Long Beach hails the Queen Mary
Dec. 9, 1967: The Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach “amid a tumultuous welcome that was bigger than any celebration in Southern California since the day World War II ended 22 years ago,” The Times reported.
“Tens of thousands -- perhaps a million or more -- on land, sea and in the air greeted the Queen as she glided along the coast and past the Long Beach Harbor breakwater ... on the last mile or so of the 39-day voyage from England, the home she will never see again,” the newspaper said.
“The welcome was noisy and spectacular and literally high as the sky. A skywriting plane etched a mammoth greeting in the clear, blue sky: ‘Hail, the Queen.’ Shipboard whistles and horns of every tenor and pitch shouted greetings.”
In Long Beach, the luxury liner was to become a hotel, convention center and maritime museum, The Times said.
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