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Sailing in the Age of the Jet

By the end of the 1950’s improved technologies in air travel, namely the jet engine, meant that commercial airlines quickly started to become the most popular, and fastest, form of international travel. In 1958, the first passenger jet aircraft completed a transatlantic flight from London to New York. By 1960, the development of the American-made Boeing 367-80 changed the safety and speed of air travel forever. With airplanes cutting down transatlantic travel time from days to mere hours, ocean liners, while continuing to evoke romance and luxury, began to lose their appeal among the public. United States Lines needed to rethink how to pitch the role of ocean liners such as the SS United States, as their status as the most efficient mode of transatlantic travel was fast becoming obsolete. 

In 1963, in addition to the ship’s customary transatlantic itineraries, the SS United States offered its first two “Gala Cruises” to the West Indies. One advertisement for these cruises showed slim, fashionable women dressed in their summer best and promised, “this way out of winter...into a world of fashion and fun.” With the addition of these cruises, the SS United States was rebranded to compete with airplanes not in terms of speed, but of entertainment.

When making her usual transatlantic routes, the SS United States was advertised as “the boat” to be on. Not only was it still the fastest way to Europe on water, but it offered amenities that were seldom found in the air: gourmet meals prepared to order by the esteemed chef Otto Bismarck, the largest wine cellar afloat, the choice to swim, stroll, and dance as one saw fit, as well as the opportunity, not just for celebrity sightings, but business meetings and networking, were just a few of the advantages of traveling by United States.

What does it mean to be “unrushable”? 

In order to compete with the speed and ease of air travel, the SS United States was rebranded as the pinnacle of leisure. Responding to this new “Jet Age,” United States Lines commissioned a marketing campaign that framed the SS United States as the route of The Unrushables. This ad campaign featured men and women, clad in colorful and trendy clothing, with slogans such as “The Unrushables, Or how to lose 10 years in 5 days.” Through these new ads, the SS United States offered its passengers a chance to step away from the fast pace of their modern, harried lives and enjoy some serenity.

Illustrated using the latest mid-century modern styles, The Unrushables put forth an image not just of leisure, but of a new style and class reflecting the uncertainties, transformations, and changing attitudes of the 1960’s. More women than ever joined the workforce, which corresponded with the rise of second-wave feminism. The assassination of a beloved president, John F. Kennedy shocked the nation, and the world, leaving many unsettled when looking to the future. The fight for civil rights, and the 1963 March on Washington, culminated in the Civil Rights act of 1964, outlawing discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or nationality. These and more societal movements of the 1960s influenced the course of history and changed the way that Americans engaged with the world around them. The Unrushables illuminated some of these changes by depicting women wearing pantsuits and bare midriffs, and men in their best ‘James Bond’ tuxedos, a modern contrast to the more traditional looks of the 1950s. In suggesting that leisurely travel was a way to detach from the rush and rumble of modern life, The Unrushables also cast light upon how nostalgia was employed to convince passengers of taking the unhurried route to Europe, asking: do you remember “when butlers still buttled and taxis came on signal?” By mixing a wistfulness for the past while still representing the progressive future, The Unrushables offered a unique glimpse into the “Culture Decade'' of the 60s, while marketing the SS United States.

NewYorker_Mar 25, 1967.jpg

Since ocean liners were no longer the conventional way to get to Europe, The Unrushables’ unconventional style and choice of travel was a sign of their superior knowledge, taste, and conviction. They suggested that to travel on the SS United States was to hold yourself to a higher standard, an ‘Unrushable’ standard. An Unrushable “walked and didn’t run;” they experienced time differently than the jetsetter, choosing instead to savor the “champagne life.” According to The Unrushables, buying a ticket for the SS United States meant you were buying the lifestyle of glamour and luxury. While it was impossible to compete with the speed and convenience of air travel, The Unrushables campaign taught the public that there was value in slowing down and enjoying the journey.   

Even the power of advertising could only postpone the inevitable. The era of the ocean liner was nearing its end. In 1969, the SS United States was withdrawn from service. In her wake she left a series of heady advertising campaigns, which followed the course of the ship—and the country for which she was named—from the patriotic optimism of the postwar years to the uncertainty and change of the late 1960s. But, more than following history, those ads helped to write it, defining and selling entire ideologies and ways of life, from post-war gender roles to the “American Dream.” Today, they are reminders of that complex history, steeped in the prejudices of the past, but also imbued with the youthful, creative, idealistic, and hopeful spirit of the SS United States and her namesake nation.

 

GALLERY