Cunard Yanks
Although not exclusively connected with the RMS Caronia, being a Liverpool registered ship with a fair number of crew members from that city, the term “Cunard Yanks” can be still be connected to her. So, what does the term mean?
In the early 1950s travelling to New York from the UK, a country still very much in recovery after WWII, was a bit like time travel. With the prime leaders of any culture being fashion and music, the differences between the two countries was stark. The USA was well ahead of the UK - a statement that may be open to challenge now.
In the UK, even three years after official rationing had ended, the fashion industry was still stuck in the past, with fabrics like tweed still very much being the order of the day. In the USA, fashions were busy exploring the possibilities of the new man-made fabrics.
As far as music was concerned, the range of stations abroad, offering everything from folk to jazz was bewildering. The BBC was the only radio station publicly broadcast throughout the UK, with it steadfastly following its “public service” broadcaster remit.
As a consequence, there was a limited music quota, mostly based upon “standards” with a sprinkling of popular music thrown in. Recognition of any independent radio broadcaster in the UK was vigorously fought off both by Parliament and the BBC, so was still some way off.
Booty From A Life at Sea
The chance of going to sea and the rewards that it offered, was, in a city with limited work, an opportunity to be grasped. Little more than a fortnight away from home and lives could be changed, much for the better! So, with hundreds of people joining the Cunard ships and travelling to and from the USA and Canada every week, there was bound to be a cultural effect.
Access to fashions that would “knock them dead” back home was just one factor that visually marked out these intrepid sailors. They also brought back case loads of long-playing records, mostly of music never previously released in the UK. As a Roy Orbison fan I was delighted to buy several albums filled with new songs.
The thriving New York jazz scene and availability of electric guitars, both supplemented by modern snappy clothes didn't go unnoticed. Back in the UK a new culture would inevitably be established, with returning seamen almost being besieged by relatives and friends, all wanting to see what booty had been brought home.
Another Liverpool Endorsement
The city where this had the greatest effect was Liverpool, from where “Cunard Yank” was first coined as the descriptive phrase for these travellers. With the “Green Goddess” seen as the ship with the richest pickings, in terms of money earned in tips especially, there's no doubt the locals would have made the most of the opportunities that the ship offered.
Even in the mid-1960s you would not dare walk off that ship, or allow yourself to be associated with her, without being of very smart appearance and sporting a good suntan if coming home from a tropical cruise. Of course you also had to able to back it up by being able to show off the latest dance moves. Were we all posers back then? Of course we were!
There is one inevitable question - if these cultural influences had such an effect upon Liverpool, how come there was no equivalent “Southampton scene”? The answer probably lies in one major difference twixt the two ports - the “mouches” as people of the southern counties were known, were and probably still are, more insular than their gregarious northern brethren.
Great World 
Gt. World 
