“To Dr. & Mrs. Ralph M. Waters / With all best wishes / from Gilbert Troup.” So reads a handwritten note (outlined on the right in red) inside this 1939 holiday greeting card from Australian anesthetist Gilbert R. Troup (1896 to 1962) to American anesthesiologist Ralph M. Waters (1883 to 1979). The front of the card wishes “A Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year…and a Happy Landing in Perth in 1940” for the planned “Australasian Medical Congress (B.M.A.), Perth, August, 1940.” As illustrated on the front of the card, besides flying by plane or sailing directly to Perth, congress attendees could sail to Adelaide via Wellington, Sydney, or Melbourne. From Adelaide, they could then either sail or ride the “Congress Special 1940” train to Perth. The best laid plans…. On September 3, 1939, Australia declared war on Germany, and the plans were postponed. Not until August of 1948 would Perth convene its Australasian Medical Congress, 8 yr later than originally planned. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)

“To Dr. & Mrs. Ralph M. Waters / With all best wishes / from Gilbert Troup.” So reads a handwritten note (outlined on the right in red) inside this 1939 holiday greeting card from Australian anesthetist Gilbert R. Troup (1896 to 1962) to American anesthesiologist Ralph M. Waters (1883 to 1979). The front of the card wishes “A Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year…and a Happy Landing in Perth in 1940” for the planned “Australasian Medical Congress (B.M.A.), Perth, August, 1940.” As illustrated on the front of the card, besides flying by plane or sailing directly to Perth, congress attendees could sail to Adelaide via Wellington, Sydney, or Melbourne. From Adelaide, they could then either sail or ride the “Congress Special 1940” train to Perth. The best laid plans…. On September 3, 1939, Australia declared war on Germany, and the plans were postponed. Not until August of 1948 would Perth convene its Australasian Medical Congress, 8 yr later than originally planned. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)

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George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.