Sunday, December 18, 2016

Cruising – Shriners Style

As I’ve written about in previous posts, my grandparents, Sig and Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy loved to cruise on the SS Lurline to Hawaii.  You can read my recent post HERE.  I’ve now found many photos and dinner menus from their adventures and it has helped me piece together information about their cruises.

I think the cruise they took in 1949 was with the Shriners.  What makes me think this?  How about these photos?

Jesse and Betty Newton Sig Levy Loraine Gunzendorfer 1949

The back of the photo tells me that this lovely couple is Jesse and Betty Newton.  Looks to me like they might just be arriving in Honolulu – I remember when visitors were greeted with leis at the airport or as they left the ship.  I can almost smell them from this photo!  While I have things from several different visits, I’ve learned that Jesse passed away in 1953 so this photo is, most likely, from their 1949 cruise.  Jesse and Betty on the left, Sig and Loraine on the right.

From the website www.tehranshriners.org I learned about the formation of this new organization in Fresno.
At its annual meeting in Atlantic City on June 10, 1948,  the Imperial Council,  Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine granted dispensation to the Fresno Shrine Club to activate and organize a Shrine Temple. A year later, a Shrine Temple was situated in Fresno. It was given the name Tehran which was an appropriate choice as it generally interpreted as “a warm place at the foot of a mountain.”
Maybe this cruise was celebrating the formation of the new club?

And some other photos of the Shriners.

Tehran Shriners

The best thing about Sig and Loraine being short is that they were almost always in the front!

Here they are peeking out from behind the ferns.

Group Dinner

Wonder where Sig was hiding for this photo?

Tehran Group

All dressed up for dinner.  I love how the men were all wearing tuxes!

Shriners Dinner

This must have been another night when Sig left his hat in the room.  I love how elegant they look.

Sig Levy Loraine Gunzendorfer

I think their destination might have been The Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  I know my grandparents always stayed there when they visited and since these photos were in with the rest, I’m guessing that was the destination for the Shriners.

Royal Hawaiian Hotel

And from the restaurant on the patio.  What a different time it was then – now people would be dressed in their swim suits and looking at their phones instead of enjoying the beautiful view.

Royal Hawaiian Patio

Now this menu is from a different trip but I thought it would be fun to include another menu to see if the food choices were more in line with something I’d like to eat.  I’m happy to say that’s the case.

What a beautiful cover!  Can you imagine having this souvenir at your table every night?

Menu Front

This particular dinner in 1958 was Hawaiian Night Dinner and the menu looks pretty good.

Menu

I was particularly interested in the wine list as we love to collect (and drink) wine.  I don’t remember my grandparents drinking wine but, of course, they’ve been gone so long now my memory has faded.  I wonder what they selected?

Menu Wine List

Just for fun I thought it would be fun to see if the wine was available today so I looked up the 1949 Chateau D’Yquem.  The price range is from $1250 to $3500!  I sure hope they picked that one and that they enjoyed it.

Thanks for sailing along with my grandparents on the SS Lurline.

9 comments:

  1. I'd like a glass of that white burgundy, please. I love dry white wines. Thanks so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One day I hope I find a photo which shows what they were drinking. I don't remember them being wine drinkers, though.

      Delete
  2. What great photos! And yes, there are even a few choices here I could eat. What is sukiyaki? A version of suki? And I wonder how much those bottles of wine cost then!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder that, too, Amy. But I'm guessing everything was included in the cost since there are no prices on the menu.

      Delete
    2. Oh, and sukiyaki is a Japanese noodle dish.

      Delete
    3. Thanks! I just realized I was thinking sushi and reading suki as sushi...

      Delete
  3. How fun to have those photos and even a menu from your grandparents' cruises. It looks like they had a good time together and it's always fun to know what they enjoyed doing. Fun post. Debi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have about 20 menus from various cruises. Remember, they kept everything!

      Delete
  4. I LOVE these photos!!! And the menus. What neat items! I don't know that my grandparents ever traveled anywhere. But, my mom LOVES to travel and so do my brother & I. Anyway, keep on sharing. It's really interesting!

    ReplyDelete