We live in the days of the “Slow Food Movement”, where life moves so quickly we actually have to come up with terms to describe what life used to be like.
I immigrated to Canada from England when I was 11.
The year was 1963 and while the Beatles were about to invade North America the following year, I guess you say we made a slightly smaller splash.
This was a time when transcontinental flight was just gaining popularity and was considered prohibitively expensive for most families.
Our family chose a much more relaxing method to get from England to Canada, and that was by boat. While a flight from Europe today may take 7 hours, our voyage took about 7 days.
We sailed on the Canadian Pacific ‘Empress of France’. It had been used a troop carrier during the war and was converted back to commercial service shortly afterwards.
This is an image from Wikipedia of the Queen Mary, reminiscent of that time in history.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary#/media/File:Queen_Mary_New_York.jpg
I still have the “Passenger List” book that was provided to each family on the voyage.
The book includes what you would expect in terms of instructions about meals and unpacking in your room, but also includes suggestions on booking appointments at the Beauty Parlor, indoor amusements like Bingo, Cribbage and Movies, and outdoor activities like Shuffleboard. I don’t believe any of these are offered on today’s transatlantic flights.
I suppose these seem rather tame compared to the distractions on a modern luxury cruise from water slides, wave pools and zip lines, to Vegas style shows. Yet, somehow, they seem just a little more humane.
Today people use air travel to rush from point A to point B, earning an income, then they take part of the income and book a cruise… to unwind from the stress of earning the income.
In bygone days, people just took a little more time to get there, and probably arrived relaxed and less stressed.
The Empress of France had all the high- tech accoutrements for the day. You could send a “telegram”, “cables” and “wireless messages.” The Purser could even forward mail. This would be the old kind of mail. A piece of paper, an envelope and a stamp. It would probably have been written on “Empress of France” letterhead, in long hand, and taken much longer to write and address, than the time to blast off an email.
Being eleven years old at the time of our epic journey I don’t remember many details, but I do remember what a big adventure it was. I remember arriving at the docks in Montreal and getting on a train that took us to Toronto where we began our new life.
My parents’ decision to immigrate to North America took great intestinal fortitude, and I am grateful they made this choice. I have had tremendous opportunity in our chosen land and was blessed to have had a long time to enjoy this great country with both my parents.
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