Why is it that the French Line always seemed to do the best cut-aways?  No other line came close!  On glossy paper and in full color, this cut-away of the Antilles is stunning.  With lots of color photos of her interiors, this measures over 46" x 25" when open.  There are 220 key points marked.  In the early 1970's, the Antilles caught fire and her passengers were dramatically rescued by Cunard's QE2. 

In excellent condition.  $145.

A piece of stationery for the Champlain.  Gummed edges so you can fold it over and put it in the mail.  In mint condition.  $18.

Unusual bronze centennial medallion for this French company, dated 1851-1951.  Designed by Andre Lavrillier.  Complete with the original box which is in very good condition with some separations at the corners.  Before you ask how I know it's the original box, I've got an identical marked box (with medal) for the Ferdinand de Lesseps.  Perfect condition.  $95.

Post-war first-class deck plan.  Printed on glossy paper with an exterior image of the ship.  Because no other ships are listed, this might date to the immediate post-war period when she was the only French Line ship on the Atlantic.  One my friends thinks that De Grasse is particularly special because she had to single-handedly carry on the tradition of what had, before the war, been considered one of the finest fleets afloat.  Excellent condition.  $25. 

SOLD!

One of my best customers always refers to De Grasse as CGT's "spunky" ship.  What he means is that she was built as an intermediate liner in the 1920's, but after the war, she alone carried the French flag and reestablished French Line service to New York for two lonely years until the Ile returned to service in 1949.

Connoisseurs of French Line medallions (among which I count myself) know that the few ships that did pre- and post-war service had two medallions made for them.  This is De Grasse's post-war medal.  Highly sought-after and in very good condition.  Designed by M. Delannoy.  $85.

13229    De Grasse                               Photograph

Nice sepia image of the deGrasse.  9” x 6¾”.  One edge is a bit rough but other than that in excellent condition.  I have always been impressed that this plucky ship was the only CGT presence on the North Atlantic for two years after the war.  $14.

It seems the French would produce a medal if you crossed the street successfully!  Not only did the do them for centennials and maiden voyages, I've even seem them for American events, such as Washington's 200th birthday.  They really went whole hog with this medal commemorating de Lesseps.  The medal is so well made that the relief portrait makes it seem like he's in the room with you.  In case you can't tell, I love French Line medals!  Designed by R. Betannier.  Mint condition with original box.  $95.

Dated June, 1958, this tourist-class plan for the Flandre is printed on glossy paper and contains nine photos, some quite large.  Measures 30" x 8".  In excellent condition.  $25.

13255    Flandre                                    Hat Ribbon

Embroidered souvenir hat ribbon for the Flandre.  26” in length and in very good condition.  $12.

Deckled-edge real photo card of the Flandre.  Unused.  in mint condition.  Produced by Editions Estel.  $10.

Outstanding printed photo card of the France at Le Havre.  Written on and posted in 1913.  Statistics for the ship on the front.  Very good condition.  $8.

Unusual photo card of the "Salon Maureque" on the France.  Unused and in mint condition.  $8.

13232   France (1912)                         Post Card 

Great mint condition sepia photo card of the first-class smoking room on board the France of 1912.  $8.

Iconic gummed baggage tag from a beloved liner now sadly lost.  Mint condition.  A quantity available.  $8 ea.

Unused tourist-class baggage tag, dated April, 1965.  Very rarely do we see these with the bottom tag still attached. Mint condition.  $10.

Unused, first-class baggage tag.  Mint condition.  Great graphic of her funnel!  $10.

Here's your chance to obtain a rarely seen book about the construction of the France.  Twenty pages with 14 fabulous photos (some in full color and some tipped in).  Built on the same ways as Normandie, the poor France has been lost to history on the beaches of Alang.  Dated 2-1960.  Some dirt on the covers.  Very hard to find.  Hardbound.  $125.

Fantastic tourist-class full-color brochure printed on glossy paper.  The best on-board photos you can imagine!  Complete with sample breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus -- oh, that French Line food.  Great images for every part of tourist class.  18 pages with 28 color photos.  Near mint condition.  $55.

Full-color brochure filled with 35 photos for both classes.  Fold-out in the middle with an aerial photo of her at sea.  Pull-out profile at the back which is color-coded to show you in what parts of the ship the different classes were located.  Super photo on the cover!  in French and English.  Mint condition.  $40.

Early fold-out brochure extolling the virtues of traveling French Line in the thrift season.  Sailing schedule for fall of 1962 and 1963 listing France and Flandre.  $12.

Coming in at a massive 46" long, this is an amazing cut-away.  In full-color, 232 items are listed in the extensive key.  It is sad to think that this magnificent liner is now gone.  As troubling as that is, you can still hang this French beauty on your wall.  Excellent condition with some bumped corners.  $175.

