In a nutshell…”Keep your valuables locked up” … theft was always an issue when the ships were in port and visitors could walk freely aboard.

Gala Menu and Daily Program for the mighty SSUS … Richard Ridington was in command on this particular voyage. The ship was travelling eastbound for Europe.

Excellent Gala Menu for the America with her  Famous early image of the ship by Alyward. John Anderson was in command of the ship for this voyage dated 7/12/1952 (someplace she would cross paths with the new SSUS on her maiden Voyage) … he would soon become master of the SSUS. A couple of “wine” blemishes on the cover but still a nice early menu.

Excellent FCDP for the lovely America … colorful graphic designs by Lester Beal and full of excellent interior photography. LA, CA agency stamp on rear.

Great little booklet “The Desert Goes to Sea” … the murals in the cocktail lounge of the SSUS. Great condition other than a small chip off the back cover.

Great Cruise deck plan for the mighty SSUS … adorned with condo drum, maraca and other instrument players.

Fancy dinner menu for the President Polk as she was en route to Yokohama on cruise around the world voyage 62. These folks ate well!

Great PL for the lovely Little Monterey as she was sailing form Hawaii to San Francisco on July 26^th 1962.

One of the best reference materials for the ship was this 1984 auction catalogue … packed with unique lots of furniture, artwork, towels, teapots, toilets … basically everything onboard … all was for sale! I sure wish I would have been old enough to go to the auction!

 Explore Some of the best food on the Atlantic … 18 recipes from the SSUS and SS America.

Excellent log card for the ships voyage 160 west bound to NY from Southampton via Le Harve.

Nice set of unused tags for the USL … probably dating to the later 1940’s.

Nice fold out for the Milwaukee Clippers 69 season … one of her last before her retirement. Great condition with nice photos and rate-schedule info. She is docked about a mile from my home.

Nice full season fold out for the GBL boats” North and South American. Super photos and graphics. The would be the last season the 2 sisters streamed together … the NA would be sold to Canadian Holidays before the 1963 season.

Great copy of the colorful SS America cruise plans … I bet a West Indies cruise on this little al would have been just delightful. Printed double sided on heavier newsprint like paper.

One of Billy Milly’s excellent overview books… filled with photos and info on the greatest American passenger ships. This was an Ex library book and discarded from the Pulaski, Va Library. A great book and priced accordingly.

She started life for Hapag … but they soon sold her and decided to focus on the freight side of the business. She spent may many years sailing for Eastern sailing the Caribbean. The is dated for May 1963 and is in like new condition.

Excellent fold out for Grace’s cruises to California through the Panama Canal. These scenic cruises would depart every 2 weeks and travel through several exotic south and central American ports. Includes a deck plan and covers Santa’s Elena, Rosa and Paula. Nice condition with typical little holds at the joining fold lines.

The crafty and thrifty Greeks always made good use of secondhand tonnage … and they loved using American ships for their quality construction. The Greeks snapped up the SS America when USL decided to sell her in the mid 1960’s and made a fortune with the immigrant trade to Australia. She had several name and ownership changes and wrecked off the Canary Islands on her way to becoming a hotel in the far east. A sad ending to a spectacular and charming ship. An excellent copy in like new condition and full of spectacular photography that shows off her American Heritage well.

Lovely publicity view of the Connie later in her life …. Well after her forward superstructure was rebuilt and her hull was painted white. Years later she and her sister would revive cruising around the Hawaiian Islands. She would later sink on her way to the scrappers.

Once of the most sought after items from the Ships EARLY life  is this excellent trials booklet that was published in celebration of the chips completion and Trials off the Virginia Capes. Filled with info on the ship , trials schedules, decoration info, a portside centerfold profile, general ship facts and a list of suppliers … all in all 31 pages dedicated to the ship. I have had a few of these over the years … and they are getting harder to find all the time … and this one is in very good condition with just a little light blemishing to the cover and some little writing on the back cover.

Passenger list for the America … an eastbound voyage from NYC to Southampton via Cobh and Le Havre departing on 9/9/1950. Very nice condition with age appropriate toning to the paper

Great Gala Menu form the SS America dated Sept 14, 1950. America was sailing eastbound … and the clocks were advance and hour at midnight. Lovely delicious sounding and diverse fare on the menu … what a meal! Good condition with some toning to the cover. Lovely astrology symbols  encircle a starboard bow rendering of the ship.

Nice Puerto Rico guide and cruise letter for the Waterman Lines. Undated .. but I’m guessing late 1950’s. 12 day cruise for $230 or 245 seems like a pretty good deal to me!

A nice plank copy of the a program folder … lovely life ring graphic.