John and Frances Gunther Celebrate the New Year, Vienna, December 31, 1930

The January 1937 issue of Story magazine contained a short story about a New Year’s Eve party thrown on December 31, 1930 in Vienna by an American journalist and his wife. The twelve-page story, with the title “Another Year,” was written by Frances Gunther, wife of journalist and author John Gunther. It is autobiographical, or at least semi-autobiographical. 

The lead characters in the story are Steve and his wife, whose name we never learn, but who is telling the story from her perspective (since she has no name, I refer to her as “Mrs. Steve). Aside from Steve and Mrs. Steve, whom we recognize as John and Frances, many of the story’s characters are identifiable as friends and colleagues of the Gunthers in the Anglo-American journalist community living in Vienna in December 1930.

The story provides some insight into the lives of the people in this group at this specific time and place.

It suggests the group had its libidinous elements. Apparently, the sexually charged atmosphere of fin de siècle Vienna had survived, in some measure, World War I and the fall of the Hapsburgs.

Also through this story, readers learn more about Frances Gunther, who lived in the shadow of the man who was her husband from 1927 to 1944. Even more, the story provides another perspective of Frances and John’s relationship, a subject prominent in the roman à clef, The Lost City, that John first wrote in 1937 and 1938, though it was not published until 1964. The relationship had both its exciting and sad elements, and the short story illustrates, in its own way, why.  

The Short Story: “Another Year”

The short story can be summarized as follows:

Plans for a New Year’s Eve Party

The story begins with Steve and his wife talking to Clive Dennis and Kate Pond.  The first two had recently arrived in Vienna, where he was a foreign correspondent for an American newspaper.  Clive and Kate, also American journalists, had been there for a few months.  The four were discussing different members of the foreign journalist community in Vienna when Clive complained about the tame New Year’s Eve party given the previous year by the Schnabels. He asked, “What the hell kind of party is this: No drinking, no smoking, no kissing?”   

Steve offered to hold the next New Year’s Eve party at the large apartment he and his wife have rented. He said, “We’ll show ‘em what a New Year’s Eve party is, won’t we kid?”  His wife replied, “Sure, we’ll show ‘em.”

Portrait of Frances Gunther, 1935,
 in Cuthbertson's biography of John Gunther

The Party Begins   

Sixty people showed up for the party. The centerpiece was a pig: “There was a great pig’s head in the middle, surrounded by lots of little pig’s heads and roast ribs of pork and, of course, hams.”  The punch was as “smooth as nothing on the tongue, but with a lift like a skyrocket.” 

At midnight, with the house lights off, people waved sparklers and shouted “PROSIT NEUJAHR,” clicked glasses and ate Lebkuchen and pigs head, especially the nose, “which is extra good luck, especially if you keep it in your purse all year.”

Until three, the party was a huge buzzing crowd.  As Steve’s wife described it, “It was all crowd, crowd noise, crowd smell, crowd feel. A babel of crowd.” She liked this: it was too loud for people to spill their souls, to make connections, to tell their stories. All that could be said was things such as “Hello—everything’s swell—have a drink—swell--drink.”

The Party Dramas

The crowd at the party started thinning after three a.m. and the small dramas began heating up. These dramas stemmed largely from the relationships different people brought to the party. Much of the dramas had to do with sex.

Lee Pugh, Mrs. Foster, and Miss Libby

At the center of one small drama was Lee Pugh, described by Mrs. Steve as “one of our best friends, who covered for a half a dozen papers under various names.” When the party was being planned, he had told Steve that he wished that Mrs. Foster would not be invited to the party. Apparently, she often joined the journalists at their café, and Pugh thought she was pursuing him. He told Steve, “That woman’s a nymphomaniac, that’s what she is – the way she goes after a guy – je-sus!”

Kate, on the other hand, wanted her invited. She told Mrs. Steve that Mrs. Foster, a psychology professor at a woman’s college on a study leave in Vienna, is “a splendid woman.” Kate said, “Pugh makes me sick. Every time a woman looks past him to look at a clock, he thinks she is trying to get her claws into him. Just because the Countess hangs onto him like a bug on flypaper, he thinks every other woman is crazy about him too. He makes me sick.”  Mrs. Steve remarked elsewhere, “Every woman who wants to get beaten up is attracted to Pugh.”

The party hosts invited Mrs. Foster to the party as well as Miss Libby, a young woman who was crazy about Pugh. Though he actively disliked Mrs. Foster, Pugh just ignored young Miss Libby.

Picture of John and Frances Gunther in 1929,
Published in Cuthbertson's biography
of John Gunther

 Mason, Franzi, Mr. Daggett, and Miss Libby

Another small drama in the short story involves a character named Mason, who has just returned from a reporting trip to India, and his “girl,” Franzi.  According to Mrs. Steve, “Franzi was young. She was no great beauty. But she was all young, her eyes were young, her breasts were young, her thighs were young.” 

Mason and Franzi were enthralled by each other and obviously in love. However, Franzi had been the secretary of Mr. Daggett, another journalist who “is the author of a half dozen standard works on European politics.” Mrs. Steve had learned from Steve that Daggett had either had something going with Franzi, or had wanted to. He is at the party with his wife, whom he evidently detests.  

As Mason and Franzi danced and reveled in their mutual attraction, Daggett watched Franzi, his eyes “glued to her thighs.” His wife watched him watch Franzi and suggested that it was time to go home. He replied to her angrily. Mrs. Steve noted, “You could see him hating her because Mason had taken Franzi from him—as if it were her fault.”  Mason was upset at Daggett for staring at Fritzi. She was embarrassed. The two lovers soon slipped away from the party.

About this time, Miss Libby was leaning against the bar.  According to Mrs. Steve, “she was very tall and wore a long dark dress opening down the front to about her belly button.”

