Steamships from Buffalo to Duluth, 1901

David Beard Nov 18, 2022 3 Comments

This advert from Life magazine promotes trips from Buffalo through Chicago and Milwaukee to Duluth. I found it on the Internet Archive.

The itinerary is especially cool to me because this was before the St. Lawrence Seaway was completed. So the Great Lakes were kind of bottled up, in 1901, and not connected to the oceans in a transportationy way. So this is cool to think in an era when Viking cruise ships could not reach the lakes, if you know what I mean.

Also, the hook here is the Pan-American Exposition. I used to teach a class about our evolving self-understanding through the Crystal Palace, the Expositions, the World’s Fairs, even the Sunsphere.

So this ad hits all my buttons.

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3 Comments

Mike Creger

about 2 years ago 

Excellent. And it was a rousing success, by 1903 account in the Buffalo Times.

Ghist1

about 2 years ago 

Years ago I portrayed a lighthouse keeper's wife from 1912 at the Marine Museum... I printed out a copy of that ad, and held it up longingly and asked if anyone knew the way to the docks so that I could glimpse the wonderful ship. Tourists were very confused. Arriving in Duluth by steamer was a very common thing 100+ years ago.

Ghist1

about 2 years ago 

Floating palaces!!? Who wouldn't want to glimpse such a thing?

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