Sailing the Great Lakes in 1897

Sailing the Great Lakes in 1897

Are you dreaming of summer vacation? Do you eagerly read guidebooks or search online to learn about cities and sites you’ll visit? How did tourists in the late 19th Century plan their vacations? The
Trade Literature Collection
at the
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
may give us an idea. Perhaps someone in 1897 read this promotional booklet in anticipation of that long-awaited trip.
This trade catalog is titled
Seven Halcyon Days of Blessed Rest
(1897) by
Northern Steamship Co.
It provides a small glimpse into a tour of the Great Lakes aboard steamships in the Summer of 1897.
Previously
, we explored accommodations on these ships. Now let’s take a look at how this pocket-sized booklet promoted and encouraged people to take that vacation.
Northern Steamship Co., Passenger Department, Buffalo, NY.
Seven Halcyon Days of Blessed Rest
(1897), front cover.
Northern Steamship Co., Passenger Department, Buffalo, NY.
Seven Halcyon Days of Blessed Rest
(1897), unnumbered page [1], star-shaped image of a steamship sailing on the water.
Just as the title suggests, this booklet emphasizes the rest and relaxation that awaited passengers who boarded these steamships. On the first page, the trip is described as,
“A tour of the Great Lakes on the floating palaces of the Northern Steamship Company, ‘North West,’ ‘North Land.’”
Northern Steamship Co., Passenger Department, Buffalo, NY.
Seven Halcyon Days of Blessed Rest
(1897), unnumbered pages [2-3], lighthouse and other buildings along a shoreline.
The reader is reminded that a tour of the Great Lakes aboard a steamship is different than an ocean voyage. Instead of being surrounded by vast amounts of open water, passengers had the chance to touch or at least see land each and every day. The ships were described as “great pleasure-resorts afloat, with the consequent advantages of delightful motion, lake breezes, and constantly shifting scenes, thrown in.”
Northern Steamship Co., Passenger Department, Buffalo, NY.
Seven Halcyon Days of Blessed Rest
(1897), unnumbered pages [10-11], boats sailing on the water.
The journey began in Buffalo, New York for those traveling westward or Duluth, Minnesota for those traveling eastward. Roundtrip consisted of seven days, but passengers had the option of disembarking or boarding at any of the stops along the way. These included Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Mackinac Island, and Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan.
What might have enticed someone in 1897 to book that vacation? Of course, it might simply have been to enjoy a relaxing week on the water. Other ideas are also offered in this catalog. Newlyweds might have considered a Great Lakes Tour for their honeymoon. Or perhaps someone on a cross-country railway trip might have paused the rail portion to board a steamship and enjoy a bit of fresh air and change of scenery. The trip itself was described as “calming the nerves, and clearing the brain to an extent that will never be realized u…