Miss Libby had talked to everyone at the party, except Pugh, “who was the only one she wanted.” Mrs. Steve observed, “No matter whom she talked to, she kept looking around to Pugh, as if she were a sunflower and he the sun.”  Daggett came over to her and after some inebriated chatting, they both disappeared from the room.  His wife -- “handsomely gowned” with “fine intelligent blue eyes”, but “heavily made up and henna-ed” -- pretended she didn’t notice.

Steve’s “Little Russian Dancer” and Tony

The third small drama concerns Steve’s “little Russian dancer.” His wife had suggested she be invited to the party. Steve said that he thought she would be out of town.  Mrs. Steve said, “Why not call her up to find out.” He said, “Oh you call her up.” She said “Yes, and then I suppose you’ll want me to put her in bed with you and tuck you both in.” Steve said, “You have the brightest ideas darling.”  When invited to the party, the dancer agreed to come as long as she could bring along a female friend.

In an early morning hour, Mrs. Steve observed Steve “playing with the little Russian dancer.” According to her, “She wore a bright red dress and she was even younger than Franzi, though she looked older and not so pure.” When Steve asked, the little Russian dancer told him she was seventeen.

About that time, Mrs. Steve danced with Tony, “a beautiful boy who writes music or something.” He subtly solicited her interest, but she refused to show any, though if she were seventeen, she thought, she was sure she would.

Then the Party Ends

As the hour nears 6 a.m. the party begins to wind down.  Steve spots three gatecrashers who have arrived and cheerfully introduces them to everyone. Mrs. Foster, with her “gold hair, black gown, bare back and diamante,” says, “Three men. Did I hear that three new men had arrived?” Not long after, she disappeared from the party with them, never to return. Steve remarked, “Pretty swell course in psychology that must be.”

Daggett and Miss Lilly return and, Mrs. Steve observed that “the miracle of the flesh has performed its beneficent wonder.  Daggett’s face was still red, but the hate had gone out of his eyes, he was just drowsy and peaceful.” He and his wife soon left the party.

Thinking about how Steve had so much enjoyed the little Russian dancer, Mr. Steve considers asking Steve to take her home and she would “keep Tony here.”  Then, she thought, “You’re a fool, it’s another year – still another new year – one more again – and you can’t go back to that sort of thing.”

Pugh started to leave. Libby followed closely behind. She asks if she can go with him. He says, “Sure, suit yourself.”

Then, it was after six a.m., only Mr. and Mrs. Steve, Clive, and Kate were left. They played some ping pong, then Clive and Kate crashed at the apartment.

Steve and his wife were alone in their bedroom where they opened a window to eat fresh snow. He says, “You know, I nearly took the little Russian girl home.” She asks why he did not. He says, “I wanted to stay with you more.” “That’s nice.” 

With fresh pajamas, they snuggled in bed. He says, “It’s been a great party, Happy New Year.” She replied, “Happy New Year darling.” The story ends with this remark: “we saw that it was pretty good after all and we fell asleep.”

Behind the Story of the 1930 New Year’s Eve Party

Frances Gunther’s short story is based, at least in part, on the New Year’s Eve party that she and her husband threw on December 31, 1930. We know something about this party because Martha Foley, who was there, wrote about it:

The Fodors, the Gunthers, and we combined forces and funds to give a New Year’s Eve party for the correspondents’ group. We held it on the spacious second floor of the Gunther’s rented mansion, where there was plenty of room for dancing. Newspaper people have a gift for the convivial, and I have never known them to give a party that was not a success. Ours was no exception. There was an abundance of good food, good drink, and good talk.

A roast suckling pig was the pièce de résistance on the buffet table. In the Viennese tradition, each guest was served a tiny piece of its ear, with the admonition to carry it at all times. Like a rabbit’s foot in America. It would bring us something we were all going to need desperately – luck. Never again for many years would there be such carefree New Year’s festivities as on that eve of 1931 – not in Vienna, not anywhere in the civilized world.  (The Story of Story Magazine, pp 125-126)

As discussed below in more detail, Foley and her partner Whit Burnett are characters in the short story.

Steve, Mrs. Steve, Clive, and Kate, plus the Schnabels

In the short story, as previously noted, Steve and his wife are John Gunther (1901 – 1970) and Frances Fineman Gunther (1897 – 1963) who moved to Vienna in June 1930. He had been appointed by the Chicago Daily News to head its bureau there. The two had married in 1927, and when they were not traveling around Europe for the newspaper, they had lived in Paris. Shortly before moving to Vienna, they had had a son, whom they named Johnny.

Clive Dennis and Kate Pond are Whit Burnett (1900-1972) and Martha Foley (1897-1977), who had also moved to Vienna from Paris, arriving some months before the Gunthers. Burnett was a journalist with the New York Sun; she was also a journalist, sometimes writing for the Consolidated Press news syndicate and other times doing freelance work. Though they lived together in Vienna, they did not marry until later.

While in Vienna, the two started publication of Story magazine (in which this short story was published) as a literary outlet for short stories. The first issue, dated April/May 1931, was reproduced on a mimeograph machine located in a room for journalists (Journalistenzimmer) in the Vienna Central Telegraph Office.  They left Vienna in 1933 when their jobs disappeared.  They and their magazine moved to New York City. By the late 1930s, its circulation had reached 21,000. The magazine was published on-and-off until 2000. [See the “Story Magazine” entry on Wikipedia]

The Gunthers were good friends of Burnett and Foley, even after they all had left Vienna. However, Foley did not like John very much. She claimed that he “detested women journalists” and that he had run around on his wife in Paris when she was in the hospital to give birth to their son. She wrote:

We became such close, lifelong friends with the Gunthers that we seemed at times almost like one family. Whenever we were in the same country we celebrated Thanksgivings and Christmases together. Their son, Johnny, often stayed with us when they took trips, and our problems, professional or domestic, we discussed in common. But it was never really a four-way friendship. The relationship developed because Whit and John liked each other, as did Frances and myself.  (The Story of Story Magazine, p. 125)

The identity of the Schnabels, who threw a boring party in 1929, is uncertain.  The story indicates that they were natives – meaning they were from Vienna, elsewhere in Austria, or Central Europe. Among the possibilities are (1) Friedrich Scheu (1905 – ????), a young Viennese lawyer, who also was the correspondent for a left-leaning newspaper in Britain, (2) M.W. Fodor (1890 – 1977) and his wife Martha (1900 – 1959; he was born and raised in Budapest, she was born in Slovakia; he had been the correspondent for the Manchester Guardian since 1919 and had also started reporting for the Philadelphia Public Ledger in 1927; and (3) Emil Vadnay (1885? – 1939), a Hungarian employed by the New York Times.

