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.

Cruising

As I continue to work through the scads (that was my grandmother’s word) of photos I have, I’m reminded of the many times my grandparents, Sig and Loraine Levy, cruised here and there.  I particularly remember their voyages on the S.S. Lurline between San Francisco and Hawaii.  I believe they would travel from Fresno to San Francisco, with a stop in San Jose either before or after their cruise, and from San Francisco would sail to/from Hawaii.  And now I’ve found photos as evidence of their journeys!

Sig and Loraine Levy 8 Aug 1959

I can just imagine sailing in the 50’s and 60’s – what a different time.  My grandfather looks so dapper in his tuxedo!  And thanks, Grandpa, for putting the date on the back of this photo! 

No date on this photo but based on the clothing, I’m guessing it was the same voyage.



Once they arrived in Honolulu, I remember that they always stayed at the Royal Hawaiian, the beautiful pink hotel on Waikiki Beach.  I’m sure back in the day it was about the only game in town – now it’s dwarfed by the other more “hip” hotels. 

Royal Hawaiian Hotel photo by cryptic_star

I have found records showing they sailed on the Lurline from San Francisco to Honolulu in April, 1949, August 1951, and August 1956 but I haven’t found any photos that look to be from these trips.  Yet.

1966 seems to have been a big year for cruising.  In June, they sailed on the SS President Wilson but I don’t know where they went.  The photos I have are in ‘jackets’ that show the name of the ship and Hawaii-Japan-Philippines-Hong Kong so I’m guessing they went to one or all of those countries.  There is a little nugget in my brain saying they visited Japan but I can’t be sure.  No matter where they went, they seemed to have had a good time!

My grandmother loved her mink and took it everywhere with her!  I remember when we cleaned out my parents’ house last year finding the mink in the bedroom closet – I’m sure my parents never knew what to do with it.  I don’t want to think about what happened to it in the estate sale.

Loraine and Sig Levy May, 1966

I wish I knew who these unidentified people are.  If I could find passenger lists for this voyage, I might recognize some names.  But here’s Grandma with her mink!



And some quiet dinners together.






But the quiet dinners didn’t last – looks like there was a costume party aboard the ship.



And guess who won the prize for the most original costume?  Thank you, Grandpa, for writing that on the back of this photo!

June, 1966 On board Pres Wilson Sig won the prize for most original costume THE BEEF EATER

Later that year they were cruising again as they were on board the Lurline on the Hawaii Holiday Cruise December 20, 1966 – December 30, 1966.  This cruise went from San Francisco to Honolulu via Nawiliwili (Kauai), Lahaina, and Hilo.  Look at that – Grandma has on a different mink!



Who are these lovely ladies with them?  I thought they might be the Stubblefield sisters, their next door neighbors for years, but I was able to find a passenger list on line and there was no indication that the Stubblefields were on board.  Oh look at that – if you look in the top right hand corner you can see the top of the ship!  Here’s the ship from the back of the photo ‘jacket’.



While I’ve never been on a cruise, I have heard that eating is one of the main events.  Looks like it was a great opportunity for some photos, too!



I have to laugh that they are sitting in the exact same seats!



I don’t know if this was from the same cruise but I do know it was on board the SS Lurline.  Grandpa always did like the ladies!



I just love looking at these photos and imagining what their voyages were like.  Thanks for sharing them with me, Grandma and Grandpa!