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PALM SPRINGS AND THE STREAMLINER

November 25, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Retro look at the 1950s – Cruising the Past – A major element in the development of Palm Springs was the Southern Pacific Railroad. At one time the SP offered passenger service on over eight daily trains.

The SP served Palm Springs from a Spanish style station especially built for the resort in the late 1930s.

SP, at one time, had eight daily trains serving the desert resort for passengers escaping the harsh winters of the USA or wanting the desert climate for their health.

The Santa Fe and Union Pacific, through their rail connections in Riverside and San Bernardino, joined the SP in providing the major form of transportation well into the 1950s.

Passengers arriving aboard the Santa Fe and UP trains where driven in Grey Line limousines from the two major Inland Empire cities to the Palm Springs hotels and resorts.

The GOLDEN STATE heading out of Palm Springs – 1950s.

The SUNSET LIMITED, GOLDEN STATE, SUPER CHIEF and CITY of LOS ANGELES were the “retro” way of getting to the glamorous desert resort. Unlike Amtrak, all these trains provided daily service on a year round basis and operated on time.

Palm Springs Southern Pacific Station located on Tipton Road, off 111, on the way to Whitewater – early 1950s.

In 1877, as an incentive to complete a railroad to the Pacific, the US government gave Southern Pacific Railroad title to the odd-numbered parcels of land for 10 miles on either side of the tracks running through the Southern California desert around Palm Springs. The even-numbered parcels of land were given to the Agua Calientes. In 1884, Judge John Guthrie McCallum of San Francisco arrived in Palm Springs with his family, seeking health for his tubercular son. The first permanent non-Indian settler, McCallum purchased land from Southern Pacific and built an elaborate aqueduct. In 1909 Nellie Coffman’s Desert Inn opened.

Rock Island and Southern Pacific operated the GOLDEN STATE LIMITED and the APACHE. Both were daily trains from Chicago with through Pullmans from Minneapolis – St. Paul, St. Louis and Kansas City. This is ad is from the 1930s.

The Sunset Limited arriving at West Palm Springs Station from New Orleans enroute to Los Angeles in 1940. Passengers and visitors are on the platform. Station wagons and limos are waiting to take passengers to hotels in Palm Springs.

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Filed Under: STREAMLINERS Tagged With: Amtrak, chief, city of los angeles, GOLDEN STATE, Palm Springs, retro 1950s, santa fe, Southern Pacific, southern pacific station, SP STATION, SUNSET LTD, super chief, UNION PACIFIC

Retro cruising on the “SS BERMUDA STAR” aboard the second all gay cruises – the ship was a.k.a. “SS Brenda Starr”

August 8, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

One of the first all gay cruises – Cruising on the SS BERMUDA STAR in 1987 aboard the second all gay cruises operated by RSVP. It is a retro look at gay life. Operated by gay pioneer RSVP the passengers dubbed the ship Bermuda Star Cruise Line ship the SS BRENDA STARR.

In BUT THE SHOW WENT ON, (the prequel to his best-selling memoir, POSTCARDS FROM PALM SPRINGS) author Robert Julian recounts sailing aboard the S.S. Bermuda Star from New Orleans in 1987 – over twenty years ago. This was the second all gay cruise. RSVP founder, Kevin J. Mossier, had a bold, new idea – to provide a safe, tailor-made vacation environment for gay men and lesbians. Unable, at the time, to find a resort that would open its doors to the concept, he found an understanding company known as the Bermuda Star Line and the gay cruise was born.

The RSVP second all gay cruise – “A Cruise To Remember” – sailed out of New Orleans, February 15, 1987 with 750 guests ready to create and enjoy the overwhelming experience that only can happen on an all gay vacation. Bermuda Star Line was open to the gay cruise idea and chartered the Bermuda Star to RSVP.

Other major companies, such as Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, etc., were very reluctant to do a gay cruise and charter to RSVP or any other gay travel organization for a long time. Of course, in the end, money talks and all the major cruise companies clamored for gay and lesbian business.

(left) The SS Bermuda Star was originally the Moore-McCormick liner SS Argentina. This is a photo of the children/teenage dining room in the 1950s on a voyage from New York to Buenos Aires. Wonder if any of them eventually ended up on an RSVP Cruise?

Julian writes about his experience in the mid-1980s aboard the S.S. Bermuda Star in his new book – BUT THE SHOW WENT ON – which you can order by clicking here. This is not your standard “Cruise Critic” travel piece.

Cruising on the SS Brenda Starr by Robert Julian

From the San Francisco Sentinel
(1987) RSVP’s second all gay cruise aboard the SS Bermuda Star!

The RSVP travel brochure promises “a cruise to remember,” a minimal expectation under the circumstances. Any time you put 750 gay men on a boat, chances are they’ll walk way with a few memorable moments. What follows is a week in my life aboard the SS Bermuda Star. For reasons that will soon become apparent, I have changed some names. This is not a travelogue.

