About Rough Crossing

• a note from the artistic director
• Found in Translation: Ferenc MolnÁr and Tom Stoppard
• DIRE STRAITS: 1930s IMPRESARIOS ON THE BRINK
• CASTLES ON THE SEA: LUXURY OCEAN LINERS OF THE 1930s
• STOPPARD'S SCREWBALLS
• Not-so-Private (Backstage) Lives
  (on the Silver Screen)

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CASTLES ON THE SEA:
LUXURY OCEAN LINERS OF THE 1930s

 

Before the aviation boom in the 1950s, ships were the only means to travel between continents. Yet, for the transatlantic ocean liners of the 1930s, transportation was merely their practical function. In the great era of the Normandie, the Empress of Britain, and the Bremen, these ships were a cultural phenomenon. King George V and Queen Mary, along with a crowd of 200,000 onlookers, attended the launching of RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary in 1936. The Queen herself cut the ribbon releasing a bottle of Australian wine to baptize the ship. The luxury liners became public and extravagant symbols of national pride.

For Cabin-class passengers, embarking on an ocean liner meant more than crossing the windy and stormy North Atlantic; it was their ticket to the lush life. Boys in livery ushered them to their deluxe cabins. Champagne corks popped at “Bon Voyage!” They danced to live music in the lounge. When the ship cast off, many stood at the railings, waving to those on shore, throwing confetti and streamers in a celebratory au revoir.

On-board activities included clay-pigeon shooting, tennis, golf, miniature golf, swimming, poker, bridge, and bingo. Of course, some passengers preferred to find their sport in the ship’s bars or restaurants, hunting for chance romantic encounters. Many luxuriated by lying in deck chairs, wrapped up in woolen blankets, and reading. A record of the Queen Mary in 1936 shows that one morning every chair had been provided with a copy of the just-published Gone with the Wind.

Etiquette on the open water was strictly adhered to. After 6 PM, evening gowns and black tie were de rigueur, in harmony with the cigars, champagne, and caviar on offer. The only exceptions were the first and last days of traveling, when wardrobes would have been packed away in steamer trunks. Cabin stewards usually came from families that had worked the ship for generations, or they honed their skills on smaller liners before transferring to the luxury ship. They were trained to be always attentive but never obtrusive.

Celebrities were frequent passengers, and on occasion, they were politely asked to perform or give a public address. Gloria Swanson, Fred Astaire, Sir Winston and Lady Churchill, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Greta Garbo, and Marlene Dietrich are only a few of those who crossed the Atlantic by sea. Accordingly, at its destination, the ship became a site for photographers and reporters to acquire their front-page material.

As such, the ocean liners cruised through the 1930s, not only transporting passengers but also inviting them into a haven of high-class culture where they could forget about their earthly worries and enjoy the oceanic comforts. Today the function of these vessels has largely been taken over by airplanes, and while vacationers remain fascinated by faring the open seas, life on contemporary cruise ships seems miles away from the culture of 1930s luxury liners.

–WALTER BYONGSOK CHON
Production Dramaturg