My family lived in the Panama Canal Zone for more than 80 years, leaving only after the Canal Zone was turned over to Panama in 1999. As a child in the 1950s and 1960s, I sailed on all three of the Panama Line ships: Panama, Ancon and Cristobal. When I was 16, The Panama Line gave me my Letter of Committment so that I could work on merchant ships to earn money for college. Most of these Panama Line collectibles came from my family. A few older items were purchased from antique stores or internet sources. All are guaranteed to be original artifacts.