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A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
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Pier 97, W 57th Street
Where several hundred thousand Scandinavians entered America.
Do you have memories of Pier 97 ?
email us: salship@yahoo.com
The terminal building, facing W 57th Street.
Pier 97 Revisited
Gunnar Hallert, crew member on the Kungsholm in 1962 and 1965, has recently visited Manhattan and Pier 97 at the end of West 57th Street, where the SAL ships docked. The terminal buidling is no longer there, and the pier has since many years been used as a parking site for garbage trucks. It is going to be restored and will be used primarily for active recreation and historic ships. Unfortunately, the building on the pier will not be reconstructed. The Hudson River Park Trust, a partnership between New York State and City is charged with the design, construction and operation of the five-mile Hudson River Park. Read more here. Also read about the Friends of Hudson River Park.
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Pier 97 and W 57th St in the 1960's.
From the Dawe collection
Kungsholm of 1953 at Pier 97.
 Carl-Gustaf Edhardt has contributed this photo of Pier 97, North River, at the end of West 57th Street in New York, where the SAL ships docked. |
 Photo from the Dawe collection |
Photo shot from the Gripsholm in June 1966.
Contributed by Ken Sandholm.
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The Kungsholm of 1966 approaching Pier 97. Photo from the Curt Dawe collection. |
"Italia" of Home Lines, ex Kungsholm of 1928, here possibly in the mid-fifties.
Many thanks to Frank Scherer, Hamburg, and Örjan Slätte, Göteborg, for correctly identifying the ship.
From the Dawe collection
Interior foto of the building on Pier 97 in 1931.
Source: "En Atlantresa" by Stellan Wulff, printed in 1931.
Inside the building on Pier 97 in the 1960's.
Photo contributed by Mr F. Storck Petersen.
View into the building from Kungsholm's deck during a departure in 1954.
Photo by Tage Hemingstam
Miss Annica Sundberg (now Roussetos) of the SAL office in NYC
was a holder of a pier pass for official business on arrival day.
Contributed by Annica Roussetos
Eddie Flynn, Legendary Superintendent |
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Eddie Flynn was born on 59th Street and 10th Avenue, Hell's Kitchen, in 1913. He was an amateur boxing champion, served in the "Steveadore Battalion" during the invasion of Casablanca, and became superintendent on Pier 97 after WWII. He served on the pier for nearly three decades. Every time one of the SAL liners arrived, he bossed over 200 longshoremen, (deckmen, holdmen, and dockmen), unloading the cargo. He was well-known to thousands of Scandinavian passengers. |
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Click on the list to read the names. |
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From the Dawe collection. |
Click on the list to read the names. |
Information on ticket cover
Luggage tag to be used for embarkation.
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When disembarking, each piece of luggage was to be marked with stickers displaying the first letter of the passenger's last name. The luggage would be carted ashore and placed in the building on Pier 97 beneath a sign with the corresponding letter, and the passengers would be able to find them. After customs inspection, porters would deliver the luggage to the passenger's limousine or taxi. |
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Taxi Driver
In the movie Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro walks east on West 57th Street
after having been employed by the cab company. In the background,
there is a view of the front of the building on Pier 97, showing
the Swedish American Line sign.
The Bus Stop Bar.
A popular meeting place for SAL crews on
W 57th Street, just above Pier 97.
Photo contributed by Roy Johansson
Crew member Armin Nerger: I remember that we used to buy our clothes, jeans, underwear (Fruit of the Loom), socks, Samsonite suitcases
at very low prices, just opposite Pier 97 in a large merchandise store, operated by I.J. Gonon, on 642 W 57th Street. |
Crew member Björn Wallde: Memories of Pier 97? Sure. Docked at the pier five times 1961-62 and once in 1966 on the Gripsholm. You had to walk through the huge hall/storage building to get to W57th St. You could feel the smell of coffee. There was a candy machine where I bought a Babe Ruth (10c?). Inside the building there were green Clark fork trucks driving around, that you had to watch out for. Out on W57th St., the West Side Elevated Highway (now gone) ran above your head. And wasn't there a TV studio with its audience lined up just outside the pier's exit? Yes, I'm looking up my map from 1961. One block away on the right, CBS. And there was a large site for garbage trucks nearby, back then just as today. I also remember how we hung around on the forward deck and watched the embarking cruise passengers. There were gentlemen and blue haired ladies in their eighties, each one in their own black Cadillac, with chauffeurs in uniforms of varied color, cut and design. There was even one in a light grey uniform with riding boots and all. We almost stood at attention on the forward deck (though I hadn't served in the military yet). I remember Gonon's store very well, plus the Morning Star Bar a few blocks up. It was still there as late as a few years ago. I had my first hamburger (two for 25c) at the Bus Stop Bar on December 21, 1961, at about 2 p.m. Björn Wallde Ps. I always go on about the first 10 minutes of Taxi Driver, for Pier 97's sake. |
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 Shot from the Gripsholm, approx. December 21, 1961 Photo:Björn Wallde |
 Shot from the Gripsholm, approx. December 21, 1961 Photo:Björn Wallde |
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The surrounding area in the 1950's.
