Luckin Captain John (1 results)

Condition: Very good overall. Canadian trade card with steel engraved illustration of the 'Quebec' passenger steamer under full steam, with the name of the steamer and of her Captain engraved in elaborate ornamental type fonts, and signed on the verso by the captain. The captain has signed on the verso in pencil, J. Luckin, St. Johns, Canada East". Below the signature, in ink: June 20th 1848" and "St. Johns, Canada. East." The People's Line served American and Canadian cities on the Great Lakes; in the mid 1840s it began to compete with other lines for the waves of emigrants traveling west to Chicago and Wisconsin. An 1866 trip by an American family heading to Quebec gives a first hand account of the steamer Quebec: "The boat is a very large three cabin one, the first I ever saw. The first or lower cabin was on the lower deck, the second was above that and elegantly furnished, the third was like a gallery to the second, the floor of it being all cut out excepting just room enough before the doors to walk around in, like the gallery to a church. The roof of the boat could be seen from the 2nd cabin. It was like a floating palace". From Louisiana Moore Ricker Diary, 1866. (Portsmouth Public Library, Ohio. Online Digital Collections). Printed on coated stock, 3 3/4 x 2 1/2". A bit of minor foxing along top edge of card.