Anyone who has ever packed a suitcase for a vacation trip has faced the dilemma: what do I really need to take along and what can I do without?
Now, think about a ship captain’s wife, circa late 1800s, who plans to accompany her husband on a voyage of 13,000 miles or more. Keep in mind that there weren’t any cruise ship style shopping opportunities available in those days. How would you like to pack for THAT trip?
For 25 years, the Benjamin F. Packard square rigger sailed from New York, around Cape Horn, to San Francisco, then to Europe and back home to New York, loading and unloading cargo at the various ports.
The Benjamin F. Packard Cabin exhibit at Mystic Seaport offers you a peek into that bygone era of the “Down Easters” as these Maine-built ships were called.
The complete cabin restoration is a testament that the captain and officers of the Packard didn’t exactly rough it while at sea!
The cabin features beautiful woods and fine veneers, gold-leafed panels, graceful carvings and plush upholstered furniture. To be sure, when the captain’s wife accompanied him, which was not all that unusual, the captain’s day cabin would have been well decorated with a feminine touch!
By the 1900s, the glory days of the “Down Easter” fleet began to fade, and the Packard ultimately became a tourist attraction at a New York amusement park. Then the hurricane of 1938 struck the final blow to her causing irreparable damage.
Fortunately, some foresighted folks removed a variety of artifacts, including the cabin’s paneling and furnishings, and brought them to the Museum for storage and eventual rebirth in the 1970s as the Benjamin F. Packard Cabin exhibit.
Considering no “Down Easters” like the Packard have survived anywhere, it’s pretty cool that Mystic Seaport has bragging rights for this very unique exhibit. Come take a look.
Remember to check out the Museum’s winter menu of daily happenings at www.mysticseaport.org.
