Mystic seaport: Exploring the coffee-drinking habits of whalers
1871 was a
fortuitous year in the United States. In
1871, John Arbuckle and his team invented a machine that led to the mass
production of coffee---a machine that could fill, weigh, seal and label coffee
in paper bags. While this was happening
in New York City, the Charles W. Morgan commercial whaler was being completed
in New Bedford, MA. At 106-feet long, with 7,100 square feet of sail, this
massive, fully rigged whaler was a workhorse on the seas.
Why we care about whalers
In the fall, there’s nothing like a weekend getaway to look at the leaves, hike a few trails, and drink a lot of coffee. A recent trip to Mystic, CT, got me thinking about what life on a whaling ship would be like. Mystic Seaport Museum, which has been the permanent home of the Morgan since the early 1940’s, does a great job of bringing a reconstructed mid-19th-century New England whaling village to life.
The Morgan is massive and visually impressive. You can board the boat and see the cargo hold for the whale …
Why we care about whalers
In the fall, there’s nothing like a weekend getaway to look at the leaves, hike a few trails, and drink a lot of coffee. A recent trip to Mystic, CT, got me thinking about what life on a whaling ship would be like. Mystic Seaport Museum, which has been the permanent home of the Morgan since the early 1940’s, does a great job of bringing a reconstructed mid-19th-century New England whaling village to life.
The Morgan is massive and visually impressive. You can board the boat and see the cargo hold for the whale …