The country of Bulgaria is almost as large as the American state of Ohio. Located on the western shore of the Black Sea, Bulgaria is north of Turkey and Greece/Macedonia, east of Yugoslavia, and south of Romania (formerly know as Rumania). Its government in 1932 was a constitutional monarchy ruled by a tsar, Boris III.
Bulgaria, Farm Land without a Farmhouse: A Nation of Villagers Faces the Challenge of Modern Machinery and Urban Life, Maynard Owen Williams, Litt. D., National Geographic Magazine, August, 1932, is the account of the country as it presented itself to the world: "Bulgaria is an agricultural land, with peasant conservatism and thrift," (p. 185). The capital city is Sofia.
The one unique agricultural product of Bulgaria in 1932 was Rose Oil, "Attar of Roses,' exporting three-fourths of the world's supply. There was a Valley of Roses, 12,000 acres dedicated to growing roses. "Rose fields are small and the bushes are planted about three feet apart. The flowers, still pinkish white and unpretentious in appearance, are picked before fully open and with the dew still on them, since exposure to the full strength of the sun results in a inferior quality of oil," (photo caption, p. 190).
"A ton of Rose blossoms yields less than a pound of pure oil . . . It sometimes commands a greater price than pure gold," (photo caption, p. 192). The rose oil is obtained after several distillations of roses in water. The final product is used as a base or fixative in perfumes.
"Bulgar" means man with a plow. Eighty percent of Bulgarians are farmers. The individual farms are 15 acres each. "Not only is 15 acres the average farm, but it may be separated into 15 small fields, so that portability is an advantage in agricultural implements. Wooden plows are common," (p. 216).
In addition to roses, a large quantity of tobacco is exported and silk in the form of cocoons. "Bulgaria has two sheep or goats for each of its 6,000,000 people," (p. 198).
Although a poor country, considered extremely thrifty, the people in the town of "Gabrovo (in the central part of the country) have a reputation for thrift so calculating that legend says they cut off the tails of their cats, so that in passing through the door in winter, they won't let in much cold!" (p. 197).
The author traveled by motor car throughout the country and found the seaport of Varna to be particularly satisfying. There were many bathhouses and seaside villas. "Summer visitors now flock in from all over Central Europe to revel in sea and sun," (p. 195).
Historically, Bulgaria was occupied by Turkish forces until liberated by Alexander II of Russia in 1877. Many Turks still choose to live in Bulgaria ( a half million in 1932) because Bulgaria was more conservative than Turkey. "Strangely enough, the old-style Moslems in faded fezzes look upon Christian Bulgaria as a welcome haven from the "godlessness of New Turkey," (p. 195).
Mr. Williams found the country to have many modern elements and ideas in the larger cities but refreshingly traditional in most of the rural areas. Many of the farmers, who lived in villages because the small farms were divided into several sections, wore clothes hand-woven by their wives. "It suddenly occurred to me that these peasant costumes, utensils and household furnishings seemed stranger to Bulgarian schoolchildren than they did to me. . . Yet this colorful Bulgaria is only a day's glad flight from Paris or Berlin along a ribbon of changing beauty linking two civilizations," (p. 218).
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