Superb fold-out color-coded deck plan for first class.  Eight color photos on glossy paper.  In French and English.  One of the best deck plans you can find for her.  Mint condition. $30.

Miniature deck plan.  Great detail.  Some photos of her interiors.  $15.

Gala night hat ribbon for the France.  27" in length and in excellent condition.  Available in white and red.  $10 ea.

SOLD!

Silver-washed key ring as sold in France's gift shop.  A smaller version of the maiden voyage medallion.  At this price you can use your memorabilia!  Very good condition.  $25.

You know the French Line went for broke when they gold washed their bronze medallions.  The France was France's last transatlantic liner and one of the last ships of state to be built.  She was amazing.  Medallion is in excellent condition without the typical wear.  Tough to find with the original box which is in good condition.  Some wear to name and scuffing.  $95.

Fireboats everywhere and the ship dressed overall.  There's nothing quite like a maiden voyage arrival.  Very clear.  Measures 10" x 8".  Very good condition.  A fold to one of the corners.  $22.

Like all of you, I was really sad to see France go to the breakers.  As you can see from this photo, she had amazing lines.  This at-sea shot shows her long, sleek lines to great advantage.  Normandie-esque.  Sad to compare this to photos of her on the beach at Alang.  Measures 10" x 8".  Very good condition.  $22.

Wonderful aerial view of this recently scrapped liner.  You can see much of Normandie's influence in her design.  Measures 9" x 6½".  Excellent condition.  $20.

13275    France (1962)                          Photograph

Original AP wire photo of the launch of the France.  In excellent condition with original newspaper crop marks.  On the back is pasted the blurb and part of the photo from the newspaper.  $12.

33203    France (1962)                          Poster

Say "hello" to the new centerpiece of your France collection!  One of the better known posters for the France but still hard to find in this condition, which happily in excellent.  No tears or tape.  The colors are vibrant, and it is a real eye catcher!  Measures about 46" x 30".  It's begging to be framed and hung on your wall!  $195. 

33211    France (1962)                          Poster

Nice little poster of a painting of the France at sea.  May have been sold on board.  Measures about 15" x 11".  From the Ken Schultz collection.  $45.

SOLD!

This brochure dates to her return to service after World War II in 1949.  Covers both first and cabin class.  21 images, all full page.  Most are renderings of the liner's new interiors.  Includes a two-page longitudinal color spread showing the allocation of the space for each class.  A few folds to the cover but otherwise excellent.  From the Frank Braynard Collection.  $75.

SOLD!

As one of the most famous of all ocean liners, it's nice to see that the French Line produced several brochures solely for the Ile de France.  Here's one of the best.  For you French Line collectors out there, here are 28 photos of all three classes, most full page.  Ever wondered how they set the table in first class?  Or cabin class?  Or tourist class?  It's amazing to see that even in her best first-class cabins, the steel beams of the ceiling are left bare aside from the cork insulation applied to the wet paint.  Near mint condition.  Text in French.  From the Frank Braynard Collection.  $75.

Deduction tells us that this brochure has to be dated 1949.  Why?  Because both the Ile and the De Grasse are in service but there is no mention of the Liberté anywhere.  12 images, mostly interior.  Folds open to 16" x 10".  Excellent condition.  From the Frank Braynard Collection.  $25.

One of the more interesting deck plans I've seen.  This one is a route map for a self-guided tour of the Ile.  Definitely post war.  Extensive coverage of the ship with twelve stops along the route.  Shows the prospective passenger the highlights of first and second class.  The route is marked by a red line and arrows, and you are told that by following the route "you will get achieve a complete visit of the Ile de France."  And boy, did they mean it!  The tour goes from the first-class Sun Deck to the swimming pool.  It's a really neat piece.  Measures about 24" x 18".  Very good condition.  From the Frank Braynard collection.  $65.

SOLD!

Unusual card left in a passenger's stateroom upon embarkation to indicate what your lifeboat station was.  This one was for Mlle. M. Pendleton whose lifeboat was #24.  She was in cabin 650.  Lovely graphics.  $20.

Now this is a ticket wallet!  Comes from a time when such items were made with fine-grain real leather, which not only hold s up well but feels great!  Beautiful gold CGT logo with the ship's name underneath.  Definitely dates to her pre-war period.  Might even be maiden voyage era because of the date.   A slight stain on the cover, but a good leather conditioner might take it off.  Some slight chipping to spine.  Measures about 7" x 4".  A very unusual item.  $45.

After Normandie, the most beloved ship of the French Line fleet is a toss up in my opinion between the France of 1962 and the Ile.  Like De Grasse, Ile received a post-war medallion of which this is an example.  Various heraldic shields on one side; the other showing the post-war profile of the ship and a porthole.  Uniquely signed and dated by the artist, Marcel Renard.  In very good condition.  $95.

