Tag Archives: 1930s

California’s famous overnight steamboats Delta King and Delta Queen operated first-class overnight passenger service between San Francisco and Sacramento from 1927 until 1940. The steamboats were called the “mail-order” ships because they were initially built in Scotland, shipped to Stockton where they were assembled. The new steamers replaced the Fort ... Read More »

The SS United States and the latest Range Rover are both made in large part from aluminum, in order to save weight without sacrificing strength. Both can draw connections to the military; Land Rovers have served with the British armed forces, as well as other armies around the globe, for ... Read More »

Southern Pacific’s OAKLAND PIER in the 1950s… The Oakland Long Wharf, later known as the Oakland Pier or the SP Mole was a massive railroad wharf and ferry pier in Oakland, California located at the foot of Seventh Street. Ferry approaches San Francisco in 1941. The recently completed San Francisco-Oakland Bay ... Read More »

Cruising the Past: The Hindenburg. Color video of the great airship. Memories of the fastest way to “cross the pond” during the 1930s.  2 and 1/2 days!  And the most expensive way to go! The Airship Hindenburg was the last great passenger zeppelin. 1937 Video of the Zeppelin Hindenburg – ... Read More »

Cruising the Past:  SS MANHATTAN and SS WASHINGTON of the U.S.LINES crossing the pond in 1939.  Preview of the SS AMERICA. Just before World War 2. Read More »

Cruising the past: 1936 Nazi Color Film-Berlin in the Year of the Olympic Games. CLICK ABOVE TO PLAY THE COLOR 1936 FILM: Nazi propaganda complete color film from 1936. An outstanding portrait of daily life in Berlin in this rare, well preserved film, with the magical feeling of the pastel ... Read More »

A tour of the city of Havana, Cuba in the 1930s.  The travelogue was filmed by Andre de la Varre.  Wonderful shots of the capital and outlying visits to the island.  Including arrival and departure by cruise ship from New York. And scenes of Sloppy Joe’s. Cruising The Past: Sloppy ... Read More »

Today, marks the 75th Anniversary of the luxury liner SS Morro Castle disaster. This is highlighted by recently found home movie footage. These great cruise history videos have never been seen before.  They show the September 8, 1934 fire aboard the cruise ship. (Photo credits caremaritime.com and wardline.com.) The 16mm ... Read More »

Cruising the Past: The Hindenburg. Color video of the great airship. Memories of the fastest way to “cross the pond” during the 1930s.  2 and 1/2 days!  And the most expensive way to go! The Airship Hindenburg was the last great passenger zeppelin. 1937 Video of the Zeppelin Hindenburg – ... Read More »

Many American flag steamship lines — APL, Matson, Moore-McCormick, Grace, etc. — faced a similar fate as Panama Pacific Lines did when the US withdrew their mail and operating subsidies to carry military personnel in the 1960s. The same fate happened to the American railway system in the late 1960s ... Read More »