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Boston circa 1903. "London Ancients and Honorables leaving Rowe's wharf on steamer Nantasket for harbor trip." 8x10 glass negative. View full size.
The comment that the guy on the upper deck must be the "band leader" seemed odd to me until I looked at "The historie booke : done to keep in lasting remembrance the joyous meeting of the Honourable Artillery Company of London and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of the Massachusetts in the towne of Boston, A.D. 1903". Is that the Earl of Denbigh and Desmond, the then-Lt. Colonel and Commander of the Honourables?
The USS Constitution looked very different in 1903. Wikipedia has a photo of it in 1905.
A four masted barque is seen in dock on the far side of the river. It is hard to tell, but she is pretty high in the water and looks like she is still unloading...
A 4 masted barque the forward three masts (foremast,mainmast, mizzenmast) are square rigged, and the aft-most mast (jigger) fore-and-aft rigged.
From the police officers on the pier with their dome shaped helmets to the band leader on the top deck near the wheel house (there’s no band there).
Then there’s the guy way off in the distance trying to row across the harbor. Can you imagine what that would be like when the tide is running?
What are the things in the pier with the coverings above? Appears to be chains coming down to raise/ lower an adjustable gang way?
I wonder if there are actually enough lifeboat seats for all the passengers on the second deck. Also note all the smoke stacks and masts sticking up above the buildings.
It looks like this picture was taken during the transition from sail to steam.
How many viewers have loaded a Shorpy picture on their smart tablet devices? After going to the enlarged view you can zoom in even closer with the device Zoom function, IE spreading your fingers. Really shows the details.
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