Souvenirs from Abroad

Some Buffalo Grove residents were able to visit abroad during their lives, mainly in Europe. For a few, it was a trip for fun while others were brought to Europe because of World War I and World War II. Souvenirs and mementos from the places they visited were brought back to Buffalo Grove and saved as a reminder of the trip.

William Andrew Horcher goes to Europe

William Horcher was born in 1886 in Buffalo Grove and grew up in town. He married Anna Marie Nickol in 1909 at St. Mary Catholic Church. While William did live and work in Chicago for awhile, it was Buffalo Grove which had been his childhood home and where much of his family lived, and where he was laid to rest in 1952 at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery.

A souvenir from William Horcher was an old trunk with stickers from a trip to Europe in the 1930s. While we do not know exactly when he left or if he went with his wife Anna (although it is likely), we do know some of the spots he stopped based on all the stickers on the suitcase.

This would have been a big trip for someone to make from Chicago in the 1930s! This suitcase and the souvenir stickers give a clue into the extent of traveling and their design is indicative of the 1930s. These clues help us piece together the history and story of the suitcase when we don't have written record of what exactly happened.

There are stickers from:
Continental Hotel in Chicago
Hotel Reale-Roma in Rome, Italy
Hotel Des Champ Elysees in Paris, France
Hotel Luna, Venezia in Venice, Italy
Avendia Palace in Lisbon Portugal
Aerlingus, Irish Airlines
Hotel Borges in Lisbon Portugal