Ships were divided into three classes: First, Second, and Third Class, also known as Steerage. First–class tickets could average between $150 and $250, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics with inflation $150 in January 1913 was the equivalent to $ 4,920 in May 2025. However, as the Depression neared, the same $150 lower-cost first–class ticket in 1927 would have been $ 2,755 as of May 2025. A First-Class ticket guaranteed the traveler larger rooms with a private bathroom (some with private dining and state rooms), the best decks, classes, lectures, and personal service. Second–class tickets averaged between $40 and $60, and included a private or semi-private cabin, a shared bathroom, communal dinners, and a designated deck. A Steerage ticket was between $25 and $35 and provided passengers with a bunk, communal bathrooms, and, in many cases, unsanitary conditions. As the main mode of transport for immigrants the cost of a Steerage ticket was an enormous sum, often the price of several years’ wages.
Ocean liners were for the most part dependable but still face dangers such as rough seas, mechanical failures, and treacherous currents, not to mention passengers faced seasickness and sometimes even death. Ocean liners were not invincible the RMS Titanic, was sunk by an iceberg in 1912, and the RMS Lusitania 1915 as well as the RMS Franconia 1916 were both sunk by a German U-boat in WWI.
Luxury passenger ship travel was a testament to wealth. Ocean liner travel had improved significantly by the 1920’s, and ships were able to make their way across the Atlantic in about 5 days, and a journey across the Pacific took between 9 to 15 days. While luxury accommodations made the experience rather comfortable. traveler ran the risk of missing significant events back home. During a May 1927 layover in Honolulu after an extensive cruise throughout the Pacific, investment banker Arthur Lehman wrote to his daughter, Dorothy Lehman Bernhard.
“It is surprising how many of our acquaintances have died while we were on this trip... the finest of them were ill when we left. It was rather pleasant to have Frieda Schiff Warburg to get some agreeable news when she received a cable yesterday announcing the birth of her young granddaughter.”
The Loeb Family Papers contain ample travel diaries, scrapbooks, and documents showcasing their international travels. The papers mainly highlight the lives of John and Frances, but evidence of their parents, Arthur and Adele Lewisohn Lehman, and Carl and Adeline Moses Loeb, flows throughout the collection. This article focuses on the travel records of Arthur and Adele from 1892 to 1927. Starting in 1892, Arthur traveled with his brother to their Bavarian homeland aboard the Etruria and Servia. He later took sea voyages with Adele on various ocean liners, including the RMS Homeric, the SS Resolute, and the luxury ship of its time, the second RMS Franconia. A companion piece to this article will discuss Arthur’s last trip on one of the most famous luxury tours, Franconia’s Around the World Tour of 1935.
A Young Man’s Postcard Travel Album, 1892
In 1892, nineteen-year-old Arthur Lehman traveled to Europe with his sixteen-year-old brother Irving. Arthur and Irving were born to Mayer Lehman and Babette Neugass, Arthur was groomed to be a leader in the family’s various business ventures, Irving would become Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. His father, Mayer Lehman, was one of three siblings who founded Lehman Brothers, the famous mercantile and investment banking firm of the 19th century. The brothers had emigrated from Germany to Alabama and then to New York City, initially as cotton and linen merchants before shifting to investment banking. Coming from a wealthy family in 1892 certainly enabled Arthur and Irving travel comfortably throughout Europe and to their parents’ ancestral home in Germany. Arthur’s first travel album contains mostly photo souvenirs, commercial images that were purchased. Sadly, no photographs exist from the trip of Irving, their traveling companion Harry Hochstadler, or of Arthur and Irving’s parents, whom they met briefly in Würzburg—Babette’s birthplace.
Honeymoon Trip of Arthur and Adele Lewisohn Lehman, 1901
Arthur and Adele were married on November 25, 1901. For their honeymoon they took an extensive trip exploring several European cities as well as Cairo, Egypt. Their journey began on the Hamburg I ship, which sailed from Hamburg, Germany through the Suez Canal. It is not known when the Lehmans departed New York for Hamburg, nor who the photographer was for the 1901 images.
