Is anyone here historically knowledgeable about whalers in the late 1800's?

Question

A friend of mine is searching for historically accurate info about the clothing that whalers would wear during the late 1800's. Starting points, pictures, books, or anything like that would be awesome and greatly appreciated! :]

Answer 1

The best thing your friend could do is to read Nathiel Phillbrick's 'In the Heart of the Sea; the Sinking of the Wahler Essex.' The Essex sinking inspired Herman Melville and though Moby Dick has good info, and who doesn't like Moby Dick, it is a ponderous book and so I would suggest instead Melville's 'Whitejacket' and 'Redburn.' As you can tell by the title 'Whitejacket' goes into great detail about clothes as do all of Melville's tales, he had a clothing fetish...

http://www.ctlibraryassociation.org/reviews/heartsea.html
"""In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

By Nathaniel Philbrick
Viking, 2000
A Review by Vince Juliano


Don't call me Ishmael. Despite growing up on Long Island's south shore and working for over twenty years in a Connecticut shoreline community, I lack sea legs. The first time I was ever on a boat, we ran out of fuel with very little terra firma in sight. Fortunately, a fisherman took pity on two teenage guys hopelessly paddling toward shore.
Still, I enjoy a good sea story. In the Heart of the Sea is a good yarn and much more. Nathaniel Philbrick teaches us the history and technology of whaling, explains the sociology of Nantucket, and gives us a peek at the economics of young America. He dispassionately instructs us in the many factors that affect human survival under harsh conditions.

The sinking of the whaleship Essex by a sperm whale in 1820 inspired Moby Dick. While Herman Melville's classic climaxes with the destruction of the Piquod, Philbrick's tale is just getting under way when a sperm whale rams and sinks the Essex. Unlike Captain Ahab's doomed crew, the sailors of the Essex survive the destruction of their ship. With few provisions, little fresh water, and wary of islands thought to be inhabited by cannibals, they undertake a desperate voyage in whaleboats that they have fitted with sail and built up at the sides to withstand the pounding of the sea.

Following the 1789 mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty, Fletcher Christian set Captain William Bligh and crew members loyal to the controversial captain adrift in the ship's launch. With the seamanship of a veteran sailor, the leadership skills of a disciplined naval officer, and the determination of a proud man bent on retribution, Bligh completed an impossible voyage of 4,000 miles. Thirty-one years later, the less-experienced crew of the Essex out-sailed the legendary Bligh by some 500 miles!

We learn from Philbrick that whale crews were the least respected of sailors. Merchant ships drew the veterans. Whaler captains filled their bunks with novices so inept that spectators flocked to the harbor to see if departing ships made it safely out of port. Exceptions were the "mates" (or officers) and the "boatsteerers" (or harpooners) who were officers-in-training.

In the early 1800's, Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world. Her businessmen raised capital for outfitting ships and brought in huge returns on those investments, making their home island an economic powerhouse. Each ship was both a vessel for reaching whales and an efficient factory for processing raw material into product. Their Quaker faith made Nantucketers tolerant of other races. Black sailors were accepted onto the Essex. However, arrogant Nantucketers were prejudiced against anyone who was not part of their island community.

This prejudice was evident in the way officers selected the men they would depend upon in the dangerous business of tracking, harpooning, and dispatching their giant prey at close range. The Essex captain and first mate filled their whaleboats with Nantucketers, while the second mate was left without a single islander. Later, when it came to choosing crews for their desperate voyage, the same system was used. Mutual trust and social support among Nantucketers helped several to survive their ordeal while outsiders perished.

Cannibalism also helped, and Philbrick does not shrink from this subject. We learn that sailors accepted unwritten rules in this regard and that the men of the Essex were not denounced for eating the flesh of dead shipmates. Of course, the nutritional value of a human body dead from starvation is limited. As we wonder why the men did not eat fish, Philbrick explains why the sea provided virtually no sustenance.

It seems that the few men who survived did so despite poor leadership. Captain George Pollard was probably the wrong leader for this challenge. A good man, he may have been too accepting of input from his officers, too willing to entertain alternatives when the crew needed decisiveness. Pollard, given another chance at whaling after the tragedy, ended his career with the loss of a second ship.

First mate Owen Chase may have been better suited to command. However, Chase was responsible for several poor decisions and took actions that might have precipitated the whale attack. It is difficult to fairly judge Pollard and Chase because, for years, historians relied primarily on Chase's Narrative of the Wreck of the Whaleship Essex.

Philbrick uses the Chase Narrative, but trusts a more recently uncovered account. Fourteen year old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, like Chase, was aboard the Essex when the whale struck. He lived through the 4,500 mile journey and wrote of his experiences, though his notes were never published. Philbrick makes use of Nickerson's notebook and other sources to provide us with a well-written and nicely-organized book. Like Melville, he engages our attention with a story of whales and ships and the sea, but he leaves us pondering our relationships with nature, Fate, and each other.
""""

http://www.yukonweb.com/notebook/tparks.html
"""Since the sailing season was so short and their home ports were so far away, the whalers wanted to overwinter to be close to the hunting area when the ice broke up. They began to winter here in 1890, with up to 1,500 people on Herschel Island during those first years.

The whaling companies built houses and warehouses at Pauline Cove, though most of the crews lived aboard the ships. These people required a great deal of food and firewood through the long winter. They quickly used up the local supply of driftwood and had to bring their own coal with them. The Inuvialuit supplied food and clothing for the whalers in return for manufactured goods and southern food stuffs like tea and sugar.

Shortly after the whalers' arrival in the Beaufort, a change in the fashion industry created a demand for more than the bowhead's oil. The commodity was baleen, and bowheads had the longest Ôwhalebone' of any whale. Due to its strength and flexibility, it was used as a component for making ladies' corsets. This great demand for such a valuable commodity almost led to the species' extinction and to a very wasteful practice: that of taking baleen only. The inuvialuit made use of the wasted sections when they appeared and if they were still good.""

This site speaks about Inuit women making Artic clothing for Whalers
http://books.google.com/books?id=__-cY0KsXtwC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=whalers+clothing+1800s&source=web&ots=8IqYh6PHXn&sig=726J72iqqZujyGP3oWy9fjZIYL0

http://www.shetland-museum.org.uk/collections/textiles/shetland_knitting.htm


Sorry bit cool websites on this subject are scarce as heck.
Peace.................. p p p p f f f f f t t t t t zzzz zzz zz zz !!!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Try this link, They have a 1800s whaler named the Charles Morgan" The website has lots of info but is hard to navigate (no pun)


http://www.mysticseaport.org/