President Donald Trump’s “Mar-a-Lago” may be the closest proximity you might have to the illustrious society history of Post Cereals Heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post unless you charter her former private railway car. Originally christened Hussar, the car was built in 1922 for Post and her husband E.F. Hutton. The car ... Read More »

Have you wondered where the much-overused phrase “the red carpet treatment” originated? It all started with the 20th Century Limited. The train of tycoons and movie stars. The “Century” was an express all-Pullman passenger train operated by the New York Central nightly from New York to Chicago. From 1938 until ... Read More »

70 Years ago this week, Matson Line’s refurbished SS LURLINE  sailed from San Francisco and Los Angeles on her maiden post-WW 2 voyage to Hawaii. The flagship of Matson’s passenger fleet had just emerged from a stunning $18-million makeover, following six years as a troop carrier with her white ship ... Read More »

“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 ... 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 ... 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 ... 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. ... 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 ... 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 ... 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 ... Read More »