MY 7952 PI
0Continued from June issue.)
The next part of my European trip
consisted of a visit to London and
Scotland. In London I renewed
friendships with the executives of the
Whitbread Brewery at Britannica
Street. Here too I found again a group
of very sincere gentlemen who are
very interested in our endeavors in
th United States market and apprecia
tive of the difficulties that we face
in marketing their Whitbread's Pale
Ale and Mackeson's Stout. In our
business meetings with Mr. F. Oliver,
General Manager, and his assistant,
Mr. R. M. Morshead, as well as my
good friend, Mr. "Moneybags"
Warne, and the technical gentlemen,
a much closer understanding was
reached in regards to the conditions
under which we operate in this coun
try. A further session with the Board
of Directors and its Chairman, Col.
William Whitbread, took place and
decisions reached regarding our future
arrangements and planning. Here too
one could not help but feel highly
impresesd by the sincerity and definite
wilingness to understand our prob
lems here.
I have assured these gentlemen that
nothing can stand in our way to
further increase the sales of their fine
English products and we are confi
dent that with their cooperation and
the continued efforts of our own sales
organization and the many fine
wholesalers who carry these products,
we shall in years to come accomplish
for the Whitbread's organization sim
ilar results as with Heineken's.
London is a most beautiful and
historic city. The government build
ings and Buckingham Palace were
visited, even Windsor Castle which is
located in beautiful country and high
ly impressive. The people I met are
friendly and courteous.
My trip up to Scotland was most
enjoyable because of the many friends
I met, not only old ones but I en
joyed making the acquaintance of
many fine people, all connected in the
Scotch whiskey trade. I am quite con
fident that before many moons, our
company shall be entrusted with a
fine Scotch whiskey account. Edin
burgh is also a beautiful, historic
city. It has lovely parks and build
ings and although not as large as
Glasgow, it is more a residential cen
ter and I would not have minded
spending a few weeks touring the
Scottish countryside.
Today with airplane travel, it only
takes a few hours to return to Am
sterdam where we took some time
off to visit our relatives and other
friends before beginning what we
considered the vacation part of our
trip. A nice automobile and chauffeur
were made available and in company
of Mr. Van Dyke of the Hotel Astor,
we left to visit Belgium and certain
parts of France including Paris. Now
that I look back on this trip, it was
indeed a most wonderful and enjoy
able one, first our visit to Antwerp
and Brussels, and afterwards, across
the French border when we pledged
ourselves not to drink any beer or
hard liquor but strictly wines! That
is really and experiment in itself and
a most enjoyable one at that. The
French ciusine is superb, especially
when it is partaken with French
wines. In Reims we visited several
champagne cellars with its many hun-
reds of steps to the caves and the
sampling of the vintage wines was not
hard to take. We made new acquain
tances and laid the groundwork for
what we hope to become a cham
pagne franchise for our company.
In Paris, well, that is a different
story! Yes, we tasted wines, we ate
good food but we also admired the
French girls, the elaborate new shows
and what goes with it. I must admit
that Mr. Andre Dolfi whom we met
in Paris and who is one of the Direc
tors of the famous Dolfi Grand Dis-
tillerie of Paris and Strasbourg show
ed us the best places to visit out in
the country as well as Paris night life.
We went on to visit the Burgundy
Region since as a Chevalier de la Con
frérie du Tastevin, New York Chap
ter, I felt obliged to personally ac
quaint myself with the home of this
great wine organization, Clos de
Vougeot Castle.
We visited a number of famous
vineyards, tested their products and
in general enjoyed their hospitality.
It is a lovely section and should never
be omitted from any travel plans to
France. Our furthest point South was
the City of Chagny South of Chas-
sagne, Montrachet and then began the
trip back via Fontainebleau where we
visited the famous castle of Napoleon
and admired the bed that Josephine
slept in, then to Paris and up North
into Belgium and Holland. When we
finally returned to Rotterdam, we
were a trio of well-fed, well-wined
people, happy in the realization that
this part of the trip, in its own way,
was a high spot of our entire stay in
Europe. Don't be too surprised if
some of these contacts materialize be
fore long and we shall have a well
rounded out number of agencies to
offer to our wholesalers!
As to the outlook of war, it seems
Our travelling companionMr. L. Foertsch9 couldn't resist taking the reigns of
Heineken's in Amsterdam
