This book recreates the ambiance of the ocean liner era by showing the actual objects used on board. Each piece of ocean-liner memorabilia is like an Aladdin's lamp, releasing wondrous memories of that grand style of travel. Beginning in the late 1890s, shipping lines forged their identities by commissioning unique furniture, china, silverware, glassware, vases, ashtrays, playing cards, menus, and stationery. These types of items characterized the different ocean liners, from the Normandie with her elegant Art Deco furnishings, to the stainless steel gleam of the S.S. United States, to the old-world luxury of the Queens.