Onboard the Canberra

CANBERRA P & O - Orient Lines (45,270 tons) Colour Photograph by Beken & Son, Cowes

August 20, 1966
On Board the Canberra, en route to San Francisco

Dear Mum,
"As you will be able to see from picture we are on our way at long last. We left Vancouver at 5:00pm last night, we will be in San Francisco 7:00am tomorrow morning. The weather is glorious, food excellent. We are all enjoying ourselves, Carly and Christina particularly, they are playing in the play room right now. Be seeing you soon." XXX

Sent via air mail to Kent, England.

The Last Ocean Liners

Swan Boats, Public Gardens, Boston

SWAN BOATS
Public Gardens, Boston, Mass.
A unique institution are the Swan Boats that cruise around the Public Gardens in the heart of Back Bay.

July 27, 1972
Boston, Massachusetts

Dear Grandma,
"My best friend (maid of honor) came to visit & she's coming back with me to Vernon for a visit. Quality counts more to me than quantity in friendship, but I'm lucky and have both.

Mom needs more help than I can give her, though I cheer her up for short periods. Aunt M.M. was going to take me to Sunken Gardens, but it rained, remember? She sent us a card and brought me a pretty Florida necklace."

Take care, Love Eleanor

Written in very small writing, this is one of those personal cards brimming with sincerity. No innocuous "weather is great...blah blah" here. "Quality" and "Quantity" are underlined in this note.

The Swan Boats have been around since 1877.

Fire Island Pines, New York

May 15, 1971 - Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE

This image reminds me of the harbor scene at the beginning of Gilligan's Island.

Toms River, NJ

Boating at Huddy Park, Toms River, N.J.

August 29, 1966
Toms River, New Jersey

Hi Folks,
"Having a grand time just loafing. Better than working." Love, Mom & Dad


Facts about Toms River (at least according to Wikipedia)

- During the American Revolution, Toms River was home to a strategically important salt works that supplied colonial militias, as well as a base for privateer vessels that plundered British and Tory ships off the coast.
- The 1979 movie, The Amityville Horror, was filmed in Toms River, rather than Amityville, New York" on Long Island. Local police and ambulance workers played extras.
- In 2007, Toms River was ranked by CQ Press as the ninth safest "city" in the United States, of the 378 cities nationwide.