Another hard to find item for the great SSUS … a pair of porthole lugs. I know there were at least 2 kinds of lugs on the ship … chrome covered ones like these that were in passenger/ public areas .. and brass lugs used in crew parts of the mighty ship! I remember last time I was on the Big U most of the portholes on the ship were locked so tight you would could never get them open (remember she was sealed tight by MARAD when she was laid up). On the QM today, they have welded a little dot-stop to the end of the porthole screws to keep souvenir scavengers from removing her solid brass lugs. A gem of an item … and a set that made every single service crossing!

Ok … this has to be a RARE one …. A replacement piece of porthole glass! I am sure there are stories it could tell! This could have been kept onboard in the “maintenance’ supply area to be used if there was a porthole that needed replacing.. but it sure looks like it could have been installed at one time as well. This baby is HEAVY .. and parts of the edges are “chipped” .. they almost look scalloped on purpose. The SSUS had pretty small portholes .. I am sure they were Navy standard for safety!  There can’t be too many of these around! This may require special packaging and shipping and I dare say will be too heavy and fragile to ship internationally.

Here is an unusual and utilitarian item from the ships galley/scullery … a silverware basket. Just like what you have in your dishwasher today … but of course a little more robustly built for “industrial use”.. can you imagine how heavy this basket would have been with Manhattan patterned silver utensils stuffed into each of the 8 basket sections? In  great condition considering the 17 years of hard use! A unique item for sure.

These are lovely examples of just how detailed items designed and made for the ship were. First they were of course we made out of Aluminum … so they were light , fire resistant and required no real cleaning etc. Also ingenious was the “toothed” bar … which kept towels for falling off with the various movements of the ship.  These were customized and  “cut down” as dictated by the individual bathroom space. Approx 12″ long. Comes with some cabin paint marks too!

Oh to have been a child aboard the Big U … the whole ship certainly would have been a playground … but the children in all classes were pampered even further with their own playrooms! This is a lovely chair from the sports deck FC playroom. The “vinyl” blue seating upholstery is in excellent shape (one little seam seperation on a top corner) . .. and the red frame shows a few scratches and dingys: Overall it is a GEM! *** Shipping calculator probably will not be accurate for this item .. I will need to quote manually*** Please help save the SS United States, visit www.savetheunitedstates.org.

PS: If any one has images and photo’s of this particular playroom … I’d love to see them.

I have to admit, I am not a tableware collector … but I do like the greystar china that was designed for the USL ships. These are nice oval bowls … used to serve smaller side dishes. Since they are stamped Lamberton … they date from the 1960’s (Mayer china dates from the maiden voyage and through the 50’s). Excellent condition!

Pristine Art Onboard Mimeo for the SSUS. I found a locker full of these babies when I was onboard in 1991 … and a few of them are now available here on GLL. I was so lucky at 21 and 22 to be able to roam the Big U’s innards and explore her glory. I will never forget those lucky summer days! These 5 page mimeos cover most of the art onboard the SSUS … and are in great shape. The dehumidification units installed by MARAD were chugging when I was onboard … and they did their job well.

Oh my … here is a rare one! A paper breakfast menu from the 2 day of the Big U’s trial trip sponsored by NNSBDD. All sorts of folks (certainly mostly men) were aboard running the ship through the paces of the Virginia coast. Based on her outstanding performance, Gibb’s would have had a smile on his face the entire time. Nice shape … certainly rare… and probably best shown framed. Please help save the SS United States, visit www.savetheunitedstates.org.

Another item I was allowed to have on my last visit to the SSUS in the summer of 1991 were these Pursers cards. I remember finding them stacked neatly in a file drawer in the pursers office … while the floor of the office was covered with multitudes of other paper products. These cards were used to communicate with passengers for things like landing arrangements, radoitelephone account , and other daily requirements. Looks like these were printed in August of 1969 … close to the end! Please help save the SS United States, visit www.savetheunitedstates.org.

Oh, Hadley’s dream that never came to pass! This is an orginial 15 page mimeographed guide on how to sell cruising society memberships for the reconditioned SS United States. Answers to about 30 questions in FAQ format. One question confirms her homeport as Honolulu. Never saw another one of these! Please help save our national flagship: www.savetheunitedstates.org. 10 Percent of all SSUS sales from GLL are donated to saving the ship.

SS United States: Just excellent miniature cuise deck plan for her. These are always helpful for research and reference! Please help save our national flagship: www.savetheunitedstates.org

SS United States: Nice miniature cruise deck plan for her. These are always helpful for research and reference! Please help save our national flagship: www.savetheunitedstates.org

SS Unites States: A hand typed onboard produced mimeograph list of her artwork and artists paired with a Navajo Lounge booklet. I found these items stashed in a locker next to the tourist class child’s playroom on my last visit to her in 1991. The MARAD dehumidification units still were chugging … these items don’t show any discoloration  … though slight rust to the staples. Please help save the SSUS!