New York Social Diary |

Cruising The Past looks at New York debutants aboard the Homeric. With a link to Brenda Frazier and current “bows” in society.

January 21, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

New York debutante party in the 1950s aboard Home Line’s HOMERIC
dockside.

(Left – Home Lines S.S. Homeric at her New York pier on February 15, 1969 just before sailing to Nassau.)

The SS HOMERIC was used for society events in New York Harbor. The ship was originally the SS Mariposa. She was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1931; one of four ships in the Matson Lines “White Fleet” which included SS Monterey, SS Malolo and SS Lurline. In World War II she served the United States as a fast troop carrier, bringing supplies and support forces to distant shores as well as rescuing persons stranded in foreign countries by the outbreak of war. In 1947 the ship was mothballed for six years at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard in Alameda, California. Her engines were overhauled by Todd San Francisco Division. Home Lines bought her and renamed her SS Homeric, sailing her to Trieste for reconstruction to allow 1243 passengers: 147 First Class and 1,096 tourist class. Gross register tonnage increased to 18,563.

Cruising The Past looks at New York society – from Brenda Frazier to today’s debutantes – with an excellent piece by David Patrick Columbia in New York Social Diary.

Debutantes then and now…

by David Patrick Columbia – New York Social Diary

This past holiday season last month in New York also highlighted the longtime annual tradition of the debutante, young women making their “bows” in society. Interest in the ritual has waxed and waned over the past half century. Its purpose has been modified by the liberations but it has hardly gone out of style.

18-year-old Brenda Diana Duff Frazier at the Infirmary Ball, December 1938.

Thanks to George Gurley, writing in the New York Times, about a pretty Johns-Hopkins undergrad from New York named Hadley Nagel, it was a lively topic of conversation at dinners and dances and elsewhere. Ms. Nagel was making her debut at the 56th annual International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf and George’s reportage gave it a substance and an import that many have long felt that it lacked.

Ms. Nagel’s interview assured us that the assumed demise of the debutante ball is premature. For the simple reason that it serves an important purpose, especially nowadays when young women are interested in establishing themselves for their chosen paths, the workplace, and anything else that might be desirable.

Click here to read rest of story in New York Social Diary.

Filed Under: Cruise History, SOCIAL HISTORY Tagged With: CUNARD LINE, david patrick columbia, history cruises, history society, HOME LINES, liners, new york social diary, SOCIAL HISTORY, society

The French Line’s fabulous ILE DE FRANCE

December 10, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Another great YOUTUBE video from Joanna Coleman… of the ILE DE FRANCE…

Here is a wonderful piece on the great French liner ILE DE FRANCE from New York Social Diary by maritime artist and historian: Scott McBee…

The newly re-fitted SS Ile de France in 1949, having been restyle and sporting only two funnels, leaving Le Havre for its Atlantic run to New York…
by Scott McBee

The SS Ile de France was built in for the French shipping company, Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (known commercially as The French Line) at a cost of $10,000,000. Her construction began in1925 at the Penhoet shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, France. She was the first major liner built after World War I. She was launched on March 14,1926.

Seven hundred ninety-one feet in length, 91 feet wide, powered by steam turbines geared to quadruple screws, she had a service speed of 23.5 knots. After a period of 14 months for fitting out her interiors the Ile de France weighed in at 44,356 tons and left the shipyards on May 29th for her sea trials.

The cabin class salon decorated by Le Bucheron…

Her maiden voyage was on June 22, 1927 from Le Havre to New York where she received a gala welcome from New York City. had a passenger capacity of 1,395 — 541 First Class, 577 Cabin Class and 277 Tourist class after her refitting after World War II. She was neither the largest (the sixth largest) or the fastest but was and still is considered one of the most beautifully decorated ocean liners built by the French Line.

One of her most distinctive characteristics were the sumptuous, unique interiors which at the time represented a departure, something new in interior design. It would be the first time a passenger ship’s accommodations would not be designed on a theme of the past but more of what was taking place in the present time. In “The Only Way to Cross, Jon Maxtone-Graham calls the Ile “the divide from which point ocean liner decorators reached forward rather than back.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Filed Under: Cruise Memorabilia, cruise reviews, CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS Tagged With: Cruise History, cruise liner, cruise ship history, Ile de France, Judy Garland, le bucheron, Marlene Dietrich, new york social diary, the French Line, trans-atlantic liners

ANDREA DORIA – The fabulous Italian Line ship whose fate was sealed by the Swedish America Line’s STOCKHOLM.