The French Line pier on the far right.
Photos by Benny Doverhagen
Porthole view from Gripsholm's arrival in NYC, September 5, 1954.
Photo by Tage Hemingstam
Gripsholm's arrival in NYC, September 5, 1954.
The French Line pier on the left, and the United States Lines on the right.
Photo by Tage Hemingstam
Pier 97 in 1963.
Contributed by Annica Roussetos.
NYC skyline in 1964.
Contributed by Annica Roussetos.
Photo shot from the Gripsholm in June 1966.
Contributed by Ken Sandholm.
Photo shot from the Gripsholm in June 1966.
Contributed by Ken Sandholm.
The New York Skyline in April, 1973.
Shot from the Kungsholm.
Photo: Tommy Stark
Do you have memories of Pier 97 ?
email us: salship@yahoo.com
More than 100 web pages developed and maintained by Lars Hemingstam ©1998-2010
Email us
Regardless of which ship we sailed on or which year - the memories we share are the same!
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| Recommended Books | |||||||||||
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M/S Kungsholms inredning Första M/S Kungsholm, Amerikalinjens stora passagerarfartyg, byggdes på 1920-talet. Det gick mellan Göteborg och New York. Arkitekten Carl Bergsten fick uppdraget att hålla i den påkostade inredningen som skulle visa för världen vad svenska konstnärer kunde åstadkomma. Under andra världskriget togs fartyget i beslag av amerikanarna för att användas i trupptransporten till Europa. Inredningen revs då ner och förstördes. Anne-Marie Ericsson har letat i arkiv och museer efter beskrivningar, ritningar och gamla fotografier för att försöka rekonstruera denna makalösa uppvisning i svensk inredningskonst. |
Amerikabåtarna Christer Winberg, professor i historia vid Göteborgs universitet, har skrivit en bok om SAL som bygger på bevarat samtida material från Svenska Amerika Linien på Landsarkivet och Sjöfartsmuseet i Göteborg. Det omfattar exempelvis reserapporter, minnesberättelser och personligt färgade reseskildringar. Författaren har också samlat in eget material genom intervjuer med f.d. anställda.
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Andrea Dorias undergång I Andrea Dorias undergång berättar Britt-Marie Mattsson den fascinerande berättelsen om kollisionen, den heroiska räddningsaktionen och det rättsliga efterspelet till den mycket uppmärksammade olyckan - sin tids Titanic. Mattssons far var vid tiden för olyckan informationschef vid Svenska Amerika Linien. Britt-Marie Mattsson har träffat flera av de överlevande och intervjuat dem för denna bok. Hon har bland annat talat med vittnen som ger information som kan kasta nytt ljus över vad som egentligen orsakade den fruktansvärda kollisionen. Boken är rikligt illustrerad i svartvitt. | ||||||||
A book about the Kungsholm of 1953. |
Journalist Per Fält has recommended |
"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna SAL har skildrats i böcker, dokumentär-filmer, journalfilmer och tidningsartiklar. Oftast är det glamouren som uppmärk-sammats men en grupp har alltid saknats i beskrivningarna: homosexuella män. Såna på Amerikabåtarna är en välskriven, lättläst och underhållande studie av en värld som gått i glömska. | |||||||||
De Flytande Palatsen From the very inception of the line in 1915, the ships of the Line attracted much attention on both sidesof the Atlantic. Not only did they represent the bonds between the old country and the new, they also represented new concepts in service, decor, and furnishings as well as in art and handicraft. Published in 1987. This book can be found on Amazon.
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Huset Broström Huset Broström för tankarna till Forsythesagan och Onedinlinjen. Inget svenskt företag har upplevt så stor dramatik som just Broströms. Detta är den dramtiska berättelsen "inifrån Huset", om det som skedde i det som syntes ske. Utgiven 1980. | ||||||||||
Out of the Fog is an American edition of a Swedish book by Algot Mattsson, who was the information officer for SAL, the owner of Stockholm, the ship that collided with Andrea Doria in 1956. The book describes the collision from the perspectives of both ships as well as the heroic rescue of hundreds. Testimony given at the hearing is also included as is a legal opinion by the American editors, one of whom was directly involved with the case. |
Detta är en berättelse om den dramatiska färden över Atlanten, från de hårda och riskfyllda överfarten med små lastskutor i mitten av 1800-talet, till lyxresorna med Amerikalinjens sista skepp. Utgiven 1982 | ||||||||||
