Juan Fernando Bastos (Caracas, 1958) is a portrait artist whose transit through Venezuela, Bolivia, Washington, Baltimore and finally Los Angeles has nourished a one of a kind aesthetic in visual representation. His work has reached different latitudes and represents the success of transcultural phenomena. He’s considered one of the most in-demand ... Read More »
Canada’s Union Steamship Company – The “Uber” for coastal cities – Part 1
Until the late 1950s, Union Steamship Company served the small coastal towns of British Columbia, the Queen Charlotte Islands and offered cruises to Alaska. The company was founded in 1889 by John Darling, the director of a New Zealand shipping company who recognized a great need for a scheduled service ... Read More »
Elizabeth Taylor sailed many times times aboard Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elizabeth and the QE2.
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 »
BEATLE’s SIR RINGO STARR Knighted by PRINCE WILLIAM who was a big fan of Ringo as a drummer and narrator of THOMAS the TANK ENGINE
Ringo Starr, the former drummer for The Beatles, received the British commonwealth’s highest honor for his contribution to music and charities. The 77-year-old Ringo Starr received a knighthood from Prince William, decades after his lone surviving ex-Beatle Paul McCartney was honored. He used his real name Richard Starkey for the ... Read More »
PETER KNEGO, the maritime historian who turned his home into a MID-CENTURY ocean-liner.
Maritime historian Peter Knego, who liked the former British passenger liner AUREOL, once the flagship of Elder Dempster Lines, so much that when she was broken up he rescued enough of her fittings to fill a shipping container, including a mahogany bar, tiger-maple panelling, cabinets, chairs and light fixtures and ... Read More »
EVITA at Sea – The EVA PARON (Evita) cruise ships and liners…
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 »
The Ship’s Photographer and the LOVE BOAT – Rejects in the 1990s
Love Boat Rejects is a collection of pictures taken by Ian Hughes and his fellow photographers onboard American, Norwegian and Italian cruise-ships throughout the 1990s. Working the decks was Ian’s first job when he left Art College in Merseyside, UK, in 1989. Welcome Aboard… Bon Voyage… First Sitting… Second Sitting… Going Ashore… About ... Read More »
RETRO look at Mid-Century ship travel and cruising in the 1950s and 1960s
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 »
Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant aboard the SS Europa and the SS Bremen during the 1930s
The SS Europa (later the French Line SS Liberté) was one of a pair of fast ocean liners built in the late nineteen-twenties for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) for the transatlantic passenger service. Her sister ship was the SS Bremen, and the two were very similar, though not identical. ... Read More »
Immigrants, Tourists and Students sailed on the Dutch Victory ships during the 1950s
The SS Groote Beer, a former Victory ship, operated between Europe and North America during the 1950s. The Groote Beer was part of Dutch Victory ships that provided immigrant transportation following World War 2. Along with the Zaiderkruis and Waterman, she brought many immigrants to North America and Australia. On ... Read More »