Resorts at Sea: November update

Ah, the importance of having a criteria. It levels the playing field, because in researching a topic, you cannot cover everything. You can try, but you will be asked to edit.

The criteria I’ve set for Resorts at Sea is pretty simple: The art in and design of American built ships carrying a minimum of 100 passengers operating from 1946-1969.

It’s been fun trying to differentiate between passenger ships that carry cargo, and cargo ships that carry passengers, but it has been done. There is one class of vessels from the 1960s which meet the criteria, but are so blatantly cargo ships, that I’m hesitating to include them until I find out more.

I’ve expanded it a bit to include ships built just before World War II because certain ships broke away from the traditional design standards and were fresh, clean, and contemporary. The roots are there. I’ve included the Savannah of 1962, even though she only carried 60 passengers, because her interiors were striking, and how does one not include the first nuclear powered commercial ship when discussing modern design?

I found another class of ships where one of seven saw a bit of commercial service before war broke out. American President Lines’ President Jackson (plus five) carried just fewer than 100 passengers, but among the artisans listed are Willem De Kooning, Dutch American abstract expressionist, and several others whose work appeared in ships officially meeting the criteria.

Illustration of the President Jackson, a C-3 type passenger/cargo ship. 

Five more followed in this series: President Monroe, President Hayes, President Garfield,
President Adams, and President Van Buren. President Polk was of a slightly smaller,
but similar design. Only the Monroe and Polk served APL after World War II.

Now should these ships receive the full-blown treatment I’ve planned for the others, or should they be used for contextual purposes only? Ultimately, I think it will depend on how much information can be uncovered. I found a few pics from the American President Lines archive posted online, and a further dig through their archives could turn up even more, plus sketches, etc. That will require a trip to San Francisco.

There is something interesting to note about these ships. Finalists were selected through a competition conducted by the Section of Fine Arts and the U.S. Maritime Commission with 462 artists submitting 1,462 designs. (Yeah, those numbers sound a little too coincidental, but I’ve found two sources so far with them.) It was part of the Works Progress Administration. I’ve not seen where such a competition had been done before or since, and I hope to find notes on their judging process.

A quick aside, I’m trying to do the National Novel Writing Month. Ugh. I feel lucky to get this post out, but I’m not sure if I’ll have much to report for December’s update.