Funny Money

A 1000 Mark Reichsbank note was worth a fortune before the Great War but its value gradually diminished during the Great Inflation. Would you give a damn for a thousand when a loaf of bread costs you 250 billion? But a lot of gullible Germans kept their bills, marked with a red stamp (see below).

A little bird told them that the government, planning a long-awaited currency reform, will be so kind to change "red thousands" to new Marks by their nominal value, i.e. 1:1. Like many optimistic rumours, this one was total bullshit.

Деньги не имели никакой ценности для тех, кто выбрасывал их на улицу. У нас прямо под ногами валялись тысячемарковые билеты кайзеровского рейхсбанка. Мы находили пачки этих билетов в разбомбленных домах. Обычно – с красной печатью, хотя были еще черная и зеленая. Во время большой инфляции, когда такая банкнота не стоила ничего, кто-то пустил слух, будто «красные» поменяют на новые марки по номиналу, один к одному.

1930: Real Rover

Rover Light Six made history by becoming the first car to beat the Blue Train on it's 750 mile journey From Paris to Nice, in January 1930

Rover Light Six Sportsman's Saloon, two-door Weymann body

 

Images: Rover Freunde Deutschland

 

Eiffel Tower Demotivational

In OTL*, the picture was taken on June 23, 1940

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* OTL = Our Timeline = real history

1930: Real Hanussen

Historians digging into the archives to reconstruct the chronicle of the Twentieth Century will have to deal with this strange phenomenon of Erik Jan Hanussen <...> It will be their task to unravel a complex maze of reality and legend, myth and romance, to reach the core of the true personality of Steinschneider, alias Hanussen.

Pierre van Paassen, 1942

 

Erik Jan Hanussen made a name for himself as Europe’s most audacious and controversial soothsayer. Billing himself as “The Man Who Knows All,” he performed in cabarets and music halls, attracting the attention of everyone from Sigmund Freud and Thomas Mann to Marlene Dietrich and Peter Lorre...

Klaus Maria Brandauer as Hanussen (1988, director: István Szabó):

 

Prologue: Lago di Garda, 1939

In the Strangers' World, Mark spent a good part of summer vacation with his father on the shores of Italy's largest lake. Later, he's been haunted by false memories of canceled reservation and alarming radio braodcasts. The world was on the edge of something terrible...

It's not easy to remember something that never happened. Especially if the real summer of 1939 was so full of fun.

На самом деле занятия в сентябре 39-го никто не отменял. И на Лаго ди Гарда мы в то лето поехали, было очень здорово. Соседний домик снимала семья с собакой – большим черным спаниелем, у которого на груди и на боках блестели серебристые, будто седые, пятна. Как звали его хозяев, не помню. Зато помню его самого. Егор. Такая смешная кличка.

Real 1972: Fashion in Black & White

Chloe fashion show,

Spring 1972

1930: Real Amy Johnson

In 1930 the world took notice of a different type of flyer. Amy Johnson was a newcomer to the world of long distance flying, but in May of that year she took the aviation world by surprise when she flew her single engine Gipsy Moth biplane, named Jason; from London to Darwin, Australia. (Read more)

Amy's role in hour new book is still undecided. Probably she will make a guest appearance in one of the 'British' chapters. Probably not. In any case she can't avoid being mentioned.

Photo: Aeroflight

Remember Locarno!

Professor Schmitt, Mark's future mentor, lectured on Locarno conference. It was easy to believe he himself was there back in 1925. But a lot of amusing details couldn't overshadow his sharp analysis of the event...

Here they are, the architects of Locarno, three foreign ministers:

Gustav Stresemann (Germany), Austen Chamberlain (Great Britain), and Aristide Briand (France).

 

Another shot, less formal:

Chamberlain, Stresemann and Briand captured during the talks by Dr. Erich Salomon, a brilliant German photojournalist:

A German cartoon - a clear understatement of Stresemann's achievements:

 

Зная, что первое впечатление не всегда бывает верным, я пошел на его лекцию для второго курса. И оказалось, что Франк Шмит, он же Франклин Смит, – превосходный лектор. Он рассказывал о Локарнской конференции так, будто сам участвовал в ее заседаниях. Имена полузабытых политиков звенели в аудитории, а забавные подробности из жизни Чемберлена и Штреземана не заслоняли главного: целей и итогов конференции, надежд и просчетов ее участников.





1930: Real Vienna Taxi

Steyr Typ XII (6/30 PS)

 

Source: zuckerfabrik24

Vegas Demotivational

And a bit of real history:

Days after the first bomb was detonated on January 27, 1951, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce issued a stream of press releases excitedly describing the new testing grounds as one of the many attractions Las Vegas had to offer. As one official described, "The angle was to get people to think the explosions wouldn't be anything more than a gag."

Source: Atomic Tourism, PBS

1972: Real Heathrow

In the Strangers' World, Mark saw black-white-red flags in Heathrow, commemorating Albert Speer's visit.

Two pictures of Heathrow in Summer 1972 (OTL)*:

"Виккерс" описал полукруг почета в лондонском небе, медленно накренился на левое крыло, затем выровнялся и стал сбавлять скорость. По-моему, никто в салоне не понял, когда именно колеса коснулись бетона. И остановился самолет почти незаметно. "Леди и джентльмены, мы благополучно приземлились в аэропорту Хитроу, время восемь часов ноль три минуты по Гринвичу. Напоминаю, что температура за бортом – 61 градус по Фаренгейту, 16 градусов по Цельсию. Капитан Хартли и экипаж благодарят вас..."

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* OTL = Our Timeline = Real History
Images: andygolfer, on Civilian Aviation forum (1), Ben Brooksbank via Wikimedia Commons (2)

1930: Real Ostend-Vienna Express

A luxury train service from Ostend (Belgium) to Vienna was established in 1894.

Like the 'original' Orient Express, it was operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits:

The service provided connections from London and Amsterdam, as well as to Bucharest, Belgrade and Istanbul:

It also provided a setting for Graham Greene's Stamboul Train (1932) - and for our new project. Stay tuned.

 

Images: Wikipedia (NL)