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West Indies Cruises, 1923-1931

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

Round the world cruises weren’t the only cruises offered by Canadian Pacific. Trans-Atlantic ocean liner traffic greatly declined in winter, so CP used its ships on cruises to the West Indies (more frequently called the Caribbean today), the Mediterranean, and Africa/South America. The West Indies cruises were the shortest and least expensive of all CP’s offerings.

Click image to view and download a 15.2-MB PDF of this booklet from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

The first West Indies cruises took place in 1923, a year before the first world cruise. They left New York City on January 20 and February 20, lasted about 27 days, visiting the Bahamas, Cuba, Martinique, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Venezuela. The cruise was aboard the original (1905) Empress of Britain and fares started at $250 — about $4,500 today — and could go as high as $1,250 per person. Continue reading →

A Cruise Menu at Banff

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

This menu advertising Canadian Pacific cruises was used at the Banff Springs Hotel on September 7, 1930, less than three months before the world cruise would depart New York City. The back of the menu also mentioned the 73-day Mediterranean cruise (which would leave February 3 on the Empress of France and 29-day West Indies cruises (which would leave on January 9 and February 11 on the Duchess of Bedford).

Click image to view and download a 10.7-MB PDF of this menu from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

The cover art is rather spectacular, but it is also an amalgamation of two paintings by Fred J. Hoertz that were used in the decks-and-fares brochure presented here yesterday. One of the paintings showed the Empress of Australia and the other a Chinese junk. Continue reading →

The 1930-31 World Cruise

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

This would be the last world cruise taken by the Empress of Australia. Canadian Pacific’s magnificent new Empress of Britain had been launched in June, 1930, and would make its maiden voyage from Southhampton to Quebec just a few weeks after this world cruise ended. That ship would be used for all future Canadian Pacific world cruises.

Click image to view and download a 63.5-MB PDF of this booklet from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

Canadian Pacific advertised this cruise in North America with this booklet with an elaborate cover painting by Albert Cloutier. Inside, black-and-white photos are supplemented by 15 pencil or charcoal drawings signed “AC.” I wonder how he drew those pictures, as I haven’t found his name on any previous passenger lists. Perhaps he used photos from previous trips. Continue reading →

1929-30 World Cruise

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Train LoverJune 30, 2023

Canadian Pacific’s 1929-30 world on the Empress of Australia was 137 days, one day longer than the previous year’s, which had been the longest up to that year. The cruise left New York on December 2 and returned on April 17.

Click image to download a 29.6-MB PDF of this 112-page book.

The Chung collection didn’t have a booklet advertising this cruise in its collection, so I found one on line. I was surprised to find that it is a hard-bound book, as none of the previous booklets in the Chung collection appear to be hard bound. The front cover and spine are deeply embossed with “The World Is Round” title, which indicates this wasn’t some after-market binding. Canadian Pacific apparently earned enough profits on its world cruises that it could afford to publish its advertiser as a hard-back book. Continue reading →

1928-29 World Cruise

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 5, 2023

Canadian Pacific’s 1928-29 world cruise was the longest to date, and it is especially long as described in this booklet, which was aimed at residents of Great Britain. For them, the cruise would be a trip around the world plus two trips across the Atlantic.

Click image to view and download a 60.7-MB PDF of this booklet from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

They would begin on November 14 on the Empress of Australia‘s last trans-Atlantic voyage of the season from Southampton to Quebec. They would then spend three days at the Chateau Frontenac while the Australia was being refitted and revictualed before re-embarking for a short trip to New York. Continue reading →

1927-28 World Cruise

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

For 1927-28, Canadian Pacific elected to use the Empress of Australia for its world cruise. This may be because the Empress of Scotland was getting old; it was eight years older than the Australia and would be scrapped in 1931, while the Australia continued to serve the Canadian Pacific for another two decades. It could also have been that the Australia was a little smaller, since — as will be shown below — despite being smaller it had more than enough space to meet the demand.

Click image to view and download a 53.6-MB PDF of this booklet from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

The cover art for this 92-page booklet describing the cruise wraps around to the back, but the art covers only about 5 percent of the back cover so I’m only showing the front. This is the same artwork used on the Ceylon pages in the 1926-27 booklet, expect the art is flipped so that most of the image is on the righthand side. The blank area, of course, was for text in that booklet, but the area was left blank on the back cover of this one. Nothing in this booklet suggests that the cover art was by Maurice Logan, which is further evidence that this and the other interior art in the 1926-27 booklet was by Greenwood or Gillespie. Continue reading →

1926-27 World Cruise Menus & Sketches

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

We’ve already seen a couple of the menus used on the 1926-27 world cruise, including the Valentine’s Day menu and Washington’s Birthday menu. Here are a few more.

Click image to view and download a PDF of this menu from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

The cover on the Christmas Day dinner menu is the same as on the 1931 Christmas menu shown here previously. Both also offered caviar as an hors d’oeuvre and roast turkey as a main course, though this one specifies chestnut stuffing in the turkey. For some reason, this one only has sole for the fish course; most empress menus offered a choice of two kinds of fish. Continue reading →

1926-27 World Cruise

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 22, 2023

It may be a sign of the success of Canadian Pacific world cruises that the company hired Maurice Logan to paint the cover of the 1926-27 advertising booklet rather than a then-unknown artist such as Holling Holling or Richard Allen Fish. This cover art wraps around to the back and further to a flap on the back that can be used to cover part of the front, and the artist’s signature is prominently visible on the front cover instead of discreetly hidden in a corner.

Click image to view and download a PDF of this booklet from the University of British Columbia Chung collection. Click here to download an 11.2-MB PDF of this wraparound cover.

A California painter and illustrator well known for his use of bright colors and a “loose impressionistic style,” Logan had painted posters and booklet covers for the Southern Pacific at least since 1920, when SP published this poster. Canadian Pacific commissioned him to do the cover art on this booklet as well a full-page painting of CP steamships’ red-and-white checkered flag on page 3. This page also says, “Book designed by Louis Treviso” and “Paintings by Maurice Logan.” About Louis Treviso I can find no information. Continue reading →

1925-26 Round-the-World Cruise

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

For the winter of 1925-26, Canadian Pacific decided to begin its round-the-world tour in early December rather than mid-January. It may have been reluctant to do this in 1924 and 1925 because it feared some potential passengers would not want to be away from home on Christmas. But the change in schedule was a better fit with the months that the St. Lawrence Seaway was too iced up for service to Quebec, namely December through April.

Click image to view and download a PDF of this booklet from the University of British Columbia Chung collection.

The cover art on the above booklet is signed Richard Allen Fish. Most on-line descriptions of the booklet assume he did all of the interior art as well, but most of the interior art can also be found in the 1925 booklet, suggesting it was really done by Holling Holling. I can’t find much information about Fish on line other than that he was born in 1900 — the same year as Holling — and worked as an artist in Chicago, Detroit, and New York. Continue reading →

Around the World Cruise 1925

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Train LoverFebruary 4, 2023

Canadian Pacific elected to use the 11-year-old Empress of France for its 1925 world cruise. Launched in 1913 as the Alsatian by the Allan Line (which Canadian Pacific had controlled since 1909 but operated separately from its own ships until 1918), it left on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to St. John, N.B., on January 17, 1914.

The Empress of France as it appeared in 1925, before its hull was painted white, is shown on this cigarette card. Click image for a larger view.

After the war, CP integrated the Allan Line into its operations and renamed the Alsatian. The Empress of France continued to serve CP until 1931 and was scrapped in 1934 after making 99 Atlantic voyages, 5 Pacific ones, and 8 lengthy cruises, plus wartime service. Continue reading →