November 8, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Joanna Coleman’s terrific color footage from her terrific site on YOUTUBE of the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria in the 1950′s which sunk after colliding with the MV Stockholm.

LINER AND SOCIAL HISTORY — ANDREA DORIA – The fabulous Italian Line ship whose fate was sealed by the Swedish America Line’s STOCKHOLM.

By the mid-1950s, with the postwar passenger boom at its peak, more than 50 passenger liners sailed the sea-lanes between Europe and America.
Among the most splendid were two new ships of the Italian Line, the Cristofor Colombo and the Andrea Doria. They were built for luxury, not speed, and to take advantage of the sunnier southern route.

The Andrea Doria was the first liner to possess three outdoor swimming pools, one each for first, cabin and tourist class. Her lines were graceful, her public rooms lavishly decorated and crowded with artworks and her most desirable first-class suites as rarified as any that had come before. She was a superb expression of her time and nationality, a ship that combined 1950s modernity with a keen awareness of Italy’s extraordinary artistic heritage.

She was also equipped with the latest in navigational equipment, including two sets of radar, the still-developing technology that had transformed the maritime battlefields of World War II and was now standard equipment in the merchant marine. But even if the radar failed and somehow a collision happened, the Andrea Doria was in theory unsinkable. Her 11 watertight compartments were so constructed that she would remain afloat if any two were breached –more than that her builders could not imagine — and so that she would never take on a list of more than 15 degrees. As an extra safety precaution, her lifeboats could still be launched if the list reached 20 degrees. Yet the Andrea Doria was destined to become the last great lost ship of a transatlantic passenger era that was about to fade away.

We are pleased to share the following feature story on the Andrea Doria from NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

SS ANDREA DORIA by Scott Houston McBee

I was initially drawn to the Andrea Doria at the age of 14 after reading the book, Collision Course, by Alvin Moscow. The book tells of the Andrea Doria’s birth, her brief but glorious life, and her tragic end, in the summer of 1956.

To me the Andrea Doria embodied the hope and optimism that Italy was searching for after the War. I was very moved by the story of her master, Captain Piero Calamai, who after a distinguished career with the Italian Line decided never to return to the sea after the Andrea Doria’s sinking.

He was quoted as saying “When I was a boy and all my life, I loved the sea. Now I hate it.”

He died after a long illness in April of 1972.

In the late 1940’s Italy had lost most of her passenger ships to the War. The Italian Line sought to revive its postwar liner fleet in order to restore Italy’s place in international passenger shipping. The creation of the Andrea Doria was based on the principle that Italy’s new postwar fleet had to communicate a new message about Italy itself: Italy was no longer a belligerent adversary but a beautiful country brimming with art and culture.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE AND READ THE FULL STORY COURTESY OF NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

Filed Under: ITALIAN LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Andrea Doria, CRUISE LINE HISTORY, cruise ship history, CRUISE SHIPS, ITALIAN LINE, JOANNA COLEMAN, Liner History, liners, MV STOCKHOM, new york social diary, sinking, steamship history, youtube

NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY FEATURES THE TRAIN OF THE STARS – THE SUPER CHIEF

August 19, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Social History: Cruising the Past editor – Michael L. Grace – celebrates the Santa Fe Railroad’s Super Chief – the train of the stars – and an “exclusive club” that ran daily between Chicago and Los Angeles with a feature story on New York Social Diary.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SUPER CHIEF FEATURE
in the NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY.

Filed Under: STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Clark Gable, MGM, Michael Grace, michael l. grace, new york social diary, santa fe, SOCIAL HISTORY, super chief, the hucksters, Titanic, train of the stars

PRIVATE RAILWAY CARS – THE LAND USE VERSION OF THE PRIVATE JET

September 16, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

The Chapel Hill was originally built in 1922 for Post Cereals Heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and stock broker and investment banker E.F. Hutton.

Chartering Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Private Railway Car is a deluxe alternative to everyday travel by private jet. See for yourself as Michael L. Grace takes us on a smooth ride cross country featured in New York Social Diary.

Click here to read.

Owner DeWitt Chapple Jr., seen on the Chapel Hill private car observation platform as it appears today. Totally updated and the most deluxe way for land travel in America.

