NYC to Alex, but maybe people joined it in London? I'm not sure. Here's Turner's TICKET from the boat to the train.

Before they got on the train, when they docked in Alex, there was a whole delegation to meet them. Here's a picture from the paper:

I can't figure out if that is our own Ann Turner in the picture, but she somehow got an autographed picture of Major General Naguib. And she taped it into the book!

Interestingly, this book, being from 1947, lists some attractions and features in it that weren't around in 1953. Most evidently, Shepheard's Hotel. It had been burned to the ground in January of 1952. But it was listed in this book as one of the finest hotels in Cairo.

We know that Ann stayed at the Semiramis. How? Not just because she wrote her name in the front, but because she included the receipt from her stay!!

There are also some older ads in here for Air France, flying to Egypt. And Thomas Cook's tours.

Guidebooks are useful for historical study of places for a lot of reasons. One of them is that sometimes they contain the ephemera that rarely survive--tickets, receipts, pictures, news articles. This one is a TREASURE.

Check your parents' or relatives' stuff. Did they go places? I bet there are souvenirs, letters, maps, books. Go find it! Share it! I can't wait to see it!