Unseen Erickson
FROM THE MILTON H. ERICKSON FOUNDATION ARCHIVES
Collection: The Milton H. Erickson Workshop Files
Archives Location: U: Row 6, Column 1, Shelf 3, Box 279, Folder 23
by Joyce Bavlinka, m. ed., lisac
THE OCEAN MONARCH CRUISE
Sarah Clinebell, who has been working on the Archives since June 2022, has supplied us with a folder named “Cruise Folder, January 4 – 18, 1958.” The contents include details of the cruise, correspondence setting up the lecture series, a brochure about the cruise vessel, excursions available at cruise stops, correspondence with Dr. Louis Mars (the contact person for the Port-au-Prince stay) an article regarding setting up of the first psychiatric hospital in Haiti, correspondence regarding Erickson’s purchase of turtle specimens, and a Port-au-Prince shopkeeper’s purchase of a bola. There will be separate blog posts about the establishment and fate of the psychiatric hospital and the turtle and the bola.
The Cruise/the Workshops
The Ocean-Monarch Cruise was organized by Erickson and E. E. Aston, a dentist from West New York, N. J. It was the 2 nd Annual Cruise Conference on Hypnosis sponsored by Seminars in Hypnosis. It departed New York City on Saturday, January 4, 1958, and it returned on January 18, 1958. The cruise included stops in San Juan, Curacao, Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Havana, Cuba.
The Seminar Agenda
There were lectures each morning and afternoon and there was time set aside each day for independent study. Topics of workshops included: Induction Procedures, Review of Deeping Techniques, Indirect Induction Techniques, Hypnosis in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hypnosis in Medicine and Surgery, Individual Variations in Patient Responses, The Art of Suggestion, Hypnosis in Children and Hypnosis in Dentistry. There was a presentation by the Haiti Ministry of Tourism, “Relationship of Voodoo to Hypnosis.”
In addition to Erickson, there were 6 other presenters including: Edward Aston, DDS, Sam Shafferman, M.D., Theodore Mandy, M.D., Seymour Hershman, M.D., Irving Sector, DDS, and Lawrence Staples, D. M. D. The passenger list includes 68 doctors on board but not all of them might have been there for the hypnosis seminar.
From the Erickson Archives: We have a letter dated November 19, 1957, from E. E. Aston, 6412 Park Avenue, West New York, N. J to Erickson. Aston had contacted the General Counsel of the Haitian Government and suggested that they contact Dr. Louis Mars, whom he describes as “dean of the faculty of Medicine down there, is head of the Institute of Ethnology, practices psychiatry, is interested in ‘social studies’ and in voodoo.”
Aston was not given an address for Mars but the Counsel General of Haiti, assures Aston “that if the great doctor is addressed as Dr. Louis Mars, Psychiatrist, Port-au Prince, Haiti, the letter will surely reach him.” Aston adds that Mars would “probably be wow-ed to hear personally from Milton H.”
On November 30, 1957, Mars writes to Erickson to make arrangements for welcoming the cruise group. Mars mentions his papers on voodoo and possession and states that he is studying medical hypnotism. “Modern hypnotism is an unknown field in Haiti. People are still referring to “magnetisme and memersism.”
The Mars letter also mentions that he has “only one book from you, “Childhood and Society” and a few quotations by B. Mittelmann and other[sic] from your work on hypnotism.” As many others have, Mars ascribes one of Erik Erickson’s books to Milton Erickson.
Mars ends his letter, “We shall be delighted to talk about psychiatric problems in Haiti and the States during your short visit here. You must know in advance that we have no psychiatric hospital in our country.”
The Ocean-Monarch Cruise Ship
The ship, owned by the Furness Line, was built shortly after the end of World War II. It was designed to be the ultimate luxury cruise ship and received the Academy of Design’s 1951 Golden Medal for excellence. The interior of the ship featured a variety of rare woods. It was the first ship of its size to have only hall rooms, each with an outside view, and a private bath and shower. The furniture was custom made. “From the time the keel was laid until the decorators gave the final approval, everything possible was done to make the Ocean Monarch the finest cruise ship afloat.”
The ship was billed as the “Sun-Tan sea route to the Enchanted Islands…. One luxury class only. Deck sports and dancing, air-conditioned dining…. movies, swimming, new friends. Every cabin with private bath.”
The ship was 561 feet in length and was driven by 4 steam turbines. The ship could reach a speed of 18 knots/33 miles per hour. It had a capacity of 414 first class passengers and 250 crew. The ship was part of the Furness Bermuda line until 1966 when it was sold and used to cruise out of Montreal and later out of Greece. In 1981, the ship caught fire and sank.
A history of the ship is available on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ocean_Monarch_(1950)
You can view a video-slideshow of the Ocean Monarch on Your Tube at In Memoriam: SS Ocean Monarch - YouTube
You can view a thoroughly delightful video of a 1958 family vacation on the Ocean Monarch posted by Walt E. Smith, as part of the Smith Family Archive Project. The family took a one-week cruise to Bermuda: the listed price for the cruise was $125 per person.
October, 1958 Family Cruise on the Ocean Monarch - YouTube
Bits and Pieces from the Ocean- Monarch Cruise Ship Brochure
Special Notice: ‘It is requested that passengers, when in bathing attire, wear a wrap over their costumes, whilst on the Promenade and boat decks.”
Professional Gamblers
Passengers were warned about professional gamblers and told to take precautions accordingly. “They are reported as occasionally travelling on passenger vessels.”
Personal Services
The ship had a Barber Shop and Beauty Salon located on the Promenade Deck Forward. Cutting and Styling would cost you $1.50 and a manicure the same. “Gents” would pay .50 for a shave and .25 for a tonic dressing. You could get your suit pressed for $1.00 and trousers pressed for .50.
Entertainment on the ship included:
Tony Noice Suave Prestidigitator
Graziella Acrobatic Interpretations
Consuelo Flowerton Popular Songstress
Will B. Able Song and Dance
And music by Al Donahue’s Orchestra conducted by Peter Barton.
Shore Excursions
American Express World Travel Services offered Shore Excursions to the following:
*For $7.00 you could have a half-day tour by automobile of Havana including an alligator processing plant and a visit to the Grand Hall at the National Capital to see the 24-karat diamond that was presented to the Republic by the workers who built the Capital. There was a stop at the Havana cigar factory and the Colon Cemetery with its elaborate mausoleums. The last stop was at a rum distillery, where one mighty sample any or all 21 varieties produced there.
*FOR $8.50 you could take a Half-day tour of Port-Au-Prince by automobile with a drive through the capital, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de l’Ascension, and tour the beautiful homes and gardens in the Kenscoff district.
END NOTES: Final Night Dinner
The Farewell Dinner consisted of a 7-course meal including juices, appetizers, and a wide choice on entrée including broiled flounder, mousse of lobster, creamed turkey a la king, roast goose or calf feet. You had the option of ordering prime sirloin from the grill (10 minutes), a cold buffet of roast ribs of beef with horseradish, roast leg of lamb, ham and brisket. There was a variety of salads and sweets, cheeses and crackers, fresh fruit and scotch woodcock…
A Wikipedia article defines the dish:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_woodcock
“Scotch woodcock is a British savoury dish consisting of creamy, lightly- scrambled eggs served on toast that has been spread with anchovy paste or Gentleman’s Relish, and sometimes topped with chopped herbs and black pepper. [1][2] Scotch woodcock was served in the refreshment rooms of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as late as 1949. [3]
Comments? Please run them by me.
Email: joyce@erickson-foundation.org
