The steel-hulled, diesel-powered yacht Aras was laid down on March 19, 1930, by the Bath Iron Works; launched on December 8, 1930; and delivered to wood-pulp magnate Hugh J. Chisholm on January 15, 1931. The Aras, a long graceful steel ship, was sold in April 1941 to the US Navy ... Read More »
Alaska Steamship Company: First Class cruising to Alaska for $9.00 a day in the 1950s…
A sailing day meant excitement for the Alaska Steamship Company liners. Here is the SS Alaska sailing from Seattle in 1952. A look at the final days of the Alaska Steamship Company with a history of the famous organization that provided passenger service to the far north. A fond farewell. The ... Read More »
Retro Thursday: Cruising to Bermuda and Nassau aboard the SS Evangeline in the 1950s…
Eastern Steamship Company was the last American Coastal steamship company offering cruises and overnight services from New York to Boston. Here is a great video of one of their ships sailing to Bermuda during the 1950s. Eastern Steamship’s SS Evangeline cruising to Bermuda 1950s… Bermuda-Nassau. 8 Day Cruises. From New York June ... Read More »
Crystal Cruises throws in the towel on saving the SS United States but activists continue the fight..
The S.S. United States, the world’s fastest ocean liner, won’t be sailing the seas again after all. The Titanic-size ship — which in its 1950s prime offered one of the most stylish ways to travel between New York and Europe — has been mothballed for decades, ever since jet travel ... Read More »
RMS Titanic’s abandoned bodies…
It was April 23, 1912, at daybreak, out on the North Atlantic. The seascape looked every bit like a well-adorned graveyard, with an overcast sky, rolling fog and, as far as one could see, pieces of wreckage that bobbed in the swells. Doors, pillows, chairs, tables, and scattered remains were ... Read More »
Donald Trump backed Frank Gehry’s 8150 Sunset project will demolish Kurt Meyer-designed historic mid-Century Lytton Savings Building on the Sunset Strip.
Donald Trump and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s wife are connected to the 8150 Sunset New York developers. Last Thursday the Los Angeles City Planning Commission (CPC) held a public hearing on the 8150 Sunset Project being developed by New York Angelo, Gordon – Townscape, designed by Frank Gehry. The ... Read More »
Mid-Century style and fire safety on the SS United States. Crystal Cruises saves America’s last great ocean liner
Crystal Cruises, knowing the values of maintaining mid-century design, are planning to bring back the SS United States 1950s and 1960s ocean liner into service. Jackie Gleason and John Wayne aboard the mid-century liner. Upon her delivery to the United States Lines, the SS United States was most graceful, modern, powerful ... Read More »
The Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles.
The Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles was a movie palace opened in January 1923 as Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre. Elvis Presley appeared in person at the Paramount. Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood on the gigantic screen in “The Girl I Left Behind.” It was built by impresario Sid Grauman, who had ... Read More »
Retro 1950s: “Psycho” Star Janet Leigh and “A Kiss Before Dying” Virginia Leith aboard the Santa Fe streamliner SUPER CHIEF…
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 »
RMS TITANIC – Father Browne’s famous photographic collection…
The Titanic didn’t just send hundreds of its passengers to the bottom of the ocean—it also took all the evidence of what life was like on board for the ill-fated travelers. Or at least it would have, were it not for Francis Browne. A short film about the Father Frank ... Read More »