A New Englander Flees the Winter

North Attleboro, MA: The Commercial Press , 1927 Hard cover 8vo, in red cloth covered boards, with title design blocked in gold to the front, 78 pp, First Edition. Illustrated with halftone photo reproductions from the author's camera. CONDITION: Very Good Quite a bit of exterior rubbing to boards. Text is moderately toned. Otherwise sound. Includes presentation inscription dated 1928 to fellow travelers from White Plains, NY.**This is an engaging read which details a ten-thousand mile journey, taken by a North Attleboro Massachusetts couple, Helen W. Cummings and her spouse, (only referred to as "Dad,") embarked upon for three months during the chilly winter of 1927. Departing from the docks of New York, the first leg of the trip sees the couple travel south, stopping at Havana before sailing through the the Panama Canal, up the Pacific Ocean side of Central America to San Diego. On this, their 14th cruise, there is much description of the dining, dancing, the masked ball and other contemporary shipboard entertainments. The book has lots of interesting detail: the engineering feat of the still-new Panama Canal, impressions of Cuba, the diversity and energy of San Francisco, the California farm economy and more. There are mention of quite a few "ladies luncheons." Side trips to the Sierra Nevadas, The Grand Canyon, New Mexico and Arizona occur before the couple returns by rail via Chicago and Boston. As a travel writer, Mrs. Cummings has a zest for random detail which is sometimes unwittingly comic, such as the stoically hostile reaction she receives when asking an aged Is-leta Pueblo indigenous person how old he is, and requesting a photo, (part of the "Indian Detour Trip.") A revealing look at American tourism, cultural attitudes and social conventions of the late 'twenties. OCLC 1381967.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.