Shortly before Europe was plunged into the Second World War, my young mother and her family traveled from their home in New York to France. This is a true story based on my grandmother's diaries, which document her daughter's early symptoms of men...
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Transatlantic travel in the 1930s conjures images of elegance, class, and style. Of ocean liners slicing through high waves as they race across the Atlantic competing for the Blue Riband prize. We remember the Titanic's fateful race against the clock. We remember the elegance of the Queen Mary. History records royalty, presidents, and movie stars. Robber barons such as Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and Mellon are remembered.
Passage on a "slow boat" was an option for those who wished to travel abroad at a price within their budget. Like many freight ships of the 1930s, the SS American Farmer was equipped with twelve cabins for passenger accommodations to help defray operating costs. These ocean steamers honored traditional sea-travel social pomp.
Construction of the SS American Farmer was completed at Hog Island, Pennsylvania, in December 1920 as U.S. Army Transport, Ourcq. With the Treaty of Versailles on Nov 11, 1918, ending WWI, the Army no longer needed the ship. Renamed American Farmer in 1924, she remained in operation, transporting cargo and passengers between the United States and Great Britain through September 1939. At the outbreak of World War II she became one of thousands in freighter convoys plying the North Atlantic. The Farmer was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-52 in April 1941, east of Greenland.
The American Farmer carried thirty-five passengers on this trip-including Philips, Mrs. Henry O. and her two daughters.
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I discovered two bon voyage letters in the chickenhouse. The first is written on September 9, 1937, from Horace (my grandfather's uncle) and Elizabeth Philips to Elsie. Horace may have been a retired executive in the shipping company that owned the SS American Farmer. Elizabeth Philips wrote,
My dear Elsie, the days slip by so fast it seems as if we are within two days of your sailing and we have not sent you bon voyage. How excited you must all be and what a lovely experience for Barb and Polly and what fun it will be - except for Henry. I fear he will miss you sadly. We want him to count on us for as many weekends as he cares to come and any time in between. Uncle Horace and I were in New York for a very short business trip this morning and he stopped at the IMMC office to see about your accommodations and found that they have given you a room and bath which pleased him. The enclosed check is from us both for a goodbye present for you all, I only wish it could have been much larger. Please don't spend any of it for presents for us! You have plenty of friends and family to think of without us. Affectionately, Aunt Elizabeth.
