Traveling by ship used to
be quite a production. In the 1800’s,
you took your giant steamer trunk filled with everything you might need with
you. If you were rich enough, you had a
maid or valet to take care of your belongings.
By the 1950’s, you
probably didn’t have a maid, but you still had volumes of luggage. Hats, long and short dresses, suits, and even
a bathing suit or two. White
gloves. Shoes to fit every outfit were
there also. Women brought their best
jewelry, and they wore it often. Men
usually wore sports coats, ties, and they had white and black tie stuff packed
for dinner. The ships were small, and
one could get to know both the staff and fellow travelers. Mother often cruised on the same ships and
the staff always remembered her.
By the seventies and
eighties, you often carried some of your own baggage. Here’s mother off to play golf perhaps in
Hawaii or an island in the Pacific. She
is 5 foot 4, and has had a double mastectomy.
She had the strength to carry those clubs, and they were not light. She still took her jewelry, and she had
evening gowns designed to hide other cancer surgeries.
By the time I began to
cruise, I bought my first good dress at the ACA Discovery thrift store. My jewels came from Ross Dress for less. The shoes from Nordies Rack. I have them still. George has a blue and a black suit…oh, what
simple luggage we have. And, oh, we too
like the smaller ships which grow harder to find on our smaller budget. We are still paying off those side tours from
the Panama Canal cruise. This last
cruise, I wore shoes from Target.
Perhaps next, we will cruise to Disneyland.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
- Himself: A just right day at work.
- Herself: Laundry and quilting on this showery day.
- Reading: The most recent Inspector Gamache.
- Gratitude’s: For a good day with the books yesterday…and more of the nautical books too.
Great photos of your Mom, Mage!
ReplyDeleteI like Mrs. Gotrocks!
ReplyDeleteThat’s quite a change. I was just mentioning today how I had to wear jacket and tie (or at least a tie) through grade 9 in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteWe will go on another cruise someday.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of travelling light.
ReplyDeleteYou both look very snazzy there. On our recent cruise we were asked to where a collared shirt and women dresses or dress slacks in 90% of the restaurants. Most complied and dress went from casual chic to very dressy among the crowd. We had access to washers and dryers and so everything had to be washable.
ReplyDeleteViking advises us to bring just one luggage and pack very light. I have one very crushable black dress that can roll very small for dinners. Actually all my clothes can be rolled pretty small. It takes a lot of planning to go on these cruises. Or maybe it's just me. We'll be doing the Rhine River cruise later this year.
ReplyDelete