Bon Voyage

The University Community and public are invited to view a very special collection of materials from the Wolfsonian-FIU Library now through the end of February. Bon Voyage: Selections from the Wolfsonian-FIU Library showcases a small part of the Museum's collection of brochures, deck plans, and other materials from the golden age of ocean travel before World War II.

There are over seventy rare brochures and cabin/public room plans for such liners as the Normandie, Rex, Conte di Savoia, and Paris. Also represented are lesser known but historic ships such as NYK Line's Asama Maru, torpedoed by an American submarine in World War II. Asama Maru served as an "exchange ship" repatriating civilians caught by hostilities including the American Ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew. Another and even more famous exchange ship in the exhibit is the pre-war Gripsholm of Swedish American Line, famous for its worldwide cruises in the interwar period.

The brochures are grouped by the areas through which steamship lines sought to promote their products to the general public: "Exotic Lands," "Exotic Peoples," "Sex Sells," "Promotional Prowness," and "Luxury and the New Leisure Classes."

In addition to the best-known passenger ships, lesser known ones represented include the British cruise liner Arandora Star (a prewar caller at the then-fledgling cruise port of Miami); German, Dutch, and Belgian colonial services; and the Italian world services of Lloyd Trestino.

Also on exhibit are prints and artifacts from the Laurence Miller Collection reflecting a more recent cruise ship era.