The United Fruit Company
My Grandmother's Memories
Ever since I was a little kid, I knew about the United Fruit Company (UFC) because my grandparents met while working there. According to a 1930 Census, my grandfather, Stephen Joyce was working as a clerk for the United Fruit Company in Boston at the age of 19 and one account has him working there as young as 17. In the mid 1930’s, my grandfather worked as Chief Clerk for the United Fruit Company in Cristobal, Panama. My grandmother, Marie Ramseyer worked as a secretary at the United Fruit Company for a number of years and I was told she also went to restaurants to present different recipes using bananas, in order to get more places to purchase bananas from the United Fruit Company. I don't know much about the experience my grandparents had, but I do recall my grandmother telling me about the tarantulas that would be hiding with the bananas on the ship.
The United Fruit Company has a very interesting and controversial history. I am not here to write about the company itself, my intention is to share photos that my grandmother took while on her travels. I do encourage you to read more about the UFC, as it's extremely fascinating. You can view a timeline of the company by the United Fruit Historical Society, you can see more photos here, and read some history about the company in this article.
In late May, early June of 1939, my grandmother Marie Ramseyer went on a United Fruit Company cruise, sailing on the SS Talamanca. According to Wikipedia, "SS Talamanca was a United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II. In peacetime, before and after the war, she carried fruit and passengers; in US Navy service, she supplied troops and ships in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II." (click to enlarge photos).
As seen from SS Talamanca.
In late May, early June of 1940, at 23 years old, my grandmother went on another United Fruit Company cruise, this time on the SS Jamaica. You can view a full list of the ships the company owned here. According to this site, Peten was built in 1932 and the service history is: 1937 chartered to Colombian Line renamed Jamaica, 1938 returned to UFC, 1941 to US Navy renamed USS Ariel, 1946 returned to UFC, 1958 sold to Scipio & Co, Bremen renamed Blumenthal. (click to enlarge photos).
On May 9, 1941 (just six months before she married my grandfather), my grandmother set sail from New York on the SS Veragua. It was one of the ships of the Great White Fleet that the United Fruit Company had. According to Wikipedia, "SS Antigua was a United Fruit Company passenger and refrigerated cargo liner built at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy, Massachusetts completed in 1932. She was owned by a United Fruit subsidiary, United Mail Steam Ship Company, which registered her in New York. She carried bananas from Central America to the US and passengers in both directions." Digital Commonwealth has a lovely postcard with the ship that you can view here. (click to enlarge photos).
I love and envy how glamorous travel was back then—people waving goodbye at the pier, sending telegrams, and mailing letters. Now vacations are just posted on social media for instant gratification and hardly anyone prints out photos since everything is digital. I wish I could go back in time to when my grandmother was still alive and ask her more questions. I would love to know about her time working at the United Fruit Company and the cruises she took!
*Note that photos are not allowed to be used without permission.