Arrival
The relentless late afternoon sun pushes unseasonably warm and humid temperatures even higher. My roommate David and I check into our hotel in the French Quarter and immediately hit the streets. It our first visit to New Orleans and we sail tomorrow morning, so we want to take in as much as possible. The Quarter is a tired party girl, decked out in centuries old finery, decaying round the edges. Ornate balconies lean over cobblestone streets exposing themselves for the benefit of tourists. Secluded courtyards, hiding at the end of corridors, hold a vague promise of mystery and intrigue that is orchestrated by the lingering sound of jazz floating from the clubs along Bourbon Street. Drinking beer from paper cups, tourists wander aimlessly, peering down alleys and beyond wrought iron gates for a glimpse of a Stanley Kowalski or ersatz Blanche Dubois. It is all too Tennessee Williams.
We stop by The Mint for happy hour and I run into an old friend and future shipmate who now lives in Washington D.C. Before we know it, a group of about 10 people has assembled, carrying on like Jewish mothers at a bar mitzvah. One of them works for All American Boy in New Orleans, and although he is not going on the cruise, he extends his own brand of Southern hospitality by inviting me to a private J.O. party the Monday after the ship returns. Do you think this is what Blanche meant by “the kindness of strangers”?
We all decide to attend a masked party at Jewels after dinner and, several hours later, David and I find ourselves pushing our way through another crowded bar. Forget Williams, this is beginning to feel like Fellini. Since I usually spend about three hours a month in bars at home, I’m beginning to lose all touch with normal reality. This feeling is heightened by being surrounded by dozens of men wearing bizarre feathered masks.
Back by the pool table I run into more shipmates. Jack, an old friend from San Francisco, and his new lover, Richard, are standing with a mad Cuban queen named Ramon, while another friend, Bill, leans against the cigarette machine. David pulls me aside and, with his uncanny knack of tuning-in on my wavelength, gives me some history on Bill.

Cruise Ship History: Menus by Eugene Savage used on Matson Line’s SS LURLINE during the 1950s are the inspiration for a striking mural located in the new trendy Tropicale Restaurant in Palm Springs, California.

January 9, 2009 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

Menus by Eugene Savage used on Matson Line’s SS LURLINE during the 1950s are the inspiration for a striking mural located in the trendy Tropicale Restaurant in Palm Springs, California.

The mural seen over the bar at the Tropicale Restaurant is based on the Savage menu designs for Matson Line’s SS Lurline .

The SS Lurline sailed from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Hawaii into the early 1960s when it was replaced by her sister-ship the SS Matsonia. The menus were also discontinued and replaced by a smaller design.

The original Savage menu cover designed for the SS Lurline and used for the mural dominating the bar area of the Tropicale. “Fesitval of the Sea” was the title for this menu.

You would never think a desert restaurant in Palm Springs would be the place to find something so associated with steamships, cruising and the sea. Especially such an excellent representation of mid-century modernism.

The modern 1950s Cathay Bar aboard American President Line’s SS President Wilson. Similar in style to the modern Tropicale design with mid-century influence.

The Tropicale has the feeling of the upbeat supper clubs and lounges of the 1950′s and 60′s.

Another view of the mid-century designed Tropicale. Bar, lobby and dining room in background.

There is a strong mid-century influence. What is ironic is that a 1950s nautical feeling, besides the mural, is found in the public rooms.

The decor parallels the design of American passenger liners following World War 2. Especially those operated by Matson, United States and American President Lines (The lobby of the President Wilson is seen to the left).

The menus were used for dinner service on the SS Lurline. The ship would take five nights to reach Hawaii from the West Coast.

Eugene Savage (1883-1978) was born in Covington, Indiana. In 1940, Savage completed a two-year mural project for the Matson Co. to be used as menu covers for the passenger ship S.S. Lurline.

The SS Lurline at sea from San Francisco to Honolulu – 1950s.

He produced 4 x 8 foot murals that went right into Matson’s basement, never used in the building or on the ships. The menus were never used before World War Two, because, at the outbreak of the war, Matson ships were requisitioned as U.S. transport ships. The six menu covers were finally used on the maiden voyage of the refurbished “White Ship” Lurline in the year 1948.

The original menu set consisted of nine images, three of which are rare and not seen often. In 1950, the Printing for Commerce exhibit of the American Institute of Graphic Arts honored the menu covers with its highest award, and in 1951 the menu designs were included in a display of American lithographs at the Smithsonian Institution.

Due to the increased demand, Matson at that time produced a set of six prints, which were given away to passengers at the end of the voyage. This was the custom on all steamship lines. This stopped in the 1980s aboard most ships when menus were standardized.

It is estimated that over a quarter of a million sets of the Matson Savage menus were printed as blanks or as actual menus. Collectors should be aware that copies are being made today of very good quality. Prices will vary according to brightness of each image; fold lines, foxing, etc. From 1948-1956, the Savage menu designs were also produced on Aloha attire.