Clipper Ship Trade Cards, 1800s, II

Thank you to Pantufla

2 comments to Clipper Ship Trade Cards, 1800s, II

  • Scott Lahti

    Some years ago on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Robin Williams, a longtime resident of San Francisco, mentioned a local bar called The White Swallow. After being charmed by the thought of Bay Area publicans christening their establishment after a noble seabird, I assumed it to reside within the city’s famed Capistrano District.

    2010 – Wikipedia to the rescue:

    http://is.gd/5b05U6

    The White Swallow was an extreme clipper built in Boston in 1853 for the California trade.

    The article mentions that for a time in the 1860s, the White Swallow was on everyone’s lips, and was a byword among seamen. A court case where its mutineer sailors won was an exception of the time; more often, the masters got off.

  • Jinx

    3 months around the Cape to get to the gold fields was pretty good time in those days! Much better than months in a wagon train that may or may not make good time, may or may not be attacked by Indians, and may or may not get totally lost. And far better than trying to cross the Panama Isthmus and risk yellow fever or attack by more Indians – and then having to wait for another ship to take you up the coast!

    Fabulous cards, the art is amazing, and to think of the trips each of them made… Neat!

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