Friday, October 5, 2012

Raymond & Whitcomb Co. Cruise





Here are three postcards sent by the Raymond & Whitcomb Co. reporting on their Spring 1927 Mediterranean Cruise that left New York on March 29 on the Cunard Liner Carinthia. The information is printed on government postal cards that were sent from the offices of the Raymond & Whitcomb Co. at the request of one of the cruise members. The cards were postmarked in Boston on April 7, 13, and 26. The first one has a cancellation promoting the Citizen's Military Training Camps, and the others have a South Postal Station cancel.


The ship Carinthia was launched in April 1925. She crossed the Atlantic on the Liverpool-Boston-New York route and was also used for cruising. The Carinthia was converted into an armed merchant cruiser in 1939. She was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Irish Coast on June 6, 1940 and sank 36 hours later.



The last image (source: eBay) is a menu from the 1929 Raymond & Whitcomb Mediterranean Cruise.



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16 comments:

  1. What a tragic ending of a beautiful ship! Were there many casualties?

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  2. Interesting postcards. I never knew companies did that.

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  3. What an interesting travel concept. Last week I got an automated phone call from USAIR that my wife's trans-Atlantic flight would be delayed for 2 hours due to mechanical repairs. She was already in the air on her connecting flight. A courtesy postcard would be too much to ask for I suppose.

    And isn't that Alan riding on the ox cart?

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  4. Peter - after being torpedoed she sank while being towed; four lives were lost.
    Postcards like these are precious; there would be none today - just a phone or email message, maybe a text.

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  5. What a nice service to sign up for, a postcard to be sent to loved ones back home reporting, so far, so good.

    That is too bad that this ship was sunk. In reading this weeks SS posts, I am realizing that these oceanliners were sometimes converted for other uses.

    Thanks for this very interesting post, Postcardy.

    Kathy M.

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  6. The cards gave a little travelogue, who'd have thought we'd have been enjoying it so many years later. What a sad ending for a maginificent ship.

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  7. Mile that couldn't be Alan; he doesn't touch Madeira, he's an ale man :)

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  8. I love the wording on the old postcards, I'd even risk a cruise if they still sent those out.
    The Carinthia was built in my local shipyard. They used to build a lot of liners there, today its just grey submarines.

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  9. Interesting postcards. I suppose they were all printed out ahead of time with the scheduled dates in place and ready to mail - unless the office didn't hear from the Captain that they had arrived in port.

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  10. What cool postcards! Now that's customer service for you!

    And the menu is so pretty.

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  11. A short career for such a big boat.
    War will do that!!
    But I did enjoy these postcards even if they sound phony to me...
    "All well"...
    I'd like to verify its veracity!!
    ;)~
    HUGZ

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  12. How fascinating that the Mediterranean Cruise postcard used such an enticingly beautiful cover!It invites you on a cruise. Love it!

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  13. Such a lovely card, although so sad for it's tragic end.

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  14. Very interesting post. As Bob say, postcards like these are precious.

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  15. Those first three cards are fascinating. Today they'd send an email or tweet or expect you to go to their Facebook page. And then nearly 100 years later what are you left with? Nothing. Ephemera won't even exist outside the 1's and 0's.

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  16. Even ships get drafted! What a shame for such a beautiful ship. Interesting postcards and the thought behind them.
    Barbara

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