Bruxelles. Frites, friends and findings.
You can never imagine how foreign cities can surprise you.
Or foreign cities' archives..
I would have nevee chosen Brussels for my winter holidays. But a friend called.
A quick visit to the Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (Cegesoma or CEGES-SOMA) gave me goosebumps and made it necessary to be there.
In 1932 my beloved aunt Rosetta, from Aulla, has been elected Miss Italy. Her mother left her husband in 1922 and escaped first of all to La Spezia, then to Paris. She signs with an "X", cannot write, works on her own and needs to cope with the conflicting parental responsibilities of a woman illegally breaking the fascist patria potestas. She eludes fellow citizens, police, custom officers. Hand in hand with Rosetta, who grew up barefoot in that tiny village from the north of Tuscany.
Then she finds herself hand in hand with a queen of Beauty in the most exclusives Grand Hôtels of the period.
In 1932 the competition of Miss Universe was held in Belgium: an itinerant event lasting two weeks, from 14th July to 1st August. Miss Italy was participating.
And here it is, from a historical database, her typical half smile, her natural posture, and a misspelled caption:
http://pallas.cegesoma.be/pls/opac/plsp.getplsdoc?rn=38117&cn=51&lan=N&htdoc=general/opac.htm
The photo agency that covered the competition, the Belgian Actualitat, has been charged with collaborationist accusation after the Second World War and according to some first researches the database has been dissolved. It is therefore a true gift having found this image, together with all the other queens of beauty pictures.
There is Miss Algery, 18 years old, brown hair and tall; Miss Germany born in Berlin, 21 years old, professional reporter; Miss America who came by boat and unloaded her dozens of suitcases in Ostende; Miss United Kingdom, war orphan daughter of an antique dealer; Miss Antille, Medical student and Creole; Miss Argentine, born in Cordoba, 20 years; Miss Canada, blonde with blue eyes; Miss Colombia, 24 years old, born in Medelin; Miss Denmark, who holds the Miss Europe title since February 1932; Miss Spain, daughter of a composer; Miss France, from Nice, blue eyes and dark hair; Miss Hungary, daughter of a musician; Miss Mexico, daughter of a shopkeeper; Miss Panama, blonde with blue eyes; Miss Peru, daughter of a writer, big hat lover; Miss Romania, a brunette of 18 years old; Miss Russia, piercing pale eyes, daughter of a marine offices; and Miss Turkey, who will be elected Miss Universe 1932 and will be given a civic welcome back in Turkey, an ovation of which a great commander returning from a long and arduous campaign, as she was the symbol not of a beauty competition but of the new freedom that Turkish women just won in Mustafa Kemal’s era.
"I remember that they fought to wear the best dresses and they were obsessed with teeth. It was not very different from today. Except we didn’t really had toothbrushes", used to recall my aunt.
And here she is, from Belgian newspapers archives, among the "reines de beauté" from 1932, well tailored dresses, puff sleeves, belted waits, large yokes, furs, cloche hats, pochettes,...
Pierre Daye, Belgian journalist (homosexual at the time and afterwards follower of the Rexism, which makes him a curious figure to study), left a detailed an ironical chronicle of these days full of luxury, golf competition, horse races and galas.
The program was very rich:
14th Juky: arrival in Ostenda. Reception party in the Town Hall. Miss France's gala in Kursaal.
15th July: car competition; luxury cars and queen of beauty parade; Gala in Théâtre Royal; Miss Europa's Gala in Kursaal starting from Midnight.
16th July: departure for Ypres; excursion to Furnes, Dixmude, Nieuport e Westende. At night concert in Kursaal. Festival of lights downtown.
17th July: Wellington Grand Prix during the day; Grand Gala at night in Kursaal.
18th July: departure for Douvres; navy parade in Ostende Grand Gala in Théâtre Royal.
19th July: visit to Bruges; afternoon tea and night concert.
20th July: flower exhibition along Gran Corso and parade; symphony concert at Kursaal; grand final dance at the Ambassadeur.
21th July: departure for Spa; reception party in the Town Hall; Grand Concert at the Casinò; fireworks in the Park.
22th July: visit to Spa thermal baths; Gala at Palace des Bains.
23th July: Fountain tour; Dance Gala at the Casinò.
24th July: golf competition; horse competition; Gala at the Grand Théâtre.
25th July: departure for Han, visit to the caves; dinner and night at Château d’Ardenne.
26th July: visit to Namur; reception party in the Town Hall; dinner at Hôtel Harscamp; Gala at Théâtre Royal.
27th July: Visit to Meuse Valley; Golf competition and Garden Party at Hôtel Britannique; dinner at Palace des Bains.
28th July: horse competition; Bals d’enfants at Casinò; music concert.
29th July: visit to the caves of Remouchamps; Fashion Gala at Palace des Bains.
30th July: Grand Prix des Nations; first Jury meeting.
31st July: Spa, Grand Salle des Fêtes, election of Miss Universe 1932.
1st August: Ostende, Kursaal, election of Miss Universe 1932 and Farewell Gala.
In the meantime my aunt’s mother was trying every fur my aunt left in sight and eating anything she could possibly stiff in her mouth ("I am stocking for the hard times"), while my aunt didn’t want to leave the hotel room. Her mother literally had to push her to the parades.
And I can see everything, again: the smell of the hotel rooms, the murmur of the crowd, the vanity and implication of an international beauty competition.
All is there, on the screen of a computer in Cegesoma, square de l’Aviation, Bruxelles, February 2016.
I am just realizing that my aunt Rosetta never left me, but she is still at my side telling her story providing grace and admonition to my life.
"Never leave the table with a stomach full".
"Don't take yourself seriously and brush your teeth".
"You don’t need a fur to be elegant but nice shoes will do".
Independence starts from the bottom.
Rosetta story in Italian here
