Group dining aboard the Saturnia

Black and white photograph of a group of adults and one baby dining aboard the passenger ship the Saturnia. The photograph shows two women seated at a table, one of which is holding the arm of a baby seated in front of her. A male sits at the left and appears to be raising a glass. He is wearing an exaggerated bow tie around his neck that could possible be fashioned out of his dinner napkin. Another male stands next to him, leaning on the back of the chair, wearing a tall hat that was also likely fashioned out of his dinner napkin or a scarf.

According to the archives at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia the Saturnia stopped at the following ports: New York, Boston, Halifax-Ponta Delgada, Lisbon, Casablanca, Gibraltar, Palma De Mallorca, Barcelona, Cannes, Genoa, Palermo, Naples, Patras, Venice and Trieste. The ship was originally built for the Cosulich Line and was transferred to the Italian Line in early 1935. Prior to World War II the ship was used to transport troops for the Italian Government to East Africa. It was then used by the International Red Cross for evacuation voyages and by the US Government as a hospital during the war. The ship was returned to the Italian Line in late 1946 and resumed its role as a passenger ship until 1965.

Updated (Nov. 25, 2014): Ennio Paola identified himself as the baby in the photo, at age nine months. Ennio was born on August 21, 1952 in Cantanzaro, Italy.  The woman holding him is his mother, Emma Paola (née Mirabelli). Emma was born in Cosenza, Italy on September 5, 1928. The other passengers in the photo are an American-Italian family (a mother and her sons) returning to New York.  According to ship records, Ennio and his family were aboard the Saturnia disembarking in Halifax, NS on June 16, 1953.