G.E.R. Gedye, left, and Emil Vadnay, New York Times

None of these people could be suspected of throwing a dull party. Scheu was the son of a prominent lawyer, and his mother was Helene Scheu-Riesz (1880-1970), a famous writer of children’s books who kept a popular salon in Vienna at the time.  Fodor was the son of a Hungarian industrialist who had grown up with the finer things. Vadnay had been an officer in the Hungarian army during World War I who had become a journalist. He was known for his winning personality. According to his college G.E.R. Gedye, Vadnay “was immensely popular” with his peers and “a generous host.” [New York Times, April 2, 1939, p. 62]

Another possibility is Alfred Tyrnauer (1897 – 1979), correspondent for the International New Service. Tyrnauer was born in Kassa and had a doctorate in economics. He had reported from Vienna beginning in 1927, but worked for a news service that did not pay good salaries.  

                The Unlikable Lee Pugh

In this short story, the character of Lee Pugh is clearly Robert Best (1896-1952), who was a correspondent in Vienna for the United Press news bureau. Best was a central figure in the Anglo-American journalist community from the middle 1920s until 1940. He had established and presided over the most popular meeting place for Anglo-American journalists in Vienna, the Café Louvre.

Best had arrived in Vienna in December 1922 and found a job with the United Press news service. This job paid poorly, and he supplemented his income by assisting journalists when they were working away from Vienna or were on vacation. He also set up a small press agency for journalists in Vienna.

Press Photograph of Robert Best (left) with his sister and brother, receiving
a birthday present on his 52nd birthday; on that day, he was convicted
of treason

Best’s colleagues liked him, even though he was considered peculiar. Among the strangest things about him was his relationship with a mysterious older woman who was a “countess.” She and Best had a strange and stormy relationship that mortified his friends. The two are major characters in Gunther’s The Lost City (Best’s name in the book was Jim Drew).  Also, they are the basis for the lead characters in The Traitor, a book written by William Shirer after World War II. The title refers to Best, who remained in Austria after the Anschluss and refused to leave Germany after the United States declared war on that country. During the war, Best worked as a radio propagandist for Germany, with his anti-Semitic diatribes transmitted to the U.S. from Germany. After World War II, he was convicted of treason by a U.S. court.

The real identities of Mrs. Foster and Miss Libby are not known.

Mason and Franzi in Love

In the story, the character named Mason is clearly William Shirer (1904-1993), who was the Chicago Tribute correspondent in Vienna from 1929 to 1932. Franzi is Theresa (Tess) Stiberitz (1910 - 2008), a Vienna native. During 1930, Shirer spent many months in India and had returned near the end of the year to Vienna. He and Tess were married on January 31, 1931, a month after this party was held. As Shirer described in The Nightmare Years, volume 2 of his autobiography, the wedding was a civil ceremony at the Vienna City Hall.  The only witnesses were their friends Emil Vadnay and Emil’s Viennese wife.

According to the biography of John Gunther, he (John) formed a close friendship with Tess when they were both in Vienna, and often confided in her. Perhaps this relationship contributed to Frances' assessment of her in the short story as “no great beauty.”   

                The Daggetts, the Little Russian Dancer, and Tony

The least sympathetic person in the short story is Mr. Daggett. The real identity of this character is unknown, and it is not known if Tess, soon to marry Shirer, had worked for him.  None of the foreign correspondents in Vienna in 1930 was the “author of a half dozen standard works on European politics” – which in the short story is Daggett’s main identifying characteristic.  Perhaps the identity of this character was obscured to avoid overt insult or libel. 

William and Tess Shirer, 1932, Vienna, from
The Nightmare Years

(It should be noted that all of the people who were characters in this short story were still alive when it was published, and many of them were still John Gunther’s friends and colleagues. Some of them likely were not pleased with how their characters were portrayed.)

The identity of the little Russian dancer is also not known.  From his biography and the semi-biographical book John Gunther wrote, it is known that he was a social and fun-loving person who liked to attend cabarets in Vienna and became acquainted with many young women there. Specifically, it is documented that while in Vienna, John Gunther fell for a young actress, Luise Rainer (1910 -  )  before she went to Hollywood, where she won academy awards as best actress in 1935 and 1936. (As of January 2014, she is still alive, living in England). According to Shirer, quoted in Guther’s biography his interest in Rainer was a source of tension with Frances.

The identity of Tony is not known. Apparently, during the last years of her stay in Vienna, Frances was well acquainted with many Tonys whose attention she did not reject.

The Gunthers and Life in Vienna After the 1930 New Year’s Eve Party

The short story ends on a tenuous, but hopeful note: “It was pretty good after all and we fell asleep.” However, by the time readers get to the end of the story, they realize something is off kilter. The story is a modest, understated tale that shows a keen eye for people and their behavior. It makes no judgments and shows no overt cynicism or emotion about what is happening, even when they seem justified.

Mrs. Steve – that is, Frances – is calm and apparently complaisant when contemplating her husband’s interest in the teenaged Russian dancer. And she has no particular anxiety about her subtle encounter with Tony and its possibilities. The essence of her state of mind and the situation is evident when she calmly thinks about sending Steve to take the dancer home while she would “keep Tony here.” She rejects the idea: “It is another year” and “you can’t go back to that sort of thing.”

This one phrase “you can’t go back to that sort of thing” tells its own story and provides the context for understanding where Frances and John were in their relationship. It was a difficult one and would get worse.

