“Elvis who?” On the threshold of fame, Elvis took the train. 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,” ... Read More »

Southern Pacific’s deluxe all-Pullman streamliner Lark was the premiere overnight passenger between San Francisco and Los Angeles. A favorite of businessmen and movie stars. The Oakland Lark connected with the Lark at San Jose then via San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara to Southern California along the coast route. The Lark ... Read More »

Enjoy the complete video presentation of the award-winning University of North Carolina recreation of the stage version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! as it premiered on Broadway in 1943. The famous hit musical is for all ages and a quick excursion back to a simpler time. Watch free – no ... Read More »

In the 1950’s, two of Britain’s oldest and biggest passenger shipping companies cooperated to extend their traditional Britain-Suez-Australia-New Zealand routes across the Pacific to the West Coast of North America. The new service was so successful that by the end of the decade, the missing homeward leg through the Panama ... Read More »

Those masculine women and feminine men! The name “Frank Harris” is used for Kaufman on this recording made on January 29, 1926. Effimenant Men Masculine Women from Panda Hollywood Ltd on Vimeo. Lyrics are by Edgar Leslie, music by James V. Monaco. The tenor Irving Kaufman (8 February 1890 – ... Read More »

Known as the “Queen of Sea,” the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company Steamship Line operated one of the finest fleets of passenger steamers on the Atlantic Coast and ranked foremost as one of America’s top tourist routes. It was said to be the only line plying between Baltimore, Savannah, and ... Read More »

California grand movie palaces escaped the wrecking ball and are thriving throughout the Golden State, including San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Fresno, Stockton, and many other cities. See them all in our New Video Our New Video: Featuring the 14 California Movie Palaces with theatre organ heard playing: ... Read More »

In 1929, the German airship Graf Zeppelin began her round-the-world voyage from Lakehurst, New Jersey. A worldwide media success, the airship continued regular passenger service to North and South America.  Full color footage Video of the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg airships including the Hindenburg burning. In 1936 the new Nazi-built airship, the ... Read More »

Along with The Daily Kos, I was party to a significant decision for bloggers and free speech rights. The 2007 U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) found that political blogs and bloggers are media for the purposes of U.S. Electoral Law. Suddenly blogs were media and for the past thirteen years, ... Read More »

Pullman porters were men hired to work on the railroads as porters on sleeping cars.[1] Starting shortly after the American Civil War, George Pullman sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry passengers’ baggage, shine shoes, set up and maintain the sleeping berths, ... Read More »