Gertrude Ball Travel Album, 1925

This travel scrapbook documents the trip of Gertrude Ball (b. 1895), husband Ridgeway Ball (1890-1965), and mother Della Clapper (1869-1931) as they drive from Omaha, Nebraska to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in 1925. The scrapbook outlines the weather, sightseeing and stops, landscape, and overall travel of the trio, written by Gertrude. The front cover of the scrapbook also includes the total mileage and expenses of the trip. Their trip, according to the book, started on July 17th, with the last entry from July 30th, while still in Colorado. The book starts with headline “Our Trip to the Mountains in ‘1925’” and also contains images taken throughout the trip of the various travelers and their locations, one receipt from a campground, two newspaper clippings, and miniature photo cards from certain tourist spots. The images are affixed to the page in glued-on mounts, and continue to hold well to the page. Some of the images contain two extra people, whom Gertrude mentions as “The Hutchinsons,” near the end of the scrapbook. The back cover contains a poem about traveling. The book is in fair condition. Most of the pages were already torn out of the leather sewing, which led to a separation of the pages from the book. Many of the pages are flaking and delicate. The pages are black, with white, handwritten cursive documenting the trip.

More images of Gertrude, her friends, and her family, can be found in another scrapbook currently for sale: https://www.biblio.com/book/photo-album-telephone-operator-nebraska-1920/d/1279498534