April on the high seas

Hello again from Paul and Callie, your friends at American Trade Bindings and Beyond!  The beginning of spring, and this first day of this new month of April, seemed like a good time to re-introduce the blog after a long hiatus.  During these uncertain and tumultuous times, when so many of us are working from home, it might be soothing to simply enjoy some bindings.  With this in mind, we offer here a selection of designs on nautical themes for your pleasure.

Let’s begin with a delightfully surreal design of a ship inexplicably anchored in a treetop, by George Washington Hood.

It’s hard to fathom what this book might be about, but a brief review in American Motherhood (Dec. 1909) helps a little:

“Hidden treasures and lost children are always fascinating subjects for childhood.  In “The Helter-Skelters” we have both, as well as a dear, lovable little lame girl, an old sailor man, a sea captain and a merry crowd of girls and boys known as “The Scowling Scots,” who are really the “Helter-Skelters”—most lovable and lively.”  

Deep indeed! So, a children’s story ... but what about that ship in a tree?

To provide some context for the following binding designs, I’d like to relate a brief tale passed down through my family for generations.  So, with your indulgence...

Willem Finn loved to sail.  A man of independent means and stout spirit, he was the proud owner of a square rigged three-master that he christened the Petrel.

His greatest pleasure was the sea, and his secret wish was to sail around the world and spend the rest of his days on the water.  But to do this he needed a crew.

Now, Captain Finn was no pirate, but it can't be denied that he shanghaied his crew by promising each a tour of his ship and perhaps a short cruise.  The "short cruise" never ended, however, and perhaps from some defect in character in the crewmen, or perhaps due to some strange power the Captain exercised (or maybe it was the laudanum-infused hardtack he fed them), the crew rarely escaped the ship, either at the outset or when Finn was re-provisioning.

But the Captain now faced a dilemma; his most recent recruit, Benton, was proving immune to the charms of the sea and sailing with him.  Though they often sailed accompanied by dolphins and saw wondrous sea life, it made little difference to Benton.  Where the rest of the crew could be listless, Benton was despondent.

When not moodily attending to his work, he often complained of his situation and loudly wished he was anywhere but on the Petrel.  After several weeks the Captain told Benton to stop his caterwauling, as there might soon be a change in his situation.

 They sailed for many days, through rough seas and smooth, until -- at last -- land appeared on the horizon!  Much of the day was spent approaching the coast, and the Petrel dropped anchor in early evening with the cliffs of the unknown land a short distance off to the west.  


 In the morning they sailed on, rounding a rocky promontory before sighting the low coastline that curved on before them.  They took care in entering the large, open bay as the water grew more shallow, finally anchoring several hundred yards offshore.

Captain Finn took Benton to the rail facing the shore and spoke his piece.  “I know you’ve not been happy, you scurvy dog,” he said affectionately.  “And while I’d hate to lose you, I’ll offer you a choice which everyone has received but few have taken.  You are most welcome to stay on board and we’ll continue our adventure and one day circle the globe.  Or, if you wish, you may leave us now and be taken to shore on the last of our flatboats.” 

“I’ll leave,” Benton replied immediately.


“Consider very carefully—though that gently curving coast may seem peaceful, the waves are rough and there are cliffs inland which must be climbed. It's a long trek before you’ll encounter any inhabited land, though you’ll find sufficient food and water on the journey.  Why take that route when the others remain with me on the Petrel?”



“No, Captain, I’m leaving.  I can’t speak for any of the others, but in my opinion 

your barque

is worse than

your bight.”

Alas, not even the captain's beloved shaggy dog, Jester of Monmouth, could convince Benton to stay.


We hope you've enjoyed this riveting tale on this, the first day of April.  We’ll return before long with a post on a puzzle we encountered recently.  There will be bindings, of course, but the subject falls more in the “and beyond” of our blog...

Until then, we hope everyone is doing well -- and please take care of yourselves!

Guest bindings (in order of appearance) …..

Daulton, George.  The Helter skelters.  New York: Frederick Stokes, 1909.  Signed GWH, George Washington Hood.
Hains, T. Jenkins.  The cruise of the Petrel.  New York: A. Wessels Co., 1906.  Signed FP, Florence Pearl England Nosworthy.
Davenport, Charlotte C. Shepherd.  A round-the-word jingle.  Boston: Thomas Todd Company, Printers, 1918.  Unsigned, unidentified.
Frothingham, Jessie Peabody.  Sea-wolves of seven shores.  New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904.  Signed DD, Decorative Designers.
Page, Thomas Nelson.  Elsket.  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891.  Unsigned, by Margaret Armstrong.
Stockton, Frank R.  John Gayther’s garden and the stories told therein.  New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1902.  Signed EWC, Evelyn W. Clark.
Parrish, Randall.  The last voyage of the Donna Isabel.  Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1908.  Signed GM,  Guernsey Moore.
Masefield, John.  Salt-water poems and ballads.  New York: Macmillan, 1916.  Signed GH, possibly George Washington Hood.
Humphrey, L. H.  The poetic old-world.  New York: Henry Holt, 1909.  Signed BS, Bertha Stuart.
Smith, Francis Hopkinson.  The tides of Barnegat.  New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906.  Signed BS, Frank Berkeley Smith.
Crosby, Irving B.  Boston through the ages.  Boston: Marshall Jones Company, 1928.  Signed TBH, Theodore Brown Hapgood.
Walworth, Ellen H.  An old world as seen through young eyes, or, Travels around the world.  New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Company, 1877.  Unsigned, unidentified.
Eggleston, George Cary.  The last of the flatboats.  Boston: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1900.  Signed M within circle (unidentified)
Baring-Gould, S.  Winefred.  Boston: L.C. Page & Co., 1900.  Signed with Amy M. Sacker’s monogram.
Wheelright, John T.  A bad penny.  Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1901.  Signed AB, Alfred Brennan.
Richards, Laura E.  Love and rocks.  Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1898.  Unsigned, by Amy M. Sacker.
Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart.  Loveliness. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1899. Picture by Sarah S. Stilwell, lettering possibly by or after Sarah Whitman.