Celebrity

The USLines passenger heyday ran from approximately 1948 to 1969 when the airlines put a dent in the trans-atlantic traffic. The big liners carried a limited number of passengers' automobiles and they also had kennels on deck to accommodate pets (i.e. dogs). They placed both these departments under one man - Frank K. - the Manager of Automobiles and Livestock. Frank was an old pro from Brooklyn who had seen it all - monkeys loose in the pier rafters, dormant snakes who awakened in the warmer waters of the Panama Canal, exotic birds from Australia and camels in the hold in twelve inches of sand. He had a desk in the open third floor of One Broadway in Manhattan. One day a First Class passenger was sent up to see the auto manager for a formality in connection with her auto. It happened to be the glamorous motion picture star of the day - Yvonne DeCarlo. She sat down next to Frank's desk, threw open her fur coat and crossed her legs. His phone began to ring off the hook as everyone on the floor was calling his extension. He wasn't impressed - no request for autograph. He satisfied her requirement - and bid the lady "bon voyage". By 1969 the new management laid up the S.S. UNITED STATES and our passenger service ended and my friend Frank took the subway home to Brooklyn.
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