Sweethearts Of The West: 19th century ship travel

Sunday, August 10, 2014

19TH CENTURY SHIP TRAVEL

I recently began research for my next book, MATELYN AND THE TEXAS RANGER, Texas Code Series, The Bennings.

In chapter one, Mattie is preparing to travel to Galveston, Texas with her employer, Madame de Marceau. Mattie has packed the trunks but wants to pack her important documents separately so they will be protected from water damage. She learned on her trip across the Atlantic from Ireland to take special care with packing certain items.

Possible type of ship they will sail on

Mattie knows, but I have no clue.

So the quest began. First I posed the question on my Facebook page and in a western historical group in which I'm a member. Two very nice friends answered. One suggested wooden boxes, more specifically a cigar box. Hmmm, that might work, but what happens if the boxes get wet? Won't the items inside still get wet?

19th century Cigar Boxes

A second suggestion was for canning jars. These are bulky and breakable and probably not what she would choose.

Canning Jars from the 19th Century

While these are both good suggestions, I failed to give them my complete plan. I neglected to say that I intend to torture Mattie on her journey. At some point she will need to prepare to abandon ship and will secure her documents beneath her clothes, so she needs to be able to fold everything as flat as possible.