Gunther’s biographer attributes most of the difficulties to Frances, who suffered abuse as a child. According to his account, she tricked John into marrying her by telling him – when she was in the U.S. and he was in Europe – that she was pregnant. When she showed up for the wedding, she was not. The decision to marry her was one “John would regret for the rest of his life.” (Cuthbertson, p. 73)  He told Shirer in the 1930’s, “You don’t know the hell I am living through.” (Cuthbertson, p. 113)

Gunther’s biography describes Frances as “a very disturbed, angry woman” who was “moody and unpredictable” (Cuthbertson, pp 113, 115). In the last year or so in Vienna, she had a “series of sad affairs.” (Cuthbertson, p. 115)

Frances did not have a biographer to explain her actions or delve into her husband’s, but some of her friends, including Martha Foley, thought highly of her.  She wrote, “Frances, on first meeting people, studied them with the candid, questioning gaze of a child, and she was considered cold. Appearances were deceiving.”

Another friend, Friedrich Scheu, the Viennese lawyer-journalist who worked with her and John during their time in Vienna, wrote the following about her:

…in her Vienna years [Frances] looked like a delicate blond doll, like a gentle kitten. In reality she was a lightening quick woman with open eyes and a very sharp tongue….It was almost accepted that during the years of John Gunther’s rise, she was the driving, dynamic force behind his efforts. She could also write – after 1934 she worked for a while as the Vienna correspondent of the “News Chronicle.” She was an amusing and intelligent colleague. I once saw one of her written “Novella,” that circulated in manuscript form. In it she described her colleagues in a humorous but blunt way.” (Scheu, p. 61; my translation)

Whatever, Frances’ strengths or weakness, living with John Gunther could not have been easy. He had many admirable traits, including great charm, admirable generosity and strong loyalty to friends. He was in many ways larger than life: ambitious, hardworking, high living. However, in The Lost City, the character of Mason Jarrett -- John Gunther as he saw himself -- is a humorless, tedious womanizer who has such a grand view of himself that he could justify anything he did and excuse himself for his transgressions. 

Among his many transgressions was an effort that began in 1939 to persuade Agnes Knickerbocker, the wife of a good friend and fellow journalist, H.R. (Red) Knickerbocker, to leave her husband to marry him. This effort came at a time he was still married to Frances. (Cuthbertson, p.  190)

Whatever Frances problems and however her husband contributed to them, she was obviously well educated (she graduated from Bernard College) and intelligent. She had ambitions to be writer, but little of her work was published. Her most ambitious project, an analysis and history of Empires which she worked on for twenty year, was never completed. 

Frances’ and John’s marriage survived the Vienna years and the years of his first success with the “Inside” books. However, the couple finally found it impossible to live together. They divorced in 1944, though they had separated emotionally by the beginning of the decade.

Sources Consulted

Burnett, Whit. 1939. The Literary Life and the Hell with It. Harpers and Brothers.

Cuthbertson, Ken. 1992. Inside: The Biography of John Gunther. Bonus Books.

Edwards John Carver. 1982. Bob Best Considered: An Expatriate’s Long Road to Treason,” North Dakota Quarterly 50(1), Winter, pp. 73-90.

Foley, Martha and Jay Neugeboren. 1980. The Story of Story Magazine, W.W. Norton.

Gedye, G.E.R. 1939. Literature His Hobby. New York Times, April 2, p. 62.

Gunther, Frances. 1937. Another Year. Story, vol. X, no. 54, January, pp. 74-85.

Gunther, John. 1964. The Lost City. Harper & Row.

Scheu, Friederick. 1972. Der Weg ins Ungewisse. Verlag Fritz Molden.

Shirer, William. 1950. The Traitor. Farrar Straus

Shirer, William. 1984. The Nightmare Years, vol. 2 of “20^th Century Journey.” Little, Brown, and Co.  

Writings of a Physician and Freethinker in Franklin County, Arkansas: 1870-1903

I recently finished reading the following book, published in 2013 by the University of Arkansas Press:  

Lindsey, William (ed.), Fiat Flux: The Writings of Wilson R. Bachelor, Nineteenth-Century Country Doctor and Philosopher. University of Arkansas Press, 2013.  (Foreword by Thomas A. Bruce and an Afterword by Jonathan Wolfe).

The book is an unusual slice of Arkansas history that should be especially interesting for folks with connections to Franklin County and the Arkansas River Valley. The following is a  review of it. 

**************************

The core of this book is the diary of Wilson R. Bachelor, plus his newspaper essays and letters to the editor, personal letters, and other materials written during his years in Franklin County, Arkansas, from March 1870 until his death in 1903. The diary starts on March 1, 1870, when he departed from his home in Hardin County, Tennessee, for the trip to his new home in the Arkansas River Valley near Ozark. The trip took 22 days as he traveled by water up the Tennessee River to Cairo, Ill., where he caught a boat going south on the Mississippi River. When the Mississippi reached the mouth of the Arkansas River, he boarded another boat to take him to Ozark.  

Bachelor was 43 when he arrived in Arkansas. He had been born in 1827 in Tennessee. His parents had moved there from North Carolina, where his father had served in the N.C. militia in the War of 1812. The family first settled in Maury County in the middle of the state; in 1830 it moved to Hardin County, a rural area by the intersection of the Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee borders.  The family’s migration path – N.C. to Tennessee to Arkansas – was a common one. As noted in the introduction, “There was a developing tide of emigration from North Carolina to Tennessee, where North Carolina had been awarding land for Revolutionary Service, thereby spurring the movement of families from the mother state to its daughter.” (p. 10). Also, people became anxious to leave eastern North Carolina because the land there was wearing out from the prolonged production of tobacco.

During his years in Hardin County, W.R. Bachelor taught school and became a medical doctor.  However, times became difficult when the Civil War came. He and his family – as well as a majority of people in this rural county – were, at first, union supporters. However, the sentiment of the population shifted when the bloody battle of Shiloh (also known as Pittsburg Landing) was fought in the county in 1862. In 1863, because of the unpopularity of his views, Bachelor and his family moved to Kentucky to escape the confederacy.

