Cabin Class Voyages: Middle-Class Ocean Travel in the 20th Century
📌 Explore Cabin Class Passage Contracts from the 1920s to 1940s—rich primary sources documenting mid-tier ocean travel. Ideal for teachers, genealogists, historians, and students exploring migration, war, and mobility by sea.
All Cabin Class Passage Contracts and Tickets available at the GG Archives. These unique contracts represent primary source documents of the voyage of many immigrants. Our collection includes a variety of types and classes and provides an invaluable account of the cost of passage.
🛳️✨ Review & Summary: “Cabin Class Passage Contracts and Tickets” Index Page
Middle-Class Voyages That Shaped the Modern World 🧳🚆🌍
The Cabin Class Passage Contracts and Tickets section of the GG Archives is a deeply engaging and historically rich collection of primary documents that offers an intimate look at mid-tier ocean travel from the 1920s to the 1940s. Unlike First Class, which catered to the elite, and Third Class, which often reflected hardship and migration, Cabin Class occupied a unique social space—accessible yet dignified, practical yet comfortable. These contracts reveal the mobility of the growing middle class, families, immigrants, scholars, and professionals as they crossed oceans during times of peace, depression, and war.
The United States Lines Prepaid Passage Receipt, dated 10 October 1922, represents a fascinating example of transatlantic migration during the post-World War I period. This cabin-class prepaid ticket for Polish immigrant Linda Strasszewska included not just ocean travel from Bremen to New York, but also a connecting train ticket to Chicago, Illinois.
This document provides valuable insight into how immigrants traveled long distances across multiple transportation networks, showcasing the complexity, financial burden, and logistics of European emigration to America in the early 20th century.
For teachers, students, genealogists, and historians, this passage contract is an essential primary source, highlighting the prepaid ticketing system, the role of sponsors in immigration, and the strict contractual obligations of ocean travel.
💼 A Fare to Hamburg: 1933 SS St. Louis Cabin Class Passage Receipt
The Hamburg America Line’s Receipt for part-payment of a cabin class voyage aboard the SS St. Louis provides a rich and nuanced window into the world of transatlantic travel during a tense pre-WWII era. Dated 28 April 1933, this receipt serves as a tangible link to an era marked by economic struggle, rising political tension, and the enduring human desire for connection across borders.
A Passage Through History: SS Brittania & SS Normandie Voyage During the Outbreak of WWII (1939)
This historically significant passage contract offers a rare glimpse into transatlantic travel on the brink of World War II. The SS Brittania & SS Normandie voyage, undertaken on 6 September 1939, serves as both a maritime and geopolitical artifact, shedding light on the uncertainty, urgency, and complexity of ocean travel at the outbreak of global conflict.
This passage contract, issued to Mrs. Agnes de Lina, an American traveler, details her journey from Rotterdam to Southampton aboard the SS Brittania, before transferring to the luxurious SS Normandie for her transatlantic crossing to New York.
This rare post-WWII passage ticket provides a fascinating look at transpacific ocean travel in the late 1940s. Issued to Miss Mary B. Bartlett, it documents her cabin-class journey from San Francisco to Sydney aboard the SS Marine Phoenix, a ship originally built for wartime troop transport but later repurposed for civilian travel.
Who Should Find This Resource Valuable?
✅ 📚 Teachers & Students – Ideal for research on post-war civilian travel, ship conversions, and early Cold War-era mobility.
✅ 🏡 Genealogists & Family Historians – A key primary source for tracing passengers migrating between the U.S. and Australia.
✅ ⚓ Maritime Historians & Enthusiasts – Offers insight into Matson Navigation Company’s post-war role in ocean travel.
✅ 💰 Economists & Researchers – Includes a detailed cost breakdown of the ticket’s inflation-adjusted value from 1947 to today.
🔍 Highlights: Most Interesting Tickets & What They Reveal
🇵🇱 United States Lines Prepaid Ticket (1922) – Bremen to Chicago
📜 A Polish Immigrant’s Path to the American Midwest
This ticket is a gem for genealogists and migration historians. It belonged to Linda Strasszewska, a Polish immigrant traveling cabin class from Bremen to New York, and then via train to Chicago, all on a prepaid ticket arranged by a sponsor. This underscores the multi-modal logistics of migration, the prevalence of family-sponsored travel, and the significance of prepaid systems in the 1920s immigration landscape.
