Gimballed Beds and Gamming Chairs: Seafaring Wives aboard Nineteenth-Century Sailing Ships

Summary

Women lived on sailing ships with their families during the 19th century, and chronicled their experiences in journals and letters now found in historical archives.  Their stories remain on the periphery, as their signature is difficult to find in the maritime archaeological record.  Primary documents make mention of several items built or brought on board specifically for their comfort or entertainment.  Five captain’s wives sailed on the 19th-century whaleship Charles W. Morgan, still afloat at Mystic Seaport.  One survived seasickness in a small deckhouse built for her use, another slept in a gimballed bed on her voyage, and the third woman refused to use the gamming chair that often dunked the occupant into the sea.  This material culture associated with women could be used in shipwreck archaeology as diagnostics of seafaring wives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Material Culture, Identity, and Practice: Methods, Theories, and Case Studies

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 231