Bachelor returned to his home in Hardin County after the war. He was appointed physician in charge of the construction of the Pittsburg Landing National Cemetery but was embroiled in charges that only Union soldiers were being disinterred for reburial. Hard anti-union feelings remained in the county after the war, and those likely contributed to his decision to depart for Arkansas.

When Bachelor made it to Arkansas, he disembarked at Ozark and settled at the foot of “Mill Creek Mountain” on the South side of the Arkansas River. He lived in the community of “Pauline,” which long ago disappeared from maps.  He was less than ten miles from Ozark, which lay on the North side of the river. Bachelor made his living as a medical doctor and farmer. In his spare time, he was a “freethinker” activist. According to William Lindsey, the editor of this volume, Bachelor likely came to Franklin County because it was “in an area of Arkansas with the strongest Republican presence and situated, as well, in the area that had had the most pronounced resistance to secession.” (p. 28)

Bachelor’s diary, especially, the part from 1870 to 1874, is a treasure for historians interested in the practice of medicine in the state. He wrote often about the cases he encountered and his treatment of them. Also, this part of the diary makes clear some of the difficulties of life in Franklin County during this time. He was appalled by the violence he saw in the county, as shown in the following diary entry:

August the 19^th 1874

…I thought I would [r]ecord Some circumstances that have occurred [d]uring the last 8 weeks.

[9] or 10 weeks ago two young men hardly [g]rown had a little difficulty, drew their pistols, and commenced fireing on each other, and continued fireing until they both sunk, down and both expired almost Simultaneously, in a few minutes. This occurred at the little village of Charleston 10 miles from where I reside.

About three weeks ago, three men were arrested [n]ear Roseville, they were carried to Roseville [a]nd confined, but before they had any [tr]ial, a mob of men arrive on the spot and [to]ok them out and hung them dead. These men had been accused of robbing and [s]tealing.

[A]bout two weeks ago a young man went to [a] School house, or near one, meeting the pupils [g]oing home, he attacked a youth, a pupil [s]lapping him and using him roughly and [as] Soon as the youth resisted, he drew his [re]peater and Shot him. The pupil lived [a] few days and died.

I am now treating a young man, whose [sk]ull is horribly fractured, this was done[e by] his brother a few days ago at his Fathers, [a]nd in the midst of the family.

{B]ut these are only a few isolated cases. [Th]ere is not a week, but the reports of bl[ood]shed and murder reaches us.

And the perpetrators of these acts, go unp[unished]. If any of these desperados are arrested, [they] almost invariably make their escape, [and] if they do not, they are Seldom punis[hed]. Since the first of January 1874 until to[day] the number of men who have died by vio[lence] equal those, who have died of disease in my [practice].  It is nothing uncommon here, if Some o[f a] man[‘s] neighbors become offended at hi[m], to go in a crowd to his house and order him to leave in a given time, which [demand?] is implicitly obeyed.

Every person here are allowed to carry weapons. So every desperado and hairbrained you[th] in the country has them Swung to his Sid[e]. They go to Church with them, they do into a Gentleman’s house, with them and think [it] an honor. (p 69; spelling and punctuation as in the original; omitted and unreadable letters are in parentheses)

His diary entries that resumed in 1890 after none had been written for about sixteen years are less about medicine than his life and beliefs. In the entry dated December 25, 1890, the first since December 24, 1874, Bachelor proclaimed he had become a confirmed “Freethinker or Agnostic.” (p 72). Much of his writings for newspapers and other publications espoused his opinions. For example, he provided his thoughts about religion in a three-part essay, published in a local paper [undated], with the title, “Reasons for Being an Agnostic.”  

As a freethinker, Bachelor believed that human affairs should be guided by reason and empirical thought. He was a social progressive, and as his essays and letters published in local newspapers showed, he was for women’s rights and opposed the death penalty and prohibition.  He wrote to one friend, “I freely adopt what two of the pioneers of free thought have said: ‘The world is my country, to do good, my religion. The place to be happy is here, the time to be happy is now, the way to be happy is to make others happy.’” (p. 153)

The title of the book, Fiat Flux, is the title of a monograph or brochure that Bachelor wrote in 1884 that “disputed the divinity and authority of the Bible.” As a result of the publication, he was expelled from the Masons by the Lowe’s Creek Lodge No. 346, which he had helped found.

With his views, Bachelor became “one of the leading Liberalists in Western Arkansas.” He was also among the leading Republicans in the area.

I am sure that Bachelor’s opinions were not very popular in Franklin County and its vicinity. In fact, if my own ancestors, the Durnings, heard them, they probably thought they were the work of the Devil. Lewis Durning and his family had made the same move from North Carolina (Orange County) to Tennessee to Arkansas, arriving in Franklin County in the 1840s. They settled in Cass, located in the mountainous northern part of the county. They were living there when Bachelor arrived and were there when he died.

During the time covered in Bachelor’s writings, the Durnings were eking out a living near the Mulberry River, about thirty miles from where he had his home. They were primitive Baptists. In the 1840s, Lewis and his wife Nancy and son George helped found the New Enon Primitive Baptist Church in Cass. Certainly, they, like most of the residents of Franklin County at the time, were not freethinkers and, from available evidence, were unlikely to have read Bachelor’s essays because they could not read or write. [See Walter Harris, Short Stories by a Pioneer Teacher, Walter C. Harris, Bella Vista Press, 1964, pp 85-89]

The fact that my ancestors shared a county with Bachelor made this book more engaging to me than it otherwise would have been, but such a connection is not needed to appreciate and enjoy it.  Enormous effort was required to track down, assemble and prepare the Bachelor writings for publication. The writings are heavily documented (over 100 pages of footnotes), and the documentation greatly enhances an understanding of the context of Bachelor’s work and philosophy.

