THE PAST AND NOW | News, Travel & Social History News about Cruising, Social History, Ships, Trains, & Travel

Chasen’s was a glamorous world – “Celebrity chefs” will never replace stylish hosts and personalities such as Dave Chasen or Vincent Sardi or Mike Romanoff. I had dinner at Chasen’s many times. First, with my parents and then later on when I had become a producer. Dinner with Groucho Marx, ... Read More »

The New York to Detroit market was once crowded with trains, served primarily by the New York Central and Pennsylvania while the Baltimore & Ohio also offered exceptional services via Washington, D.C. The trains weren’t the victims of cancellation due to weather. The North Easter last week wouldn’t have stopped ... Read More »

Few commercial sectors have been battered by COVID-19 as badly as the cruise industry, which came to a screeching halt at roughly this time one year ago. The CDC first signed its No-Sail Order on March 14, 2020, and cruise ships around the globe, already in mid-voyage, scrambled for somewhere ... Read More »

Travel by cruise ship or passenger liner in the 1950s and 1960s was far different from today’s cruising. Many passengers were traveling from one point to another, they had a destination, while others were taking cruises. You could be sailing across the pond to Europe for business or pleasure, heading ... Read More »

Besides “crossing the Pond” on Cunard, Elizabeth Taylor sailed to Europe on the French Line’s SS Liberte, cruised to the Mediterranean aboard Cunard’s RMS Caronia and Mauritania. Liz sailed to the Caribbean and South America on the Grace Line’s SS Santa Rosa. She loved ships and the sea. Taylor had sailed a number ... Read More »

Argentina was the only South American country to operate regular long-distance intercontinental ocean liners following World War 2, although always with ships of moderate size and speed. Alberto Dodero is a completely forgotten name in today’s world, but in the mid-20th century, he was the major shipping tycoon in South ... Read More »

Known as “white Flyers of the Pacific,” the sister ships each made four sailings a week during the 1920s and 1930s. They carried 565 First Class passengers at an average speed of 23 knots between the two major California cities. With boat train connections to downtown Los Angeles, San Jose, ... Read More »

California’s famous overnight steamboats Delta King and Delta Queen operated first-class overnight passenger service between San Francisco and Sacramento from 1927 until 1940. The steamboats were called the “mail-order” ships because they were initially built in Scotland, shipped to Stockton where they were assembled. The new steamers replaced the Fort ... Read More »