***THIS ITEM HAS SOLD OUT***
SS LURLINE Cocktail Tables

Items from MV VICTORIA I (ex DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, VICTORIA, THE VICTORIA, PRINCESA VICTORIA)

Measurements: 29.5 x 23.5 x 16.5 inches
Melamine top (most with beige waffle pattern, some plain white), pale wood trim and legs (some with brass covered tips)
Price: $250 USD plus shipping
***SOLD OUT***

These wonderful little tables have quite a heritage. I first saw them on Chandris' THE VICTORIA during a Caribbean cruise way back in 1989. Later on, after beginning to appreciate the ship's Italian ancestry, I made note of them, incorrectly thinking they were obvious Gustavo Pulitzer-Finale creations (the blond wood, melamine, and splayed legs deceived me). When the ship arrived at Alang in 2004, they were on my list of fittings to purchase, but it was not until my agent in India sent me a message asking what "LURLINE" meant on the undersides of some of these tables that something clicked.

Matson Line's SS LURLINE of 1932. Peter Knego collection.

The 1932-built LURLINE was the third of a fantastic trio of ships built for Matson Lines Pacific services. Her name was synonymous with Hawaiian luxury throughout the 1930s continuing after her return from war service through the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. She even starred in the film "Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Hawaii".

Inside (1) and outside (2) cabins on LURLINE featured these wonderful tables, as seen in a Matson Line brochure from the late 1950s. Peter Knego collection.

After the war, LURLINE's accommodation was vastly modernized and she became the benchmark of luxury cruising "American style." These mid-century modern tables were in most of her cabins and to this day, many either have a number written on the underside or a small metal tag indicating where it was originally placed.

Chandris Lines bought LURLINE and renamed her ELLINIS. Peter Knego collection.

In 1963, LURLINE was sold to Chandris Lines and renamed ELLINIS for their UK to Australian service and later cruising. ELLINIS was laid up at Eleusis in 1981, just before THE VICTORIA was sent to Greece for a major refit in 1982. During this refit, apparently, the tables were moved to THE VICTORIA.

(1) PRINCESA VICTORIA in 1997. (2) The Winter Garden. (3) A typical cabin. Photos by and copyright P.K. Productions 1997.

They were used in the THE VICTORIA's Winter Garden, suites, and some cabins. They remained through the ship's PRINCESA VICTORIA incarnation and were not removed until the ship was broken up at Alang in 2004. Meanwhile, ELLINIS (ex LURLINE) was scrapped in Taiwan in 1986.