Scheuer’s Traveling Companions:
Reconstructing the 1934 Journey

Dick Scheuer kept his expired passports, and thus his 1934 passport, containing dated stamps from various countries, has helped us to track the outline of his summer 1934 voyage. However, we have no letters or diary from Dick in this period, and there is much that we don’t know. First of all, we have not identified the people, other than his father Simon Scheuer, who accompanied Dick for much or all of this journey. Perhaps some of you can help us solve this mystery.Simon and Dick sailed from New York City to Paris in the early hours of July 16, 1934, aboard the SS Champlain, arriving in Le Havre, Normandy on July 22. There’s a good chance that other members of their party sailed with them. Dick photographed other members of the group, apparently waiting to disembark.
Simon and three other companions are in this photo. In the following pages, these three are identified as Young Girl, Woman #!, and Pocket Square Man. These three, possibly along with one other Young Man, seem to have accompanied Dick throughout the trip.Simon seems to have been with the group throughout their travels in France and Spain. But Si is absent from the photos from Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland and the USSR. He may have remained in France while Dick and the others toured these countries.Upon leaving the Basque region, the travelers visited Carcassonne in southern France. Several people appear uniquely in Dick’s photos from that location, identified here as Pipe Man and Camera Couple. They may have been relatives or family friends, or passing acquaintances. After this point, the group continues to Italy, apparently by train, probably without Si Scheuer. Joan Scheuer (Dick’s widow) recalled after his death that Dick told her that he had been invited by another family to attend the Moscow Theater Festival, though she did not recall the family’s name.After returning from the USSR, the group apparently rejoined Si, and visited a rural location in France. This may have been the home of relatives, possibly the Hermann family in Auxerre, a location that would be consistent with the architecture shown in these pictures. Another person, woman #2, appears only at this location.

There are also several photos that may help to identify this final French destination.If you have any ideas about the identity of any of these persons or places, please contact us at charlie@CharlesSeton.com.













