Resorts At Sea - Jan 2013

Of the interior designers involved with the ships in this project, the one that may have the greatest name recognition is Raymond Loewy.

Fans of Mad Men … Which of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce’s accounts was the biggest? Yes, Lucky Strike, very good. Who designed the iconic packaging for Lucky Strike? … … … It was Raymond Loewy.

Few people have been so closely identified with their company: Steve Jobs and Apple, Hugh Hefner and Playboy, Walt Disney and, well, you get the picture.

Perhaps the biggest brand identity of the mid-20th century was that of Raymond Loewy. More often than not, if Raymond Loewy was listed as heading up a project, few, if any of the others involved were mentioned.

Apologies for the image quality. These are from the journal Pacific Marine Review. On the left, we have

a rendering of the Rio Hudson from October 1940. She, along with her three sisters were completed

as "baby flattops" - small aircraft carriers for World War II. On the right, are July 1950 renderings

of public spaces on the President Jackson. The Jackson, Adams, and Hayes were taken for troopship

duties during the Korean Conflict.

 

Loewy was involved with the interiors of Panama Lines’ Panama, Ancon, and Cristobal, the Rio Hudson quartette for Moore-McCormack, the postwar refit of Matson Lines’ Lurline, the President Jackson trio of 1950, Banner Lines’ Atlantic, and Moore-McCormack’s 1958 Brasil and Argentina.

 

Banner Lines' Atlantic was taken over by American Export Lines. On the right,

a sketch for the cafe on the Brasil/Argentina.

 

Any artists connected with any of the above projects were discovered almost by accident. Random Google searches have born some fruit, but a look at company papers, which seem to be scattered hither and yon, but mainly in Delaware and D.C., should prove useful.