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Holidays
and Festivities on Whaleships
Three
holidays: Although today we enjoy a dozen or more
holidays, 19th century Americans observed only the Fourth
of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
At the whim of the master: Whether or not a holiday
was observed at sea depended upon the captain. If his
family was onboard, it was more likely that there would
be festivities. A special meal was often the major focus
of a celebration, especially in the captain's cabin. The
crew ate regular rations unless the captain felt generous.
The Fourth of July: Crews were often too busy pursuing
whales to make much of the day. A boatsteerer on the Mentor
in 1840 wrote in his journal: "Celebrated the 4th by firing
a gun at sunrise." He and the crew spent the rest of the
day chasing whales. On the Clara Bell in 1856, Robert
Weir noted that they "wound up the day by firing salutes
with a couple of packs of fine crackers and a grand consertino
given by the steward and myself on an old tin pan and
a cracked flute." The crew also enjoyed coconuts, roast
pig, and other special treats as their bill of fare -
"quite extensive for sailor's," Weir wrote.
Thanksgiving and Christmas: For most of the nineteenth
century, Thanksgiving outranked Christmas as New England's
premier holiday. On shipboard, festivities usually centered
around food, sometimes limited to the captain's table,
sometimes available to all hands. As Christmas became
popular, families on whalers reproduced the on-shore celebration
by decorating the cabin, hanging stockings, exchanging
gifts, and eating well.
Good cheer sometimes spilled over to the crew. On the
John P. West in 1882, Sallie Smith made popcorn balls
to help her husband's men celebrate Christmas. William
B. Whitecar, who spent several Christmases on a New Bedford
whaler, wrote that one year the captain observed the day
by sending a cheese to the crew. Another year, there was
no change in the day's routine. Yet another year, all
hands received mince pie.
Resourceful whalers: Crews were resourceful about
providing their own festivities for holidays and other
moments when a celebration seemed in order. They toasted
each other, sang, fired guns. Whaleboat races were common
on the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, especially when
two whaleships met. But despite these efforts, accounts
of holidays at sea, especially Christmas, have a recurring
theme - how much the seafarer misses his family.
Seagoing ceremonies: There were other rituals that
broke monotony at sea. For example, during a ceremony
for those who were about to cross the equator for the
first time, men were blindfolded, soaked with water, lathered
with an unpleasant smelling soap, shaved, and tricked
into thinking they had been thrown into the sea.
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