Pre-war list of passengers.  No class listed, but judging by the recapitulation (totals) at the end of the list for each class (so convenient), after a quick count, it appears to be tourist class.  She is carrying a healthy 1,321 passengers on this voyage from Le Havre to New York.  Dated August 21, 1936.  Great cover.  Near mint.  From the Frank Braynard Collection.  $20.

Cabin and tourist list for the September 1, 1953, voyage.  Captain Garrigue in command.  Excellent condition.  $12.

Unusual broad sheet titled "Pictorial News of the Day," showing the Ile in a very late image arriving in New York unaided by tugs.  She's looking a bit rusty and would be gone from service within a few months.  Some wrinkles and a few marks to the image that you might be able to remove, but I didn't try.  Measures about 17" x 14".  $25.

Program for a "Charity Fête" held on board the Ile de France on July 27, 1936.  Tied with a fancy cord.  Listed are the various charities with a description in French and English such as the "transatlantique maternity fund."  Twenty years later, the liner would sail into New York with many of the survivors of the Andrea Doria.  Very good condition.  From the Frank Braynard Collection.  $28.

Interesting double covered wine list.  Depending on how you close it, the cover is in either English or French with different art on each one.  Dated June, 1931.  As to be expected on a French ship, the wine list is extensive.  Also covered are liqueurs, mineral water, cocktails, and tobacco.  All the cocktails are in English, but everything else is in French.  Oh, those poor thirsty, "dry" Americans.  Excellent condition.  From the Frank Braynard Collection.  $28.

List of cabin passengers on board for the Lafayette's June 27, 1936, crossing from New York to Le Havre.  Captain Vogel in command.  Same cover as that used on Normandie.  Good condition with a touch of paper loss on the lower edge of the cover.  $12.

The French Line really splashed out with advertising for their pre-WWI ships.  This hard-covered book is no exception.  Produced for the La Provence, this book has dozens of illustrations of her interiors and is probably pre-maiden voyage.  Complete with embossed covers, and the edges of the pages are gold leafed!  Fold-out cut-away.

All kinds of interesting information like, during the year 1905, CGT ships burned 552,000 tons of coal.  Incredibly detailed.  La Provence was also one of the first ships on the Atlantic to have an elevator, and there's a drawing showing it.  Also has some great ads!  There's even one for Luis Vuitton luggage that fits under your berth!  Pull-out plan at the back of the shipbuilding yard at Penhoët.

This booklet is large and covers far too much information to go into here.  You will not be disappointed!  Very good condition with some slight separation at spine but still tight.  $250.

Post card of a liner we see little for.  Written on and posted in Bordeaux on September 14, 1931.  Good condition with a creased corner.  $15.

13241    Liberté                                    Passenger List

List of cabin- and tourist-class passengers for the August 11, 1954, crossing of the Liberté from New York to Le Havre.  Gives total passenger figures on board at the back.  In superb condition.  $16.

Deckled-edge real photo card of the ex-Europa at sea.  Unused.  Some scratching to the edge of the card.  $12.

What can I say?  There's memorabilia and then there's memorabilia!  This is as good as it gets for Normandie.  The famous "Green Book." 

Oversized at 14" x 11", this book is printed on glossy paper, it runs 72 pages with 67 images.  All the photos are exceptionally clear and many, many are full color images of her interiors, many I've never seen elsewhere.  Too much to list, but a sampling of the photos includes the children's dining room, the swimming pool in a full-color photo, the private bar in full color, lots of her art, to name just a few!

Very good condition with some slight wear to spine and edges of the cover.  In English.  Grab it while you can.  It won't last long!  $495.

One of the rarest and nicest pieces I have ever offered.  An exquisite water glass designed by Rene Lalique for the "suites de grand luxe" (Deauville, Trouville, Rouen, and Caen) on board Normandie.  Normandie, one of the most luxurious ships ever built with some of the finest suites ever to put to sea, boasted some of the most exclusive china and crystal ever offered to passengers.  This is the top of the heap. 

Stands about 4" tall and is about 3" across the mouth of the glass.  A piece I am proud to offer.  Has the tiniest of flea bites out of the rim.  You have to feel it to see it.  Even without a Normandie connection, signed Lalique crystal from the 1930's is highly collectible.  $895.

This pattern was designed by Lalique for Normandie's "suites de grand luxe" and was used there exclusively.  How many of these can possibly survive?  Extremely delicate.  Stands about 3¼" tall and is about 2½" across the mouth of the glass.  These lovely glasses are a joy just to hold in your hand.  In mint condition.  $895.

Color cut-away of Normandie.  On newsprint.  About 3½' long.  Some slight separation at folds and a few small tears at edges.  $35.

