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ONE OF BERLIN’S BEST HOTELS FOR 2013 – THE RITZ CARLTON

January 1, 2013 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

“Never say no when a client asks for something, even if it is the moon. You can always try, and anyhow there is plenty of time afterwards to explain that it was not possible.”

César Ritz (23 February 1850 – 24 October 1918) the famous Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz, in Paris and The Ritz Hotel in London. His nickname was “king of hoteliers, and hotelier to kings,” and it is from his name and that of his hotels that the term ritzy derives. His legacy lives on with the Ritz-Carlton Hotels Chain.

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2013 Choice: One of the best hotels in Berlin: the Ritz-Carlton.

Happy New Year from Cruising The Past —- We begin 2013 by confirming our choice for the best hotel in Berlin – the Ritz Carlton.

Celebrating a Berlin New Year, we are staying at the Ritz-Carlton. This is a great way to relieve the grand manner of five star service once found on the great German trans-Atlantic liners… operated by North German Lloyd and the Hamburg-America Line.

Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton is under the superb and meticulous direction of General Manager Robert Petrovic. This deluxe hotel is located near what was formerly a section of The Berlin Wall. It is in the center of the new Berlin. It is also the choice of world famous celebrities. The five star plus hotel offers 303 rooms, 40 suites, and The Ritz-Carlton Apartment as well as The Ritz-Carlton Club. Besides providing the utmost in comfort – the Ritz offers the kind of elegant service and cuisine that is so rare today. Trip Advisor gives the hotel a very high rating – one of the best in Berlin.

The staff exhibits the service once found in the great palace hotels of Europe and the fabulous Trans-Atlantic German liners of the 1930s. The TS Bremen and TS Europa were Germany’s fabulous ocean liners built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd line (NDL) in 1929 for the transatlantic passenger service. These fabulous German ships offered great service from New York to Europe. They also featured a unique a la carte restaurants operated by César Ritz.

SOCIAL HISTORY: THE JAZZ AGE – NEW YORK’S CAFE DE PAREE and EARL CARROLL THEATRE – SOCIAL HISTORY

December 17, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Earl Carroll review in the 1920s.

In December 1934, the refurbished Earl Carroll Theatre located on the south-east corner of 7th Ave and 50th Street, New York City, opened as the French Casino.

This glittering supper club was described by Fortune magazine as ‘a vast scarlet and silver restaurant which, in terraced rows of tables, seats fifteen hundred people without any crowding.’

For a short three year period it became the unrivalled premier nightspot in New York. It also celebrated the end of prohibition.

Excellent films of backstage scenes at the theatre during the 1930s.

(Left: The art deco masterpiecel.) The original building was designed by architect George Kiester and opened 25th February 1922 as the Earl Carroll Theater with seating for 1,000. The first few shows did not do well but there was some success with The Gingham Girl (28/8/22) and Earl Carroll’s Vanities of 1923 (5/7/23). With the advent of the depression Carroll’s fortunes floundered and he rented the theatre to Radio Pictures. Carroll decided he needed a bigger space and with the backing of William R. Edrington, a Texas oil baron, bought the land East of the theatre for $1m and leveled the building. He spent a further $4.5m creating a new theatre which was an art deco masterpiece once again designed by architect George Keister with the interior designed by Joseph Babolnay.

The new lobby was three times bigger than the old one. Seating capacity was tripled with 1500 seats in the orchestra, 200 in boxes and the loge and 1300 on the balcony. In the 60 x 100 feet space under the balcony lounge areas were created. It was the first theatre to be cooled backstage, in the auditorium and public areas.

he premier attraction was Earl Carroll’s Vanities of 1931 (27/8/31), but Carroll could not make the theatre a success since operating costs for such lavish shows were high and the ticket prices low due to the depression. Within six months he had lost the theatre Carroll and was sued for back rent, taxes and interest. He eventually relocated to Hollywood and made more of a success there. Florenz Ziegfeld took it over, called the building the Casino Theatre and opened with a revival of his great hit Show Boat (1932) but during the run he died and the show closed. George White used the theatre for Melody (1933) but success was still elusive and the theatre closed.

In late October 1933, the Theatre was sold to a business consortium of Louis F. Blumenthal, Charles H. Haring and Jack Shapiro for $52,000,000. This set in motion the beginnings of the French and London Casino project. The new owners invested $125,000 in renovation work to turn the theatre into the latest, up-to-the-minute cabaret-restaurant. They took out the seating and put tiers in the balcony and orchestra with tables. One of the key features was access. In other cabaret-theatre-restaurants, balcony diners must walk down through the rear to reach the dance floor. At the French Casino can descend the balconies by means of a series of ramps flanking both sides of the auditorium to the dance floor. People can ascend and descend in the theatre proper not by going out into the lobby. It provides the means of a grand entrance. Capacity was 900 on the lower floor and 500 flanking the sides and on the mezzanine and upper balcony. The show performs on an extended circular platform which comes out from the stage proper so that a neat ringside effect is created.

