Ad Campaign – Italian Line, 1935

Crossing by “Sun-Ship” on the brilliant Southern Route

You are out on deck all day… tanning and playing under laughing skies…and looking forward to an extra thousand miles of sunshine after you’ve passed Gibraltar!

Traveling in an Italian “sun-ship” is one of the sparkling pleasures of today.  Make it a part of your travel experience…on your next crossing to Europe!  For speed…the Rex, fastest liner afloat, or the Conte di savoia, only gyro-stablized liner.  For more leisurely voyaging…the Roma, original Lido ship, or the de luxe Conte Grande, or one of the twin Cosulich vessels, Saturnia and Vulcania, each with a whole deck of private verandah suites!

I think I’ll take the Saturnia!

Ad Campaign – Italian Line: 1939

The above ad is from 1939.  It never fails to amaze me to see how the European travel industry was trying so desperately to pretend all was normal even after WWII had actually started.

More from 1938, Travel and Vacation Clothes: Journal School of Fashion:

“Extras for the ship – Slacks are perfectly correct and very comfortable on the sports deck of a ship.  So are tennis dresses, shorts and skirts for playing deck tennis.  Take these if you have the figure for them.  On the other hand, it’s quite right to play deck games in simple cotton dresses or sweaters and skirts.  If there’s a swimming pool on your boat and you intend to swim – take a suit, a simple, not-too-bulky beach coat, and beach sandals.  Don’t bother with swimming things unless you are going to swim, because they are bulky and troublesome.”

Sanitorium or Sunny Cruise?

This great image is from a 1937 ad for the Italian Line of ocean liners.  Their ads from the late 1930s seemed to always feature blue ocean and a ship bathed in sunlight.  It’s especially appealing since our weather here in the East has been frigid the entire month of January.  Most years we have a few days of 60 degree temperatures, but it wasn’t until yesterday that we reached that mark.  It was an extraordinary day, with crystal blue skys and a mild breeze.

Today, we were back to the ice box, but despite a forecast for overcast skys, there was plenty of that beautiful sunshine.  I decided to take a few minutes and pretend I was on this ship sailing into the sun.  So I got out the electric blanket, set my lawn chair in a sunny corner of the porch, wrapped up and enjoyed being an ocean liner passenger.  Then my husband appeared and asked why I was pretending to be a TB patient at a sanitorium!

Comments:

Posted by Katherine:

You crack me up! I’m sitting here alone at my computer laughing out loud at your last line and wishing someone were here to laugh with me. Your husband is a hoot! Wrapping up in a blanket and sitting in the January sun pretending to be on an ocean liner – splendid idea! I’m going to try it out on my patio as soon as the foot of snow there melts. That could be May though, since I’m in Boston and we are expecting another 8″ tomorrow. I think I’ll put on my ocean soundscdand go sit on the heat vent. I’ll pretend I’m basking on a beach in 1937 Havana.

Tuesday, January 27th 2009 @ 7:18 AM

Posted by Lizzie:

Katherine, that’s funny! I should have thought of the ocean sounds CD. And I’ll take Havanna over the sanitorium any day.

Tuesday, January 27th 2009 @ 7:12 PM