Commonly known as the "Blue Ribbon" medal and produced when she took the Blue Ribbon, this medal is fantastically 3-D, showing Normandie bow-on flying the Blue Ribbon.  The province's shield is on the reverse.  Much harder to find than the maiden-voyage medallion.  Measures 2" in diameter.  Designed by M. Delannoy.  Cast in bronze and marked on the edge as such.  Excellent condition with a very slight ding or two at the edge.  $250.

Unused.  Near mint condition.  "The longest gangplank in the world".  $8.

Beautiful first generation real photo card of the winter garden.  Unused.  Absolutely mint condition.  This room was not air-conditioned.  Unfortunately all the birds in the cages died when the ship when on her first cruise to Rio due to the heat.  $10.

Beauty at sea.  This aerial advertising print shows Normandie after her 1936 refit.  I never really liked the additions made to her during this refit, and John Maxton-Graham asserts that it was more than necessary considering the very tough competition from Queen Mary.  Given its age, this print is in fantastic condition as is its original frame.  Measures 32" x 2" including frame.  $295. 

Pottery ashtray probably dating to the 1950's.  Measures about 2" tall and 5" across.  In very good condition.  Interestingly, only one spot for a cigarette.  $45.

Sought-after heavy glass ashtray as used on the France of 1962.  Lovely CGT logo molded into the bottom.  One chip out of the cigarette rest that is hard to notice and one flea bite out of the bottom.  $45.

Everyone loved these art deco ashtrays when they were introduced on the Normandie.  So much so that many of the Normandie's were swiped as souvenirs so the French Line was forced to remove the ship's name from them.  The shape and style remained popular and continued in use after the war.  This post-war version, made of glass not porcelain and manufactured by Opalex, dates to the Liberté / Ile de France era.  Measures about 3" x 2½".  Excellent condition.  $35.

Just in time for Christmas!  Rarely seen Christmas card from Jean Marie, President of the French Line, from 1956 showing the laying of the keel of the liner that would become the France.  The painting is by Albert Brenet, who also did the cover painting for the original printing of The Only Way to Cross by John Maxtone-Graham.  In excellent condition.  $25.

Pre-WWII Christmas card from Henri Cangardel, the director general of the French Line.  Written at a time when Normandie was still afloat and just five months before the fall of France.  One wonders what happened to the French Line during the occupation.  Excellent condition.  $25.

(A second one is also available with a much longer message written by Pierre Laure, the assistant director general of the French Line.  $25.)

Oversized Christmas card from André Coquillat of the French Line.  Opens to reveal a fantastic painting of the Antilles.  Card is dated 1955, the 100th year of the French Line.  Cover art shows the Paris of 427 tons.  She was used on the Le Havre to Hamburg service.  $25.

Outstanding example of a post-war side plate as used on the Liberté and the Ile de France.  In excellent condition with very minor ware to the gold and the typical use marks.  Measures 7" in diameter.  $85.

Cute little juice glass from the service of the France of 1962.  Frosted CGT logo.  Stands about 3" tall.  Excellent condition.  A quantity available.  $65 ea. 

And a water glass from France of 1962's on board service....  Stands 5" tall.  Excellent condition.  A quantity available.  $85 ea.

SOLD!

Unusual shaped glass (not quite sure what it's for!) with a frosted CGT logo.  Stands 6" tall.  $75.

SOLD!

100 years is a milestone for any company particularly in today's environment.  CGT was justifiably proud -- so proud that they went back to the pre-war style of medal making.  This medal is double the diameter and thickness of the other post-war medallions, measuring over 2½" across.  In excellent condition.  By Marcel Renard.  Solid bronze.  $125.

13227  French Line                             Passage Rates Brochure

Passage rates booklet for first and tourist class, dated September 1, 1963.  24 pages and in excellent condition.  $10.

Fold-open sailing schedule for 1938 with a great route map, showing all the service route of CGT.  Dated March 10, 1938.  Good condition with some wear to the folds.  Minimum high season rates on Normandie for first class were $316.  In English.  $18.

This stock certificate in the defunct French Line has nearly equal value to some current functioning corporations.  I've always said memorabilia makes a better investment than many stocks.  Ocean liner collectables sure haven't gone down in value like my 401k!

Superbly engraved, this five-share certificate is dated 1933/1934.  It does not appear to be cancelled.  Actually double the size shown, the other half is where the shares would have been reassigned had the shares been sold.  Measures almost 16" x 11".  Great condition.  $40.

Passage ticket for the Antilles for Miss Louise Reynolds, dated February 25, 1955, for a cruise leaving from New Orleans.  Miss Reynolds booked cabin 51, which included a shower.  The line used an eastbound passage ticket envelope and listed her as traveling "Cruise Class."   Some discoloration to the envelope.  $12.