“Elvis who?” Photographer Alfred Wertheimer recalls uttering that very question in early 1956. A publicist from RCA Victor Records had contacted him, asking if he was available to photograph a young singer named Elvis Presley. “I’d never heard of the man,” Wertheimer told TIME Magazine in an article 40 years later. “He didn’t have a gold record yet.” (By the ... Read More »
Judy Garland is sailing today on the SS United States. Everyone knew the famous star was on board because they had a First Class Passenger List. They also read that Marlon Brando, Salvidor Dali along with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were other celebrities sailing to Europe on America’s famous trans-Atlantic liner. Cunard Line Passenger Lists Passenger lists were ... Read More »
Star of Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO, Janet Leigh is ready to board the famous SUPER CHIEF and Virginia Leith, star of A KISS BEFORE DYING shows us the all-Pullman train during the 1950s in a promotional film. Even the characters from TV’s MAD MEN may have been aboard the train all through the 1960s. A lot of executives would take the ... Read More »
A national survey conducted by P&O Cruises Australia has confirmed that love, exciting and new, can be rekindled aboard a cruise ship. 74 percent of those questioned recommended taking a cruise to put the spark back into a relationship. LOVE BOAT FOLLIES with Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, and Ann Miller. The spark may wane if the world’s sexiest man George ... Read More »
In the 1950s, a cruise to Hawaii was sailing round-trip from California to Honolulu (alternating between San Francisco and Los Angeles) on Matson Line’s SS Lurline. All First Class LURLINE made the crossing in 4 and 1/2 days – 4 days at sea. Most passengers spent 9 days in Hawaii before returning to the California major cities. It was an American flagship with ... Read More »
In October 1959, Ruth and Harry Hotz boarded the SS Homeric in New York and sailed south on a seven-day voyage that would turn out to be one of the last cruises to the island until briefly in the late 1970s and then recently. SS Independence, SS Homeric, SS Constitution docked in New York. Bob Hotz, their son, recalled his ... Read More »
The Excalibur, Excambion, Exeter, and Exochorda were four of the most successful U.S.-flag combination passenger-cargo ships. They were put into service following World War 2 for the New York to Mediterranean service. The “4 Aces” had beautiful public rooms and an outdoor pool, and all the staterooms had a private bath. They were the first fully air-conditioned commercial passenger ships ... Read More »
Jeraldine Saunders, the creator of hit ABC series The Love Boat, died Feb. 26 at her home in Glendale from complications of kidney stone surgery she underwent in December. She was 96. She was best known for writing the 1974 book The Love Boats, which the ABC comedy-drama was based on. The book documented her experience on the high seas ... Read More »
After spending more than two decades anchored in Philadelphia, a retired ocean liner is preparing to make waves once again. The SS United States, which holds the record for the fastest maritime journey across the Atlantic Ocean, has been docked at Philadelphia’s Pier 82 on the Delaware River since 1996. Since then, several plans to revitalize the cruise liner have sputtered. But ... Read More »
More than a 250 stars attended the September 1954 Pantages Theatre gala premiere. Many predicting an Oscar sweep for the films with top acting awards going to Judy Garland and James Mason. More than 20,000 fans were spectators at the Pantages premiere demanding Warner Bros and the Los Angeles Police Department to organize traffic pans for the premiere. VIDEO OF THE NBC COVERAGE ... Read More »
The French Line’s flagship had been out of service for nearly four years. Then on February 9, 1942, crowds gathered at New York City’s pier 88 to witness a spectacle. The largest ocean liner in the world was on fire. Fire fighting efforts successfully contained the fire after five and a half hours of effort, but the effort was in ... Read More »
The MV AUREOL of 1951 was a hard working, much-loved liner that linked Liverpool (and later Southampton) with West Africa in the waning days of the British Empire. She was operated by Elder Dempster Lines, one of the UK’s largest shipping companies, and during its 150-year history, it operated more than 500 ships. Based in the historic port of Liverpool ... Read More »
J. Pierpont Morgan Jr. could never imagine his yacht Corsair IV would be turned into a deluxe cruise ship just after World War 2 whose short career with voyages from California would end in tragedy, but it happened. J.P. Morgan Jr. and his legendary business tycoon father, J. Pierpont Morgan, owned four yachts christened Corsair and built three of them. ... Read More »
The RMS Aquitania was the longest serving Cunard liner built in the 20th century and to survive service in both World Wars. The contract to build the ship went to John Brown & Co, and great publicity was given to the fact that it would be the largest liner in the world. The Aquitania was launched on 21 April by ... Read More »
The Canadian Pacific Line’s 6,000-ton Princess Kathleen, queen of Alaskan liners, was 18 miles from Juneau on the last trip of the season from Vancouver, B.C. to Skagway, Alaska. It was 3:15 a.m. Most of the 425 passengers and crew, including Captain Graham Hughes, were sleeping. A light rain was falling, but the lookout reported fair visibility. The final moments of ... Read More »
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