"Styria is both the Shenandoah Valley and the Birmingham of Austria. In an alpine country whose borders touch no salt water, Austria's city dwellers take to the grassy slopes of her tall mountains, or to rural villages tucked away in smiling valleys, when their annual playtime rolls around," Styria, a Favored Vacation Land of Central Europe, Melville Bell Grosvenor, National Geographic Magazine, October, 1932, p. 430. Thus begins a delightful, small article featuring a beautiful section of color photos. For me, it is a treat to leave the burning desert of Arabia and travel to a land of mountains covered with green trees.
The vacationers coming to Styria loved to hunt chamois. Pardon my ignorance, I had to google chamois to find out what kind of creature this is: a goat-antelope. Not every culture hunts foxes! "The tufts in their hats (the men) are a sign of hunting prowess. The "beard" of the chamois is much sought by huntsmen. It grows on the back of the neck in the form of stiff, dark hairs," (photo caption, p. 436.
Their mountains are full of high-grade iron ore which has been mined in the area for 12 centuries. The trees support a large timber industry. "While dairying has been the principal industry of rural Styria for many generations, farming is being encouraged, because to-day Austria has to import large quantities of food," (p. 438).
The city of Graz is the capitol of the region of Styria. It is a manufacturing center for bicycles, wagons, machinery, champagne and beer, iron and steel products.
The native Austrian costumes worn on special occasions are lovely! Their umbrellas, which they call, "rainsticks," are big enough to cover a whole family. This was a quite pleasant trip in my recliner today.
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