1958-1959 S.S. Matsonia Hawaiian Cruise Ephemera
DESCRIPTION
This personal archive of ephemera archives the New Year's vacation of one Mr. Rudy Fitch from Los Angeles to Honolulu aboard the SS Matsonia luxury passenger liner. Each item in this collection evinces a meticulous design so potent in its aim of glamorizing even the smallest aspect of Mr. Fitch's trip that he took pains to preserve even his ticket jacket and lunch menus.
Included here are:
- A "Matson Log Book" to preserve such ephemera, calling itself a "repository for memories of your voyage" that enables past passengers "to rekindle warm memories of one of the happiest experiences of [their] life"
- Tickets and ticket jackets for Mr. Fitch's boarding of the S.S. Matsonia in Los Angeles and his returning Pan American flight out of Honolulu, both with handwritten details such as price and date
- Informational material
- "Passenger List" featuring a pictorial map of the Pacific and complete directory of passengers and staff
- 4 issues of The Polynesian—a newsletter with daily itineraries, a list of amenities, and world news such as Fidel Castro officially assuming office and the USSR's Luna 1 achieving the world's first solar orbit
- Issue of The Polynesian outlining emergency procedures, facilities and services, fun facts about the S.S. Matsonia, a table of nautical terms, and a map of Matson service across the South Pacific
- Dining material
- Cocktail menu from the Hawaiian Village Hotel offering an array of tiki fare and featuring a cartoon meant to capture the experience of drinking an especially strong "zombie"
- 2 "Luncheon" menus from the Matsonia's dining room decorated with an illustration of a Hawaiian woman beneath a banana tree
- 5 dinner menus from the Matsonia's dining room each depicting unique watercolor scenes from islands along Matson's route. Interestingly, each depict indigenous populations besides the Australian edition which features koalas
- Menu from the Coconut Grove Hotel's Vana Vana restaurant in Waikiki
- Activity Souvenirs
- 3 "Race Cards" from the onboard game room's tabletop horserace simulator
- Folding brochure for Lau Yee Chai, the "World's Largest, Most Beautiful Chinese Restaurant & Nightclub" billed as a "Chinese Utopia Created at Waikiki"
- Booklet cataloging an exhibit recreating the Japanese village of Nikko with glossy photos of both the original structures and their Hawaiian recreations
- "Here is Hawaii" booklet of glossy photographs depicting local populations, flora and fauna, and tourist activities offered throughout the state
- Personal Souvenirs
- 5 photos of Mr. Fitch socializing aboard the Matsonia each stored in a protective jacket depicting the liner bordered by a heart-shaped lei
- 1 standard postcard with an illustration of the Matsonia
- 1 large postcard with a photograph of the Matsonia at port in Honolulu
This unique archive captures Matson at the height of an era it was about to lose. In January 1959 Hawaii was still a territory and The Polynesian datelines its news "Honolulu, T.H.," seven months before statehood. At the time, Matson was less a steamship line than a fully integrated vacation, operating the ships, the Waikiki hotels, and the visual language that sold both.
That language saturates every item: a house style of commissioned watercolor and mid-century illustration in which Neptune and a mermaid chart the South Pacific, hula dancers ornament the luncheon card, and each dinner menu offers a painted island population for consumption alongside the entrées as a mythologized Polynesia assembled for mainland tourists. Most striking is that Matson understood precisely what it was manufacturing, issuing passengers a Log Book in which to file the disposable paper of their trip, corporate branding authoring its customers' nostalgia in advance.
CONDITION
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