2006-06-27 08:54:23 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Boats & Boating
because sailors have a very close bond with their ships. the two great loves of a sailor, the ship and Women!
2006-06-27 09:00:49 · answer #1 · answered by sweettea 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not always women's faces, the figure heads were to represent the name of the ship or to represent something significant about the ship or its owners. some ships carried animals as figure heads, like the Dolphin, a very famous ship. some ships,very unusually, were named after men, either as owners or as historical personages and as a result had male figureheads. But the most common practise of naming a ship after a woman or after a female mythological being means that many of the figure heads were female. The Scottish Tea Clipper Cutty Sark was named for a small demon in a dream(nightmare) that the ship builder had. the little female demon chased him and the builder dreamt that he escaped by running the horse he was riding across a running brook, the demon could not cross running water but did manage to grab the horses tail and pull it off, the demonic girl was wearing a flour sack dress, a cutty sark in Scot slang, and the figure head is thus a young girl in a sack dress with a hank of rope in her hand to represent the horse tale.I hope that I managed to answer your question, if you need to know more or cite references I would suggest Boston Maritime Museum
2006-06-27 09:13:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called a figurehead. The figurehead bares the same name as the ship, and of course most ships were named after women, and you may have noticed that people always refer to a ship/boat as "she".
2006-06-27 09:04:46 · answer #3 · answered by Ynenoi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To calm the gods of the seas, especially Poseidon. The figurehead was, in great part, the personality of the ship.
2006-07-04 03:01:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I could be wrong, so don't hold it against me, but I think that shipmasters carved women into the prow of ships to appeal to Lord Poseidon and bring good luck to the ship.
2006-06-27 08:58:40 · answer #5 · answered by White Rabbit 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
so the men on the ships could have a female around
2006-06-27 08:58:36 · answer #6 · answered by Erica 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So that when the ship crashes the bi**h gets it first. That way the sailors who are about to die get a little satisfaction just before they go.
2006-06-29 05:06:13 · answer #7 · answered by bensskateshop 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you think that is funny you should have seen what they put on the rear of the ships ;)
2006-06-27 08:58:15 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Figureheads depicted gods and goddesses, ship owners, and American presidents. Decorative scrolls were also popular.
2006-06-27 09:01:09 · answer #9 · answered by cookiesmom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ships and cars are always female... for some reason.
2006-06-27 08:57:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