In all, this book is a valuable and remarkable excursion into the life and mind of an interesting man living in the Arkansas River Valley, on the edge of the Ozarks, in the post-Civil War period.  In learning his story through these annotated primary documents, we get another perspective of how people in Franklin County lived and the health care they received in the last part of the 19^th century. Reading this book, we add additional texture to the history of this time and place in Arkansas.

The book has an excellent introductory essay by William Lindsey, the book’s editor, and another informative essay, “Medicine in the Arkansas River Valley, 1865-1890,” by Jonathan Wolfe. The annotations are well done. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone interested in learning some new wrinkles in Arkansas history.   

   

My Ten Favorite Vienna Christmas Markets

In December 1967, when I was a student in Vienna, I stumbled one cold December day on the city’s Christkindlmarkt (literally, Christ Child Market) located in an alley at the end of Mariahilferstrasse in the back of a large complex known as the Messepalast. The market was a modest grouping of wooden stands selling crafts, toys, food, beer, trinkets, and hot wine. Its location was a good one, near a major shopping street and across a busy road from the Art History and Natural History museums.

Since that time, the original Vienna Christmas Market has been joined by nearly a dozen more, and together they have become a major tourist attraction. These markets are part of long tradition that dates back to 1764, when the Saint Nicholas and Christmas Market operated at the Freyung (1^st District). After decades there, the market moved to different locations. From 1842 until after World War I, it was located at the Am Hof, a large open area just a couple of blocks from Freyung.  In the following years, its home was at different times at the Neubaugürtel and in front of the iconic St. Stephens church in the heart of the inner city. (For a history of the Vienna Christmas Markets, go to this link: http://www.wien.gv.at/english/fima/h-xmasmarket.htm )

Early Christmas Market at Am Hof
Source:  http://www.wien.gv.at/english/fima/h-xmasmarket.htm

From 1958 until 1975, the market set up behind the Messepalast, which was reconfigured in the middle 70s as the Museumquartier. That was where I visited this market in 1967 and later in 1971, when I was again studying in Vienna. That site because unusable in 1975 when construction began on underground parking at its location. That year, the city’s Christkindlmarkt moved to the large plaza in front of Vienna’s monumental Rathaus (city hall), located on the Ringstrasse between the Austrian Parliament building and the main building of University of University.

 

1950 Christ Child Market at Neubauguertel
Source: http://www.wien.gv.at/english/fima/h-xmasmarket.htm

I am not sure when other Christmas Markets, also called Advent Markets and Christmas Villages, opened in Vienna. However, 2013 was advertised as the 27^th anniversary of the Christmas Market at Freyung and the twentieth anniversary of the Christmas markets in front of Karlskirche (Charles Church) and the awe-inspiring Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburg monarchs. Likely, the Freyung market was the first established to supplement the main Christkindlmarkt at the Rathaus. If so, the number of markets in Vienna began increasing around 1986, with two more added in 1993. 

The number of Christmas Markets has increased since then, as has the number of people visiting them. In 2013, a new Christmas Market was opened alongside St. Stephens Church (which had been the site of the Market from 1924 to 1928 and again in 1943). This location near the intersection of Kärtnerstrasse and the Graben is one of the busiest in the city.

After visiting the 1971 Vienna Christmas Market, I did not return to the city in December until 2000; after that I was in Vienna in December, at least briefly, for seven years in a row. Also, I was also there briefly in December 2011. Each of these years, I visited the Christmas markets to enjoy the festive lighting and jovial spirit in some spectacular settings. There is something innately enjoyable in standing outside in the cold, sipping glühwein or hot punsch, hearing happy voices and glancing around at impressive, historic buildings and at dozens of small colorful booths selling all kinds of food and crafts. 

Returning this year for a couple of weeks, I visited all of the full-time Christmas markets, except one. Also, I missed the “medieval Christmas market” held one November weekend at the Arsenal building where the city’s War History Museum is located. Beyond that, I did not make it to some of the neighborhood markets that were held various weekends.

Based on my several years of experience with Vienna’s Christmas markets, I have ranked them according to my preference for them. My favorites are listed first. Also, I provide a little information about each of them and give links to web sites that have more information about each market.  A map showing the locations of the Christmas markets can be downloaded from this site: http://web.student.tuwien.ac.at/~e1025108/?page_id=293 

(I am writing this post shortly before Christmas 2013; most likely it will be read after the markets have closed for the year. Nevertheless, please keep in mind that it is highly likely that all of my ten favorite markets will be back with few change for the 2014 Christmas season. Thus, this list should also apply to the coming year.) 

The following are my ten favorite Christmas Markets in Vienna:

1.   Altwiener Christkindlmarkt (Old Vienna Christ Child Market)

This small market is located in a public square a couple of blocks from Schottentor, which is a main transportation hub. This market is a small one, limited by the size of the square. Its size and stability (the same people seem to return with their booths every year) make it more intimate that other markets. In many ways, it reminds me of the Vienna Christkindlmarkt in 1967 and 1971, when it was more modest in size and setting.

 

Natalia G. at the entrance to the
Old Vienna Christ Child Market, 2013 

In recent years, another small Christmas market has been operating across the narrow Freyung street. Its booths are set up on the large sidewalk in front of a huge building lying between Freyung and Herrengasse. This market is the Biobauern market, which sells organic and ecologically friendly foods and good.

Ranking this market as my favorite, I should disclose that I am predisposed to like the Old Vienna market because in Spring 1968 I attended Institute of European Studies classes in the Kinsky Palace, which lies a few steps from this market. Thus, I had occasion to be in this vicinity almost daily for about four months and it retains good memories.

In 2013, the market was open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is located in the 1^st district on Freyung. Website:  www.altwiener-markt.at

2.   Wiener Christkindlmarkt (at the Rathaus)

This Christmas market is the opposite of the Old Vienna Christmas Market in scale and grandeur. Its setting is spectacular and the lights and decorations are the best among the markets. Not only are the soaring spires of the city hall nicely lit, but also the parks on either side of the square have colorful and attractive Christmas decorations.