The first few pages of their honeymoon photo album begin on the ship and then continue with their landing in Cairo. While in Cairo they attended the arrival of the last Khedive of Egypt and the Sudan ‘Abbās II. ‘Abbās II served as the viceroy of Egypt under Turkish rule from 1867-1914. It is hard to decipher Arthur’s written description of the location, which may be at the Al-Rifa’i Mosque. From there, they proceeded to the Pyramids, beginning with the Sphinx, followed by the Fallen Statue of Ramses, the Colossi of Memnon, and visits to Memphis, Luxor, Karnak, and Thebes, among other notable sites. They sailed to Italy, where they visited Naples, Capri Island, Sorrento, and Rome. They photographed St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Cathedrals, the Vatican, the Fountain of Neptune, Mt. Vesuvius in Naples, Florence, Milan, Verona, and Venice.
Arthur and Adele's First Trip Around the World, Southern Hemisphere Trip, 1923
Adele and Arthur returned to Europe on the RMS Homeric. Originally named Columbus, the ship was built in 1913 by the German company Norddeutscher Lloyd. In 1920, the still unfinished boat was sold to the White Star Line and launched in 1922. The ship was slower than most Atlantic Ocean liners, but it was one of the most spectacular in first–class accommodation.
While we don’t know who the photographer was, their album opens with two stylish images of Arthur and Adele with camels in Egypt. Clearly the images were some of their favorites from the trip.
Their journey began in Funchal (Madeira), Portugal. Their itinerary took them to Palermo, Syracuse, and Seville, where they photographed the Alcazar of Segovia, a fort dating back to the 12th century, then on to Gibraltar before stopping in Algiers. They crossed the Dardanelles and headed to Constantinople, where they viewed the Hagia Sophia and the Mosque of Ahmet in Istanbul. And then, they sailed again to Egypt.
They revisited the Sphinx and Romulus, walked up the Pyramids, sailed along the Nile, and stopped in Saqqara and explored tombs and temples in the Valley of the Kings. The photographs in this album are simply spectacular in their scope and detail of early 20th–century Portuguese, Italian, Algerian, Egyptian, and Turkish vistas, including the Homeric docked in port, as well as the sights of people and scenes.
Around the World Again… but this time with Helen, 1927
Arthur and Adele, along with their daughter Helen, spent the first six months of 1927 aboard the RMS Resolute. Helen was yet to marry banker Benjamin Buttenweiser (1929). Helen herself would go on to become a social worker, an attorney, and the first woman to be admitted to the New York State Bar Association. But on February 9, 1927, she was a young lady on a world tour with her parents. Hele wrote in a letter home:
“Having put this off until we are within sight of Bombay, I’ll now have to hurry. It really feels awfully exciting to be in sight of India…The Red Sea is not as hot as it’s cracked up to be, and the weather has been pleasantly warm…I have found someone to teach me algebra… Egypt was simply grand. You should see me ride a camel.”
By late April, they landed in Hawaii after a stay in Japan. Adele mentioned in her correspondence home that they were joined by 1924 Gold Medal Olympic swimmer, Mariechen “Squeaky” Wehselau. Squeaky was born and raised in Hawaii and taught Helen swimming techniques.
“A most charming attractive young person whom Helen took an immediate like...”
Meanwhile, Arthur wrote a letter home in which he noted that he didn’t like the beach as much as Miami, but that the air was fabulous. He remarked that Helen also attempted to surf:
“…unsuccessfully, of course.”
There are two photograph albums from the 1927 trip: One personal album, mostly unidentified, possibly from the Resolute, and a more official album with embossed leather binding. The official album may have been given directly by the cruise company, as many images are numbered and labeled with log numbers. Later in the album, original photographs begin to appear, particularly after the family arrived in India. Notably, several images show a lady, presumably Helen, taking a picture with a box camera in Ceylon and Rangoon.
