Brief Biography:
Marie and Emily Straiton came from a prominent New York family residing in Bayside. John Straiton, Marie's husband and Emily's father, had immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1850 and started the White Owl Cigar Company which became the largest domestic cigar making company in the 1860s.
Brief Itinerary:
The Straiton's ledt New York in January, 1880 for Scotland where they visited relatives. They left Liverpool on a steamer bound for Bombay India where they visited friends. From India they sailed to Cairo and then on to Jaffa. They joined a Thomas Cook Tour for the Holy Land leg of their journey and embarked by horseback to Jerusalem.
Brief History of the Text:
Two Lady Tramps Abroad: A Compilation of Letters, Descriptive of Nearly a Years Travel in India, Asia Minor, Egypt, the Holy Land, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, England, Ireland, and Scotland was privately published by the Evening Journal Press for John Straiton in 1881. The book was based on letters which the two women had sent home during their trip; many of which had been published in the "Flushing Journal". Circulation was largely limited to friends and relatives.