 

Entrance to the Christmas Market at the Vienna City Hall, 2013

This year, this market had 150 stands selling different drinks, food, crafts, and doodads. Every time I was there, the market was stuffed full of people. The density was especially great at night and on weekends.

This Market, the original one, is a “can’t miss” attraction; however unless a person likes large crowds, he or she likely will come to take a few pictures, grab a Christmas punch (the mugs are usually nice collectibles), and then find another market that is less hectic to enjoy at leisure.

The market was open in 2013 from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., except on Friday and Saturday when it stayed open until 10 p.m. It is located on Ringstrasse between the Parliament Building and the main building of Vienna University.

Website: www.christkindlmarkt.at

3.   Weihnachtsmarkt at Schloss Schönbrunn

I especially liked visiting this Christmas Market during the day, though I also had to come in the evening to take pictures. The palace is a huge renaissance building suitable in scale and grandeur for the ruler of a huge empire. In fact, it was built as the summer home for the Hapsburg emperor.

The expansive Hapsburg-yellow façade of the palace provides a great backdrop for what seems to be a small village of modest wooden stands offering hot wine, sweets, and crafts. The food selection at this Christmas Market seems a bit better than many of the other markets, and the most of the crafts were of high quality. Although lots of people came to this market, it did not feel nearly as crowded as the Rathaus market.

 

People walking to the Christmas Market at Schönbrunn Palace, 2013

If you come during the day, you can stroll around the extensive grounds of the palace and even walk up to the Schönbrunn Gloriette to get a nice view of the city.

 

A Punsch and Krapfen Stand at Schönbrunn, 2013

In 2013, this Christmas market was open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It is one of two Christmas markets that remained open on December 25 and 26^th (from 10 am to 7 pm). Also, beginning on December 27, the site hosted a New Year’s Market (10 am to 7 pm) that lasted until January 1^st.

Schönbrunn can easily be reached by the Vienna subway. Take U-6 in the direction of Hütteldorf to the Schönbrunn station. The entrance to the grounds is a short walk from there.  Web site: www.weihnachtsmarkt.co.at

4.   Weihnachtsmarkt am Spittelberg

The Spittelberg Christmas Market is not too far from where the Christkindlmarkt was located in 1967 and 1971. It can be found a couple of blocks behind the Museumquartier between Siebensterngasse and Burggasse.  The market can be reached by walking up Burggasse from the Volkstheater or by taking Strassenbahn 49, one stop from the Volkstheater.  

 

A Demonstration of Blacksmithing
at the Spittelberg Market, 2013

This 7^th district market is another change of pace from the monumental markets at the Rathaus and Schönbrunn.  Most of its stands are located along two narrow streets (Spittelgasse and Schrankgasse, with some spillover on Spitalgasse). The Spittelberg area contains many traditional and funky craft shops and several small restaurants. So, many of the stands have handmade goods, and several restaurants are available near the market stands.

For me, this market captures some of the late 1960s and early 1970s feel. It is a comfortable place to drink some punsch and peruse crafts in a friendly setting.

In 2013, this market did not open until 2 p.m. on Monday to Friday. However, it opened at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It closed at 9 p.m. every day except Friday and Saturday, when it remained open until 9:30 p.m.  Website: www.spittelberg.at

5.   Weihnachtmarkt, Am Hof.

This market had the misfortune in 2013 (as well as in 2012 and 2011) to be located amid much construction that obscured its setting which includes the Am Hof Church, a large statute of Mary, and the old Vienna Firehouse. Nevertheless, it distinguished itself by having vendors selling things seldom found at other locations, including an excellent stand selling meats from throughout Austria and several selling antiques.

 

Entrance to the Am Hof Christmas Market, 2013

This market had stands selling several different types of food, so it is a good place to each lunch or a snack.

I have to admit that I ranked this Christmas Market higher than the others that follow not only because of its impressive offerings, but also because it is part of my old neighborhood. In the 1966-67 academic year, I lived a block away on Parisergasse, and I have strong nostalgic feelings about Am Hof that likely biased me toward a higher ranking.

Am Hof is located two blocks toward the inner city from the Old Vienna  Christmas Market at Freyung.  If you visit one of them, it is easy to visit the other.

This market opened at 11 a.m. on Monday through Thursday and at 10 a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It closed at 8 p.m. every day. Web:  www.kunsthandwerksmarkt.at

 

Franz Josef Wurst for sell at the Am Hof Market

6.   Weihnachtsdorf im Alten AKH (the old General Hospital of Vienna)

This 9^th district market is located in the huge inner courtyard of what used to be Vienna’s main hospital; the buildings are now used by the University of Vienna for various institutes and administrative offices. Because the court yard is expansive, this market has substantial space to host its stands: they are located along meandering paths amid trees and shrubs in a nicely landscaped setting. 

The large area allows the market to set up tables where visitors have ample room to stand and sip hot wine without bumping up against someone else. In all, it is a nice place for a leisurely visit. The market has a large number of stands with the usual drinks, food, crafts, and crap. It also has some children’s rides. 

 

Spacious Place to Sip Hot Punsch, the Old General Hospital Market

At night, the market is reasonable well lit, but lacks the brightly colorful setting of some of the better markets and the funky feel of others.  Nevertheless, it is worth a visit.

This market opened at 2 p.m. on Monday to Friday and at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It closed at 10 p.m. The market is located on Alserstrasse, a couple of blocks up from the main University building and Schottentor. You can enter the courtyard from a park (Ostarrichipark) or at the corner of Alserstrasse and Spitalgasse.  Website:  www.weihnachtsdorf.at

7.   Adventmarkt vor der Karlskirche

This market is another one with a notable setting: a huge church that has two soaring minaret-like columns in front of it. In 2013, Charles Church had a big antiabortion banner attached to its front, forming part of the setting for the market.

Punsch Stand with Charles Church
in the Background, 2013

The location of this Christmas Market is next to a large children’s playground. Also, it turns a huge fountain in front of the Church into a barnyard that covered with straw and housing some animals – such as goats -- for viewing by children. Near the barn yard are some low-tech kid’s rides and a place to ride ponies. All of this makes the Karlsplatz Christmas Market the best one for children to visit, and many are there in the afternoons.

