It was 155 years ago on 31st August 1870 that Marx wrote to Engels (30th August 1870) noting that he was leaving (on a steamer) the following day for London.
He complained to Engels that ‘the English have thronged all the seaside resorts on account of the war’. This had raised the price of the lodgings the Marx family had and made them ‘expensive’.
The war that Marx referred to was the Franco-Prussian War which had started on 19th July 1870 and by his account meant that tourists destined for France (quite probably via Thomas Cook) had decided to holiday at the English seaside instead.
Marx had other complaints. Firstly his accommodation was ‘damned draughty’. Secondly he wrote that he was almost paralysed in a ‘certain place’ and needed to consult is doctor in London.
Marx had written to Engels on 8th August noting he was off to Ramsgate on the 9th rather than Brighton because on investigation he thought Brighton would be too hot
A rather typical English seaside summer holiday then.
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