1940s

In the late 1940s, the Milwaukee Road introduced the Olympian Hiawatha, the transcontinental version of the railroad’s very modern fleet of Hiawatha passenger trains. The original version of the train was the Twin Cities Hiawatha, which began operating between Chicago and the Twin Cities on May 29, 1935, one of ... Read More »

Why it’s time for Carol Reed’s Berlin-set thriller The Man Between to come out of the shadow of The Third Man. Starring James Mason and Claire Bloom, the film captures many scenes of post-war Berlin. The Man Between (1953)? When reviewing Carol Reed’s postwar thrillers, it’s usual to dismiss The Man Between (1953) ... Read More »

Southern Pacific’s deluxe 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 rivaled ... Read More »

The Cap Arcona was considered one of the most beautiful ships of the time, launched in 1927, was the largest German ship on the South American run. In 1940, the Cap Arcona was taken over by the Kriegsmarine (the German Navy), painted overall gray, and used in the Baltic Sea as ... Read More »

The SS Robert E. Lee was hit by one torpedo from Nazi Submarine U-166, steaming at 16 knots about 25 miles southeast of the entrance to the Mississippi River on July 30, 1942. Lookouts had spotted the torpedo wake about 200 yards away before it struck the former Eastern Steamship ... Read More »

The “Del Triplets” – Del Norte, Del Mar, and Del Sud – were the first modern American flag liners to be built after World War 2 and became a top choice for cruising to South America. They offered first-class, mid-century modern passenger service from New Orleans to South America. Premiering ... Read More »

Author Frances Drabick features probably the finest research collection of the Grace Line photos aboard their ships during the heyday of American passenger services following World War II on her excellent website. From the 1890s until the late 1960s, The Grace Line provided passenger services from New York to the ... Read More »

When the Fox Theater was built in 1929, it seemed as if there weren’t enough adjectives to describe the movie theatre’s magnificence. The San Francisco Chronicle called the opening “a spectacle of such beauty and magnitude that it seemed rather a fancy of one’s mind rather than the inaugural night ... Read More »

Matson Lines SS Lurline was half way from Honolulu to San Francisco on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The liner arrived safely in San Francisco with passengers from California and the USA on December 11th. The liner arrived safely in San Francisco with passengers from California ... Read More »