Landing Arrangements
Southampton & New York
Having transcribed the texts of the Landing Cards issued for both Southampton and New York, I'm struck by the vast difference in attitude of the authorities at each port. In these days of high security measures wherever you travel, I'd imagine that the seasoned traveller would be hankering that we could return to these much simpler and safer times.
I've already mentioned my experiences upon my first arrival in New York, which was quite a culture shock considering the much easier visits to several other ports around the World. Well, it would appear that not much had changed since the early 1950s.
Even for passengers, arrival in New York was far more complex than in other places. Whilst the Customs procedures were roughly the same anywhere that you went, Immigration procedures were quite another matter.
As this New York Landing Arrangements for 1952 page shows, U.S. Citizens were made to congregate in one part of the ship, whereas other nationals assembled in another. Not so in the UK! At least the foreigners were not labelled as “Aliens” back then. That rather unfriendly term would not emerge stateside until my time, in the early 1960s.
By contrast, the Southampton Landing Arrangements page demonstrates a far more relaxed attitude. Certainly there was no division by nationality! One other difference was that mail at Southampton would be brought out by the Pilot boat when it met the ship before she entered Southampton Water. No such arrangement existed at New York.
All this makes you wonder just how much previously tight rules have contributed to escalated security procedures over the succeeding years. From all recent accounts, it looks like they will get even tougher!
If you can contribute any information, do please get in touch…
