insights 86 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine The steamer’s pantry was copious. A passenger might desire “Cape Cod Oys- ters: Half Shell 35¢; Euchred Figs 25¢; Mock Turtle Soup 25¢; Roast Spring Lamb 50¢; Sweet Breads Broiled with Bacon 75¢; Por- terhouse Steak for two $1,50; English Plum Pudding 25¢,” or, well, you name it. There were 237 items on the a la carte dinner menu and a selection of over 100 wines. One could hardly ask for more, except perhaps a moon. And the Fall River line had that, too, as much as anyone, along with sunsets that silhouetted Manhattan’s skyscrapers and dawns that burst triumphantly over the water. Even though the fare once sank to as little as 50 cents (from New York to Providence, in- cluding berth and two meals on board), the lines paid stockhold- ers handsomely. Nineteenth-century steam- boat men looked down on the railroads as mere “feeders,” and even after through trains ran rapidly along the shore from Boston to New York, the boats maintained, for some time, pre- eminence with travelers. Many of these New Eng- landers would take their wives to celebrate a marital milestone or treat their secretaries for a trip to accomplish a little business. An excellent tip to the ship’s purser would provide an adjoining cabin, all in the name of Duck at Boston’s Plymouth Theatre. The Fall River Line’s passengers were even celebrated in Jarrett & Rice’s satirical musical Fun on the Bristol or a Night on the Sound, with the steamboat Bristol being the setting. The New York Herald called it “The funniest play on record,” and the Tribune proclaimed it “The greatest hit in years.” The musical ran a year in New York and toured 25 cities from Boston to Saint Louis. New York’s Fall River Line Pier 28, at the foot of Murray Street for nearly a century, was the doorway to New England and points north. Across the pier’s main building, a banner-sized sign read “the Fall River Line to Bos- ton,” with Portland and Bangor ad- vertised over the main entrance as connecting destinations. As Fall River Line headed in- to the 1890s, it was soon running the largest and most magnificent- ly equipped vessels in the world for interior navigation–lighted by electricity, steered by steam, en- livened by orchestral music, and garnished with meals à la carte in the elegant dining salon gleam- ing with silver and white linen. During the heavy travel days from 1900 to World War I, the steamers transported 1,500 or more passengers nightly. Hundreds of bountiful dinners were served. The four-page menus included an extensive wine list. An excellent tip to the ship’s purser would provide an adjoining cabin, all in the name of Yankee hanky-panky. courtesy michael l. grace