It started with a hat

As I was going through things a few weeks ago to prepare for a blog post, I found an interesting little “package”.



Hmmmm, wonder what was inside?



Was that my grandfather’s Shriner’s Hat (or Fez, as they are called)? 

The inside of the hat was stamped with Los Angeles Fraternal Supply Co. (LAFS Co.), 3704 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007.  This Fez belongs to ___________________.  It’s blank? 

I found that the LAFS Co. was founded in 1945 and moved from 3704 S. Main Street to Carson, California in 2009 so this could be anyone’s hat.  Of course I don’t know why my grandfather would have saved a hat that wasn’t his but maybe it was my dad’s?

WAIT!  I remembered that Grandpa had sailed to Honolulu for some sort of Shriner’s event in 1949.  In fact, I blogged about it HERE.  And then I remembered I recently found a group picture of a bunch of Shriner’s.  Time to get out my handy dandy Flip Pal scanner and get that photo scanned.



Normally I find my grandparents in the front row (that’s what being about 5’1” to 5’4” will get you but I didn’t see them.  And then I zoomed and found them (circled above).  And then I zoomed in even farther.



Yep, sure enough – that’s them.  But Sig has on a Tehran Fez with Tehran being the Fresno chapter.  There were some other men in the photo wearing Islam Fezzes and as you can see here, a few had on an Aloha or even Hello Fez. 

The notation on the photo says “Luke’s Photo Studio, April 27, 1949, Honolulu” so I have proof that they were there.  In fact, even more proof when I found the passenger list.

Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Honolulu, Hawaii, 1900-1953; (National Archives Microfilm Publication A3422, 269 rolls)

There they are on the last two lines.  And after some further research, I learned that they arrived in Honolulu on April 27, 1949 so the photo was taken on their first day on the island.  What a crowd!

I went through some menus that I had and found what looks to be the last dinner menu from the Lurline on April 26, 1949.



And inside was ‘A word about the subject of the cover painting’.

Since it’s saying Aloha it makes me think this was their final dinner on board.

I also found some menus from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel the first week of May (I also found some from January and March, 1949 which is another mystery I’ve yet to solve) which tells me they stayed for a week or more to enjoy a relaxing vacation.  So I thought I’d look through more passenger lists and see if I could find their return trip and I did!

Registers of Persons Held for Boards of Special Inquiry at the San Francisco, California, Immigration Office, February 1910-May 1941

WHAT?  They returned to San Francisco by plane?  May 10, 1949, United Airlines #648.  I only remember them traveling to/from Hawaii by sea so I was surprised to find this.  It’s really hard to see but they are on line 21 (Mildred) and 22 (Sigmond).  But their address of 1549 Echo Avenue, Fresno is listed so I know it’s them.  Of course the first thing I thought was how long did it take to make that trip by air in 1949?  And from what I could find, it took 7 hours, 20 minutes as opposed to 5 hours, 5 minutes today.

I don’t think the note above about Persons Held for Boards of Special Inquiry means much but it is an interesting notation.

So back to the hat.  Was it Sig’s?  Or maybe my dad’s?  I’m always so happy when I’m left with bread crumbs but, unfortunately, I didn’t get any this time.

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?



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.



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.



Wonder where Sig was hiding for this photo?



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

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



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.



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.

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?



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



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?



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.