✅ Ideal For: Teachers covering U.S. immigration history, students writing migration essays, family historians
📌 Key Themes: Post-WWI emigration, women in migration, urban resettlement, sponsorship networks
🇩🇪 SS St. Louis (1933) – Cabin Class Fare During Troubled Times
💼 A Fare to Hamburg Amidst Global Anxiety
Dated April 28, 1933, this receipt documents a partial payment for cabin class travel just months after Hitler rose to power. While simple on its surface, this ticket symbolizes the growing unease in Europe, and hints at stories of families leaving or visiting Europe amid rising political uncertainty.
✅ Ideal For: Students of European history, teachers focusing on pre-WWII geopolitics, researchers of Jewish diaspora
📌 Key Themes: Early warning signs of WWII, transatlantic connections, economic strain
⛴️ SS Brittania & SS Normandie (1939) – Transatlantic Passage at the Dawn of WWII
🕊️ A Journey Through Turmoil
One of the most compelling artifacts in the index, this 1939 voyage begins in Rotterdam, transfers through Southampton, and continues to New York aboard the legendary SS Normandie—just days after Britain and France declared war on Germany. The ticket belonged to Mrs. Agnes de Lina, an American traveler likely fleeing or repositioning as Europe descended into war. The routing alone tells a story of urgency and the evolving logistics of international travel.
✅ Ideal For: WWII studies, political science classes, maritime route analysis
📌 Key Themes: Escape from Europe, luxury liner history, wartime redirection
🇺🇸🇦🇺 SS Marine Phoenix (1947) – San Francisco to Sydney
🌏 From Warship to Civilian Carrier
Originally built as a troopship during WWII, the Marine Phoenix was refitted for peacetime journeys. Miss Mary B. Bartlett’s one-way cabin-class ticket from San Francisco to Sydney in 1947 illustrates the post-war global reawakening. These voyages carried students, professionals, and migrants as new global pathways emerged between the U.S. and Pacific nations.
✅ Ideal For: Cold War scholars, transpacific studies, postwar migration research
📌 Key Themes: Civilian mobility after conflict, ship repurposing, female travel
🖼️ Noteworthy Images to Explore 📸
🔹 United States Lines Prepaid Ticket – Visualizing how migration and rail/ocean travel intertwined
🔹 SS Normandie Contract – Highlighting a transitional moment between peace and world war
🔹 Marine Phoenix Cabin-Class Ticket – Shows the civilian adaptation of military infrastructure
📚 Relevance for Researchers, Teachers, and Students
👨🏫 For Educators & Students
Each document functions as a case study in economic migration, global conflict, and transportation history. Students writing about 20th-century mobility or immigration policy will find rich detail in these contracts.
🧬 For Genealogists
These mid-tier tickets often reflect aspiring immigrant families, travelers sponsored by loved ones, or solo women embarking on independent journeys. Cabin class was the sweet spot between affordability and dignity—ideal for family tree research.
⚓ For Maritime & Military Historians
The repurposing of ships like the Marine Phoenix, and the wartime routing of the SS Normandie, offer evidence of how international conflict shaped the global passenger trade.
💰 For Economists & Sociologists
Fare breakdowns adjusted for modern inflation offer insight into the cost of opportunity, helping researchers understand how travel expenses compared to income and social status.
🧭 Final Thoughts – Why This Collection Matters
The Cabin Class represented more than just a berth—it was a bridge between worlds. Whether fleeing conflict, seeking opportunity, or simply traveling for family, these passengers embodied the transformative potential of global mobility. Cabin class was the class of teachers, tradespeople, migrants, and missionaries. Their journeys tell the stories of ordinary people who changed the world—and who found comfort, dignity, and freedom on the open sea.
🧳 Students and teachers, dive into these contracts as primary sources for essay work on migration, conflict, or transportation history.
🌍 Genealogists, discover personal stories behind paper trails that may connect to your own family roots.
📜 Historians, use this as a portal to understand how the middle class shaped modern travel and transnational identity.
Every contract is a voyage. Every name is a story. Every ticket is a legacy. 🛳️📚🕊️
