Jean must bid adieu to her Hawaiian adventure and head back to San Francisco to her real life. Did she throw her lei overboard hoping it would reach the shores guaranteeing her return to the islands? We'll never know. She had at least four and a half days of seaside pleasure before sailing back into the Golden Gate. There's a very good possibility that she did not sale beneath the Golden Gate Bridge because it might not yet have been built. It's hard for me to imagine the bay without the bridge.
Click on image to see it larger.
A friend left today on a trip to Europe aboard a cruise ship out of New York. We talked on Monday about what cruising has become today. She got her first taste back in the early 60s aboard the Lurline. She was smitten and has been on many cruises, including one around the world. I'm envious of being on the high seas, but not envious of being on one of the current mega-ships with thousands upon thousands of passengers. We laughed about all the waste the ship must keep on board from port to port. We wondered if they could really have enough life boats on board to handle the thousands of people who would need to abandon ship. I joked that perhaps the pillow on your bed was now your flotation device. We pondered whether they have a room full of Zodiacs waiting to be inflated.
I hope my friend has a pleasant journey and comes home with stories to make me laugh. I'd sure like to have heard the story this fellow in this vernacular photo wearing the headband would have told about his adventure.
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Oh cruising. I hated it. My husband hated it. I could give you a list. But I won't.
ReplyDeleteI will think of Jean and say bon voyage.
Yes, sadly today cruise ships are too often Vegas on the high seas. I see them and all I think is "tacky!" The elegance is gone unless you're one of that 1% that now holds all the wealth and can afford to go on a smaller ship. I mean the QE2 is now a luxury hotel in Dubai anchored to a fake island! Sad, so sad. Makes my stomach churn with seasickness.
ReplyDeleteI love those hats and little white gloves.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would have loved to take a cruise ship back in the day. I've been on one modern day cruise, and you are so right about tacky. I will never go again.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine people today getting dressed up to travel? I'm trying to imagine what you see walking up and down the passageways aboard ship. It's got to be even worse than what you find at airports. I still remember getting all dressed up to go on a flight. Though I don't want to go back to the days of formal attire like Jean wore her entire trip, it would be nice if fellow travelers thought of someone other than just themselves. Yes, this is directed to you drunken fellow I was forced to sit next to on a flight home from Phoenix. You weren't interesting or attractive. You were just a drunken jerk.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the "story in photo". I have really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI did feel bad for her wearing so manys clothes...but the world was a place of less extreame temperatures back then...the best you could hope for was to sit in front of a fan blowing hot air. So maybe she wasn't all that uncomfortable...she never appeared to be in any of the photos.
When I was a kid, an army brat, we came back from Germany on an ocean liner. At first it was fun but then we spent several days being unbearably seasick as the ship bounced around the Atlantic. My mother actually strapped me into my bed as I remember.
ReplyDeleteAnd women used fans more. A nice fan to set a breeze going on a balmy day. Plus, and this is a huge plus, Waikiki would not be suffering under the unbearable muggy heat it has now because the tradewinds were free to blow. Now it's all high rise cement with people looking in each other's windows. I guess nobody stopped to think what the cluster of hotels would do to the environment. Oh no, don't think ahead. Just develop develop develop and then get the heck out of town.
ReplyDeleteMaureen, I know what you're talking about. When I came back from Hawaii we were aboard a Navy ship. We know sooner cleared Diamond Head that my entire family was on dramamine. However, after a day of dramamine and saltines we were fine. The other family that sat at our table not so much. First the wife left. The next day the husband and baby showed up. Next day none of them. We never saw them again the entire trip.
ReplyDeleteI love the blog you've got running here. Vintage things, or anything that has history really interests me. Where do you get the majority of your pictures? did you take them? I'd assume not since these photos are "lost"...
ReplyDeleteThank you Lee. I'm old, but not old enough to have taken any of these. I find them at estate sales, flea markets, when traveling, or my best friend who sends me great stuff when she's weeding out her nest.
ReplyDeleteAh. I see. Yeah, I didn't think you were old enough to have taken these photos. That would have made you waaay old. xD
ReplyDeletePretty cool though. It'd be nice if old photos came into my possession now and then.
You just have to get out there and look for them. Take a bunch of quarters and head to a flea market. Search out dusty boxes at antique stores. Most people just pass by old photos. You just have to appreciate them and keep your eyes open. I imagine that big flea market in Alameda has a lot, though I've never been there.
ReplyDeleteI think I paid 5 dollars for this album of the woman on her vacation in Hawaii.
You can also look on ebay but that's way too expensive for me. Plus, I prefer the challenge of finding something. Half the time I don't even really know what I've got until I bring it home and scan it up 300%. That's when you find the details. You get the sense there's something in the shot, but blowing it up is where you find the fun.
It's actually been a while since I've visited a flea market. o.o I'll have to change that. There's a lot of great things you can find at flea markets...I should go to one asap. Before summer ends. Thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget estate sales. Take a look through your local paper classified section for estate sales Friday morning and then get there early and be prepared to stand in line. Estate sales have the most amazing finds. They usually cost more than flea markets, but it's where you can often find someone's life right in front of you.
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