Resorts at Sea: Delta Line

I thought I had every significant piece of Delta Line ephemera. Folded sheet of deck plans? Check. Profusely illustrated color brochure? Check. Profusely illustrated black and white brochure? Check. But there’s another! A random search online turned up one I had completely forgotten about. Images from it were used in the 2010 book Ship Style, which, by the way, is well worth one’s time.

The Del Norte, Del Sud, and Del Mar were the first American passenger liners built after World War II, sailing from New Orleans to South America, and they’re often overlooked. (To some, if it doesn’t happen on the North Atlantic, it doesn’t exist. You know who you are.) These sleek passenger-cargo liners were designed by the firm George G. Sharp. In a call to them a few months ago, I learned they had tossed all records pertaining to their passenger ship design division. News like that makes me even more determined to see this project through. But with twists like Sharp’s, it’s just going to take a bit longer.

These ships, just under 500 feet long, registered at 10,000 gross tons, carried 120 passengers, and, as a unique departure from the norm, had twin uptakes, which predated Holland-America’s iconic Rotterdam by a decade. The rooms were spacious, light, and airy; belying the smallness of the vessels. In the mid-1950’s, Delta Line’s advertising began calling the experience of taking the trip to South America a “resort at sea.”

Though the illustrations in this case are renderings, they are faithful to the interiors, as they’ve been described. Sculptor Raoul Josset created coats of arms representing the four nations that had control over New Orleans to go in the dining room. You can see a couple of them here on the left.

Artist Pierre Bourdelle did the spandrels for the hall (main lounge). For Del Norte, scenes of New Orleans history were depicted. The medium was carved linoleum, following his use of it for America in 1940. He also used it in President Cleveland and President Wilson in 1947 and 1948. I’m not sure if he repeated this motif for Del Sud and Del Mar. The finding aid for his papers is vague, with no mention of these ships, or the two Presidents, so only a visit to those materials will clear things up. But I like to think he would do something different for each ship in this trio.

I’ve just begun a conversation with JoAnne Heaney. She started working for George G. Sharp in 1943, under the supervision of future husband, Jack. She had a hand in these Delta liners, President Cleveland and President Wilson, and nuclear ship Savannah.

Won't you let me take you on a sea cruise? (updated)

*Update (9 January)*

The addition of public rooms on the President Cleveland and President Wilson, and status of the history project.

While packing to leave Missouri and then Iowa to head out to Colorado, I procrastinated a little by thumbing through my ocean liner collection. The collection began with postcards then moved to brochures and deck plans. And while I have a little from just about every major steamship line in Europe, I've been focusing on American companies.

American steamship lines really came into their own after World War II before succumbing to jet travel in the mid-1960s. This time period (1946-1965) also encompasses the Golden Age of Advertising. (Mad Men alert!) Mid-century design really appeals to me. The clean lines and bold colors are timeless.

Anyway, I began to notice trends in design; the designs of the printed materials and the external and internal architecture of the ships.

The above plan of the Delta trio shows part of the rounded superstructure. Notice how the cabins follow the curve. These ships were built in 1946, and this kind of cabin arrangement wouldn't be seen again until P&O's Canberra in 1960.

American President Lines started building a similar trio in the early 1950s. The same architect designed these ships as well as the Delta trio, hence the similarities, especially the rounded superstructure. Sadly, with the Korean War, these President liners were appropriated for the Navy and never saw commercial service. One thing I found interesting is the balcony for the main lounge. I think just about every balcony I've seen on a ship runs fore to aft, with the center open to below. This is the first one where the opening looks to the port side (or any side for that matter).
A popular pair on the Mediterranean were American Export Lines' Independence and Constitution (which would see service for American Hawaii Cruises in the 1980s). This a drawing of the Boat'n Bottle Bar. I really like the lines on the deck radiating from the bar. The interiors of these ships were designed by Henry Dreyfuss. If you don't know the name, you know the products. Remember the round Honeywell thermostats? The Twentieth Century Limited (as highlighted in North by Northwest)? The AT&T desk and wall phones from the 1960s? Those and many, many other everyday items came from his drawing boards.

Perhaps my favorite ocean liner is the United States. I could talk for days about her, and no, sadly, that's not a metaphor. Built in 1952, she took 12 hours off the Queen Mary's best time across the Atlantic. She was so speedy, she could run in reverse faster than most of today's cruise ships can go forward. In my mind, she was the epitome of Mid-century Modern. The top rendering is the First Class Dining Room, the bottom, the First Class Restaurant.

I'm hoping to gather more information on these and other ships to illustrate this side of American design. I've no idea of a timeline. I've been collecting since junior high, so who knows?

Status Update

Apologies for the quality of the following images. They're from a 50+ year old American President brochure for President Cleveland and President Wilson. When you're folded up for most of that time, you don't unfold very well. (Plus my scanner is still in Iowa.)

The first image is of the typical First Class Lanai Suite. There's a little bit of an Asian influence, especially with the window screens. The bottom shows the First Class Main Lounge and Smoking Room. Both are quite contemporary in design.

I've also come across several more designers and artists involved with post-war refurbishments (of pre-war ships) and the new post-war liners. The scale and scope of this project leaning towards more of a treatise than a simple look back. Now a treatise does not scare me. Yes, it makes me pause, but "the game is on."

At this point, I think I've gleaned everything I can from The New York Times. I will need to go back into the periodical indexes to explore the works of these new people. Archives will need to be culled, once I locate them, as some of these companies no longer exist. Color images will come at a premium, but a 1949 article from Fortune shows so many possibilities!

Interestingly enough, eBay has become a resource with its ocean liner memorabilia listings. And if I cannot afford the prices, I can at the very least cut and paste the images as they'll serve as a departure point for further research.