Filed Under: PRIVATE RAILWAY CARS, PULLMAN, TRAINS, TRAINS IN THE MOVIES Tagged With: american society, Chapel Hills, DeWitt Chapple Jr., Marjorie Merriweather Post, new york social diary, NEW YORK SOCIETY, PRIVATE RAILWAY CARS, the Pullman Company

Addison Mizner – Social History in Palm Beach from New York Social Diary – Mansions and Yachts

August 27, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Addison Mizner (left) and his career as an architect of fact and fable. From mansions to yachts.

More Social History in Palm Beach from a great story in New York Social Diary.

Cruising The Past also looks at one of Mizner’s first clients: Edward Townsend Stotesbury and his yacht Neveda.

Our thanks to Wayne C. Wilcox and his STOTESBURY.COM website for photos and background.

El Mirasol, Palm Beach, FL; from a c. 1920 postcard published by the E. C. Kropp Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Designed by architect Addison Mizner, the winter home of Edward Townsend Stotesbury was completed in 1919. Razed in the 1950s, the 37-room mansion’s fittings and furnishings were sold at auction, and its 42 acres (17 hectares) were redeveloped as a 14 lot subdivision.

(Left: The Stotesbury’s yacht Neveda cruising in front of EL Mirasol.) Even though Henry Morrison Flagler founded Palm Beach, it took Eva and Edward Stotesbury to put it on the map

In 1917, when the Stotesburys decided to build ‘El Mirasol,” they were a couple in the right place. at the right time.

20th Century Limited – Greatest train in the world – When everything old is new again, or could be … on today’s New York Social Diary …

March 10, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Ready for departure in 1947 from Chicago’s La Salle Street Station the opulent Twentieth Century is 16 hours from Grand Central Station, New York.

My latest contribution to New York Social Diary – is a profile of New York Central’s 20th Century Limited. Considered the greatest train in the world. Until the 1950s, this all-Pullman streamliner was the only way to travel between New York and Chicago. Stars, moguls and socialites filled the train’s daily passenger list. Departure every evening walking down a train length red carpet from Grand Central Station was like sailing on the RMS Queen Mary.

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

By Michael L. Grace – New York Social Diary

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.

Link here to read the full article in today’s NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY and discover the background of “red carpet treatment.”

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint as seen in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest.” They are dining in the Century Club with views of the Hudson River in the background. They soon would head for Saint’s Pullman Drawing Room. Sleep would be easy since the Central’s route to Chicago was “water level” – along the Hudson and Lake Erie.

Filed Under: NEW YORK CENTRAL, PULLMAN Tagged With: 20th Century Limited, celebrities, Chicago, Great Trains, new york social diary, Pullman Company, stars, STREAMLINERS

Cruise Ships History: Italian Line’s beautiful liner CONTE DI SAVIOA captured by New York based artist Scott McBee and link to his wonderful article on this great ship found on New York Social Diary.

December 20, 2008 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Scott Houston McBee’s rendering of the Conte di Savoia.

Principessa Mafalda with family and friends aboard the Conte Di Savoi.

Princess Mafalda married the Prince of Hesse. In 1943 when Mussolini was overthrown, and the King led the country into the Allied camp, both the Princess and Prince were sent to a concentration camp where they died.

Conte Di Savoi First Class passengers in dinner dress visiting the stabilizer system – a first for trans-Atlantic liners in the 1930s. [Read more...]

Filed Under: ITALIAN LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: CRUISE SHIPS, Cruise Ships History, CUNARD LINE, FRENCH LINE, italian lines, Liner History, liners, maritime, new york social diary, scott Mcbee, ss Conte Di Savoi, ss normandie, ss rex

TRAVEL AND SOCIAL HISTORY – Marjorie Merriweather Post’s former private railway car is a deluxe alternative to everyday travel by private jet.

December 12, 2008 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

The Chapel Hill was originally built in 1922 for Post Cereals Heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and stock broker and investment banker E.F. Hutton.

Click here to read.

Owner DeWitt Chapple Jr., seen on the Chapel Hill private car observation platform as it appears today. Totally updated and the most deluxe way for land travel in America.

Filed Under: PRIVATE RAILWAY CARS, PULLMAN, SOCIAL HISTORY, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Chapel Hill Railway Car, Lucius Beebe, new york social diary, PRIVATE RAILWAY CARS, PULLMAN

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