Tibor Barcza sent the post card below from Budapest. He also provided the translation.
In March 1929 Daniel Sedlack, age 38, traveled to Europe on the luxury liner SS Ile de France intending to visit his wife Emma's Uncle Karoly Mathea, Karoly's wife, Maria Nagy Mathea and Emma's cousins Karoly Mathea, Jr. and Maria Mathea and Maria's husband Gyula Neubauer in Budapest, Hungary and perhaps other relatives in the city of Nagykanizsa. He may also have had other reasons to make the trip, such as to buy furs for his business or even leather for his father-in-law's business. In just seven months the world economy would be shocked by the "Great Depression," which began on "Black Tuesday," October 29 1929.While on the ship Daniel sent this postcard ahead to Dr. Gyulane Neubauer in Hungary.
(It will be helpful to note that in Hungary the proper way to denote a gentleman's wife is to add the suffix "ne" to the gentleman's first name and not give her name at all. So, "Dr. Gyulane Neubauer" is actually Maria Neubauer, Gyula's wife. In the US we still see similar usages such as Mr. and Mrs. John Doe or Mrs. John Doe. A further complication is that in Hungarian the surname precedes the given name: "Dr. Neubauer Gyulane." Incidently, Dr. Neubauer was not a medical doctor but a Ph. D. His field was economics.)
The ship pictured on the postcard is not the Ile de France but a different ship, the SS Pellerin de LaTouche, named after the president of the French Lines, Monsieur Gaston de Pellerin de La Touche.
As can be seen below Daniel wrote his message in Hungarian:
March 6. - 1929. S.S. Ile de Frence (sic!)
Tistelt Kedves Dr. Neubauer,
Tudosítom önöket hogy mik a hoyjan vagyok de körül belül pénteken már Párisban leszek és vagy körul belul 18 Budapestre érkezek és astan nagy Kanizára
Tistelettel maradok Daniel Sedlack Bklyn
Here is the English version provided by Tibor Barcza:
Honoured Dear Dr. Neubauer,
I inform you that I am still on the ship, but I will have already been to Paris on circa Friday and or I arrive to Budapest on the 18th and then to nagy Kanizsa.
I remain respectfully Daniel Sedlack Bklyn
The SS Ile de France is pictured below. Notice it has three funnels (one is a dummy) while the SS Pellerin de LaTouche has only two.
Daniel's postcard arrived in France a day before Daniel did because it was put on a seaplane which was catapulted off the ship.
Before Dan departed for Europe his father-in-law, Albert Mathea, sent a letter to Dr. Neubauer and his wife Maria (Micike) in Budapest advising them of Dan's trip and requesting that they welcome him and treat him as family. Here is the translation by Tibor with his comments:
