Liner History – The Grace Line Cruise History – THE GRACE LINE – In the mid 1800s, the Irish-born Grace brothers, William Russell and Michael, established a commercial and shipping business in Callao, the port of Lima, Peru. They prospered, especially in the exporting of guano from the Chincha Islands ... Read More »
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HISTORY OF CRUISING – FROM THE 1830s TO THE LOVE BOAT
HISTORY OF CRUISING – FROM THE 1830s TO THE LOVE BOAT: History of Cruising – Cruise Ship History The earliest ocean-going vessels were not primarily concerned with passengers, but rather with the cargo that they could carry. Black Ball Line in New York, in 1818, was the first shipping company ... Read More »
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE – CRUISE REVIEW
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE CRUISES REVIEWS – LOOKING AT A GREAT MARITIME TRADITION – HAL HAS A GREAT PLACE IN SOCIAL TRAVEL HISTORY (LEFT – FAMOUS STAR GARY GRANT WAS A BIG FAN OF HOLLAND AMERICA LINE) Holland America Line has enjoyed a distinguished record of traditional cruises, world exploration, and ... Read More »
Cruise History – Remembering Katherine Hepburn aboard Holland America Line’s great trans-Atlantic liner SS NIEUW AMSTERDAM. A “queen” of Art Deco design and style.
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE HISTORY – A SOCIAL HISTORY – LOOKING BACK AT THE SS NIEUW AMSTERDAM. A wonderful Dutch film/video on the great liner. Throughout the 1930s a remarkable period of growth was experienced by the merchant fleets of many nations. This growth occurred in spite of a depression that ... Read More »
QE2 – CUNARD LINE’S QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 – NEW WEBSITE DEVOTED TO THE LINER’S HISTORY
HISTORY OF THE QE2 – Cruise and Social History. The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2 as she is commonly known was the flagship of the Cunard Line for nearly 40 years. QE2 made her maiden voyage in 1969 and was one of the last great Transatlantic liners. At 70,327 tons ... Read More »
SOCIAL AND CRUISE HISTORY: ARE THESE PHOTOS FROM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA? TAKE A GUESS OR CONTRIBUTE. DO YOU KNOW?
Paul Swift sent us the following great photos. The ship is departing. Crowds, streamers and farewells. Paul couldn’t exactly state where the ship was departing from and had no record in connection with these photos. He suspected it was Sydney, Australia. I consulted maritime expert Peter Knego, Maritime Matters, and ... Read More »
ICON-WEB AWARD WINNER
A Social History wins honors – The number one “Hip” Historical Website of 2009. Retro meets today! The ICON-WEB AWARD is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1998 during the Web’s infancy, the ICON is presented by The European Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, ... Read More »
HOLLYWOOD TO HONOLULU – LOS ANGELES STEAMSHIP COMPANY – BOOK REVIEW
REVIEW – HOLLYWOOD TO HONOLULU: The story of the Los Angeles Steamship Company Written by Gordon Ghareeb and (MaritimeMatters publisher) Martin Cox Review published in Sea Classics, April 2010 by Rod Redman Travel nostalgia lovers will be thrilled by this well-illustrated tribute to one of the most celebrated regional steamship ... Read More »
Titanic letter sells for a record £55,000
Titanic History Made Again – A letter from a first-class passenger on board the ill-fated Titanic has been sold at auction for £55,000. It fetched a record price for a piece of written correspondence from the ship, which sailed from Southampton in April 1912. The letter, written on three sides ... Read More »
ELINOR SMITH – THE FLYING FLAPPER – 1920s
Great Video on Elinor Smith. Elinor Smith was born in 1911. She knew she was born to fly at the age of 6 when she took her first airplane ride. She started taking lessons at the age of 8. She was fortunate at that time to have parents who supported ... Read More »