THE SUPER CHIEF – JANET LEIGH (STAR OF HITCHCOCK’S PSYCHO) DOES FASHION ON “THE TRAIN OF THE STARS”

November 25, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

SOCIAL HISTORY – - JANET LEIGH, STAR OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S PSYCHO, IS READY TO BOARD AND VIRGINIA LEITH, STAR OF “A KISS BEFORE DYING, SHOWS US THE ALL-PULLMAN TRAIN. EVEN THE CHARACTERS FROM “MAD MEN” COULD HAVE BEEN SEEN ON THIS TRAIN IN THE EARLY 1960S.

Virginia Leith, 20th Century Fox star of “A Kiss Before Dying”, did this fun film on the Super Chief – very retro and very 1950s.

All the stars “sailed” abroad the Santa Fe’s All-Pullman deluxe Super Chief between Los Angeles and Chicago. Regular passenger lists would include Janet Leigh, Jimmy Durante, Rosalind Rusell, Zero Mostel, Bing Crosby, Margaret Truman, Gloria Swanson, Alan Ladd, Kirk Douglas, Clark Gabel, Billy Wilder, Joan Crawford and on and on.

Janet Leigh did a major fashion layout aboard the new Super Chief in the 1950s.

(Left: Passengers in the Pleasure Dome Car) The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was often referred to as “The Train of the Stars” because of the many celebrities who traveled on the streamliner between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.

The Super Chief (assigned train Nos. 17 & 18) was the first Diesel-powered, all-Pullman sleeping car train in America, and it eclipsed the Chief as Santa Fe’s standard bearer. The extra-fare Super Chief-1 commenced its maiden run from Dearborn Station in Chicago on May 12, 1936. Just over a year later, in May, 1937 the much-improved Super Chief-2 traversed the 2,227.3 miles (3,584.5 kilometers) from Los Angeles over recently upgraded tracks in 36 hours and 49 minutes, averaging 60 miles/hour overall, and often reaching 100 miles/hour.

The SUPER CHIEF stops at Albuquerque, New Mexico in the 1960s – half way between the Los Angeles and Chicago. Right in the middle of the “Mad Men” era. Passengers dressed – it was really first class.

From that day forward the Super Chief set a new standard for luxury rail travel in America. With only one set of equipment, the train initially operated but once a week from both Chicago and Los Angeles. However, at the height of its popularity, and with added equipment, the trains of the Super Chief made daily departures from both ends of the line. Adding to the train’s mystique were its gourmet meals and Hollywood clientele.

The SUPER CHIEF dining car was first class – including finger bowls. Excellent cuisine was prepared aboard – from prime steaks to fresh trout to caviar. Tables were covered with starched linen, highly polished silver, specially designed china and glassware. The steward supervised the onboard restaurant and attentive waiters provided top service. There were no microwaves or people in tank-tops.

Direct competitors to the Super Chief during its lifetime were the City of Los Angeles, a streamlined passenger train jointly operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad, and (to a lesser extent) the Golden State, a streamlined passenger train jointly operated by the Rock Island and Southern Pacific railroads. The Santa Fe Super Chief was one of the last passenger trains in the United States to carry an all-Pullman consist; only the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broadway Limited and the Illinois Central’s Panama Limited survived longer. The train maintained its legendary high level of service until the end of Santa Fe passenger operations on May 1, 1971.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON THE SUPER CHIEF FROM NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

Filed Under: SOCIAL HISTORY Tagged With: cruising the past, TRAIN TRAVEL 1950s, TRAVEL FASHION

THE 20th CENTURY LIMITED – HISTORY OF THE “RED CARPET” AND A GREAT TRAIN

November 1, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

RED CARPET TREATMENT STARTED WITH THE 20TH CENTURY LIMITED –TRAIN OF TYCOONS AND STARS THAT RAN NIGHTLY BETWEEN NEW YORK AND CHICAGO

Have you wondered where the much-overused phrase “the red carpet treatment” originated?

It all started with the 20th Century Limited.

It was a “Magic Carpet” high speed overnight Pullman commute between New York and Chicago as pitched in this Time Magazine advertisement.

The “Century” was an express passenger train operated by the New York Central nightly from New York to Chicago. From 1938 until the last run in 1968, passengers walked down a crimson carpet to their waiting cars. This was only done for the departure from New York. Stretching from the observation car to the engine – the football field length rug was specially designed for the Century – thus, the “red carpet treatment” was born.

Travel time was less than sixteen hours each way between the two cities during its streamlined years.

If leaving from New York, you departed at 6 p.m. and arrived the next morning in Chicago at 8:45 a.m. Settling in for the evening, after boarding the Century in downtown Manhattan, you enjoyed cocktails in the observation car, dinner with views of the Hudson, a good night sleep and then with breakfast in bed or in the dining car. Dress was business formal with no room for baseball caps. Standing in line for security, enduring a long cab ride or enduring hours on the tarmac because of bad weather were not included in your first class Pullman fare.

The glamorous departure aboard New York Central’s 20th Century Limited was equal to a sailing on the Queen Mary, Liberte or United States. This was still the only way to “cross the pond” from New York to Europe into the 1950s and Pullman was the only way to travel overnight by train in America.

CLICK HERE TO THE FULL STORY IN THE NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

Filed Under: NEW YORK CENTRAL, SOCIAL HISTORY, STEAMSHIP LINES, STREAMLINERS

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