Mr. and Mrs. Fred H. Bresee of Oneonta set sail from New York to Turkey on Thursday, July 25, 1956.
This was anything but a vacation cruise the couple was taking. Along with being on an economic trade mission, the Bresees also had an unexpected adventure on the way.
Fred Bresee had been designated by the U.S. Department of Commerce as a member of a trade delegation to Turkey. Along with the Bresees on this mission were an executive of a tire and rubber company, a Midwestern banker and a mining chief.
Bresee was then vice president and treasurer of Bresee's Department Store. Although based in a small city _ Oneonta _ the store had gained national recognition in recent years, such as a Colliers Magazine article in November 1949, for its marketing and promotional savvy.
Bresee told The Oneonta Star on July 3 that the purposes of the mission were "to show how the Department of Commerce works in promoting international trade, to assist Turkish businessmen in developing channels of trade with the United States both in buying and selling, and to demonstrate how America works and what makes it tick."
At the same time as this mission to Turkey, similar missions were being sent to Berlin, Stockholm, Damascus, Salonika and Zagreb.
The official U.S. government mission in Turkey was set to gather in Ankara on Sunday, Aug. 5. The Bresees boarded the ship Ile de France on July 25.
Not even a full day into the trip, the Bresees were firsthand witnesses to a mercy mission at sea.
Not far off their ship's course, the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria had sunk after an unexpected collision with the Swedish liner, Stockholm. This took place near Nantucket, Mass. The Ile de France was among several ships hurrying to the scene.
Using a telephone on the Ile de France, Fred Bresee gave a description to an Oneonta Star reporter, which was tape-recorded in the WDOS radio studios, then taken next door to the newspaper at 104 Chestnut St.
Most of the 1,709 people on the Andrea Doria were rescued and brought to nearby ships.
Nearly 700 were taken aboard the Ile de France. Bresee said two nuns were taken into their cabin.
"They were very appreciative," Bresee said about the women who used their facilities and bath. "We gave them some of our clothes ... they didn't have anything other their habits over their night gowns."
The trip to Turkey soon resumed and the delegation met to start its mission. Bresee and the other members visited the popular Turkish International Fair and then set out on a 1,500 mile automobile tour along the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. They were entertained by Chamber of Commerce officials and Turkish representatives along the route.
The Bresees came back to the U.S. on an airliner, arriving in Oneonta on Sunday, Sept. 16.
"It was a thrilling experience," Fred Bresee said of the mission. They noted meeting a Mr. and Mrs. Goodyear of Cooperstown at the Turkish Embassy, and how Mrs. Goodyear was wearing a pair of shoes bought at Bresee's Oneonta Department Store.
Fred Bresee was back on the road soon, this time to Washington, D.C., where Thursday, Nov. 1, he received a "certificate of service" from the U.S. Commerce Department.
In his first detailed report to the Department, Bresee also told the Star that the result of the trip, "in terms of good will and prospective increase in overseas trade, amply justified the department's decision to participate in the overseas trade fairs and send missions of unpaid American businessmen to cultivate commercial ties."
This weekend: Oneonta witnessed a massive military convoy passing through the area on the same weekend as the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Mark Simonson
Local businessman had eventful trip abroad in 1956
- Mark Simonson
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A Main Street facelift for Oneonta in the 1920s