While the Lehmans may have taken their own photos, we suspect that they may also have traveled with a photographer to document their adventures. The images from Rangoon on the scrapbook page below, show a lady with a camera (top left) and a man with a camera (top right).
Documentation from the Lehmans’ 1927 trip also includes a rare memento, a 1927 SS Resolute World Cruise Logbook. This currently undigitized item belonged to Arthur, and he wrote meticulous notes on almost every page. He documented ship arrival times, weather conditions, ship activities, family and friend meetings, and excursions.
One entry includes the addition of Arthur’s daughter Frances, and her new husband John. The newly married couple met them in Monaco on January 21st, 1927. The party drove to Cannes and Monte Carlo for lunch and dinner, and John and Frances left for Rome on January 23rd, presumably sailing with Arthur and Adele for two days. They would not see each other again until at least May 1927, after the ship returned to New York.
The images and writings of these visits portray a part of the world rarely seen by Europeans and American’s at that time.
Join us next time for part two as we explore the world Down Under with the RMS Franconia Around the World Cruise—Southern Hemisphere cruise.
The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) is grateful to Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. for entrusting his family’s papers to the Society the entire collection can be found here: John L. and Frances Lehman Loeb Family Papers.
Arthur Lehman Travel Photographs, Log Books, and Correspondence Collection, 1892-1935
- Arthur and Irving Lehman—European Trip to Bavaria—Photograph Postcard Album, 189[2] Digital Record Identifier: ROS_IE18699650
- Arthur and Adele Lehman—”Our Wedding Album”—Travel Photograph Album, 1901
- Arthur and Adele Lehman—Around the World, Southern Hemisphere—RMS Homeric, 1923 Digital Record Identifier: ROS_IE18791385
- Arthur and Adele Lehman—North Africa and Italy Tour—Unknown Ship [USS Resolute?], 1927 Digital Record Identifier: ROS_IE18723411
- Arthur and Adele Lehman—Around the World, Southern Hemisphere—SS Resolute—Photograph Album, 1927 Digital Record Identifier: ROS_IE18811192
- Lehman, Arthur (1873-1936)—SS Resolute—World Cruise—Logbook, 1927 January-May. Box: 37, Folder: 12
- Lehman, Arthur (1873–1936) and Mrs. Arthur (Adele) Lehman—SS Resolute–World Cruise—Correspondence. Box: 38, Folder: 03
- Lehman, Arthur (1873–1936) and Mrs. Arthur (Adele) Lehman—Cunard Whitestar RMS Franconia—Southern Hemisphere World Cruise Logbook, 1935 January-May Digital Record Identifier: ROS_IE18698465
- Arthur and Adele Lehman—Around the World, Southern Hemisphere— Cunard Whitestar RMS Franconia—Photograph Album [RESTRICTED], 1935 Box: 129
- Lehman, Arthur (1873–1936)—Cunard Whitestar RMS Franconia—Correspondence and Newsclipping, circa 1935 Box: 37, Folder: 10
References
America-Holy Land Studies—Second International Scholars Colloquium—Paper—Michael Brown—”Some Early Twentieth—Century Holy-Land—Land “Travellers” in America: Sources and Contexts”, 1983 File — Box: 251, Folder: 8.
Curbed New York. Seaport Museum explores the class divide on turn-of-the-century ocean liners. https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/22/15854826/seaport-museum-titanic-ocean-liners. Accessed June 27, 2025.
Hamburg-American Parcel Service Corporation (HAPAG). Hamburg I (1899-1928). https://www-schiffe–maxim-de.translate.goog/Hamburg.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp Accessed June 25, 2025.
Outrigger Canoe Club Sports. Oral History: Frederick Steere, Jr., Marichen Wehselau Jackson, Helen Moses Cassidy. https://www.outriggercanoeclubsports.com/occ-archives/oral-histories/frederick-e-steere-jr-mariechen-wehselau-jackson-helen-moses-cassidy/ Accessed June 26, 2025.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI Inflation Calculator. https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm. Accessed June 27, 2025.