The market also offers adults a good selection of booths, several with quality crafts. It also has many places to buy punsch and various specialty foods. Crowded at night, I did not find the layout or the lighting of the market to be attractive.  It seemed dimly lit and the atmosphere was not particularly enticing. The market was good for a short visit, but I did not want to hang around too long.

This market was open from noon to 8 p.m., though booths serving food stayed open until 9.00 p.m.  This market is a few blocks from the Staatoper  and across a major avenue from the Musikverein. Website:  www.divinaart.at

 

Kids on a Hand Pumped Railroad Car, Karlsplatz, 2013

8.   Weihnachtsdorf, Maria Theresa Place

This market is located around a large statue of Maria Theresa that stands between two large museums, the Museum of Art History and the Museum of Natural History. On her perch, Maria Theresa faces Heldenplatz and the Hofburg, the complex that housed the Hapsburg monarchy.

 

Maria Theresa watches over the market in her square, 2013

This market is one of the newer ones. It is also one of the smaller ones, but also seemed to be a favorite of visitors who arrived in the dozens of tour buses that parked on the streets around the museums. With so many busloads of tourists, the market often seemed tightly packed during the day, especially on weekends.

The setting is pleasant, though the lighting is somewhat dim. The market has the usual array of stands selling the usual stuff. Nothing really distinguished it from the other markets, except this year, a huge banner hanging from the entrance of the Art History Museum was a bit jarring. It advertised an exhibition of paintings by Lucian Freud at the museum, showing one of his paintings. In this one, a not particularly attractive couple is lying naked in bed together. The painting is graphic and puzzling – if you look closely enough, and provided one of the stranger backgrounds for the Christmas markets.  

Right of the Maria Therese Statue, at the
Entrance to the Art History Museum

When I saw the blown-up painting, it occurred to me that it is fortunate that Maria Theresa -- a bit of a prude in her time -- looks forward toward the Ringstrasse rather than at the museum. She likely would be shocked by what she saw to her right.

The Christmas Market was open daily from 11.00 a.m. - 10.00 p.m. It is one of two that opened on December 25 and 26 (from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Website: www.weihnachtsdorf.at

9.   Weinachtsdorf, Schloss Belvedere

This Christmas Market is located in front of another Hapsburg palace, though it is not nearly as impressive as Schönbrunn. The location faces a large reflecting pool. In the old days, the South Train station lay across the street from the pool. In the past decade, the South Train station has been demolished and new high rises are being built where it stood.

The back side of Belvedere is more impressive than the front, where the Market is located. The back faces a long garden that gently slopes down a hill. It offers a great view of the spires of St. Stephens and of Leopoldsberg and Kahlenberg, the mountains on the northern edge of Vienna.

 

Christmas Market at Belvedere, 2013

This market is a bit smallish, and I am not sure it has much to distinguish it from the others. It does have a couple of rides for children.

The best way to get to Belvedere is on the D Strassenbahn, which runs along much of the Ring. The D line has a stop on Prinz Eugen-Strasse that is a few steps from the entrance to the Belvedere complex. This market was open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, but remained opened until 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Website: www.weihnachtsdorf.at

10.   Weihnachtsmarkt am Stephensplatz

This Christmas Market opened for the first time this year. Its location insured that lots of people would visit it: It was situated next to St Stephens, a major Vienna landmark and attraction, near the intersection of Kärtnerstrasse and the Graben. These two pedestrian-only streets are always crowded, and on weekends are clogged with tourists.

 

Christmas Market Booth at the
side of St. Stephens Church, 2013

The market seems to be a pleasant, albeit small, one. The ancient church, visible from throughout the city, provides an impressive background. Nevertheless, the crowds were so dense that I did not want to spend much time there.

This market was open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Website: www.weihnachtsmarkt-stephansplatz.at

That’s my list. I know that others would place these Christmas Markets in a different order and have good reason to do so. I encourage readers to visit Vienna in late November or December 2014 to determine which the markets appeal most to you

If you do visit, keep these things in mind:

All of these markets that I have ranked are open every day for about five weeks. In 2013, the markets opened on November 16 and most closed on December 24^th. As shown, two of them were open on December 25 and 26.

In late November and early December, it gets dark in Vienna by 4:30 p.m., so it is possible to see the lighted Christmas Markets in the late afternoon as well in the evening. Since most close at 8 p.m. or later, it is easy to visit several in one evening, if so desired.

The Markets have food that is great for snacks, but it is sometimes hard to find food that is sufficient for a meal. A few markets have food specialties from different Austrian provinces; they are worth sampling. Several booths cater nicely to people with a sweet tooth who want a snack.

The hot wine drinks come in many different varieties. I like glühwein, which is a traditional hot mulled wine. For people who want to try different things, the punsch comes in dozens of tastes, flavored with different kinds of fruit and seasonings (stands selling punsch seem to have some contest going to see which one can concoct the most esoteric punch flavor). My favorite, which I had at the 2013 Market at the Rathaus, is the Christmas punch, which had no particular fruit flavor but was similar to Glühwein. I don’t think you can go wrong with any punsch if you choose a flavor (e.g., orange, apple, pear) you like.

 

To your health: Natalia G. enjoys a Christmas Punsch

In 2013, a glühwein or punsch cost between 2.80 and 4 euros. The average was 3.50 euro. The prices vary by location with the highest prices at the most popular locations, such as the Rathaus. The drink is served in a mug that looks like a coffee cup. It holds one-fourth of a liter (a “viertal”). You have to pay a deposit for the cup (2 or 2.5 euro in 2013) or give up an empty one for a filled one. When finished for the evening, you can return the empty cup to get your deposit returned, or, of course, you can keep the cup if you want. Each market has a cup designed especially for it. Most are pretty nifty, and I have a small collection of them.

Vienna’s Christmas Markets provide some memorable experiences. I hope you can visit one in 2014.