Historical Context

The world of Arctic shipboard printing presses is a vast one: beginning with a search for a lost expedition, moving into a means of entertainment/survival, and eventually continuing into a common practice for all polar voyages. But how did this practice start? Who was involved? How did the practice evolve? Beginning with the timeline and a contextual overview, this exhibit will explore the world of Arctic shipboard printing.

Timeline

To gain a greater overview of the scope of Arctic print culture, I wanted to begin with a brief contextual timeline.

With Franklin’s expedition lost, the British Navy was tasked with the difficult challenge of how to effectively communicate with the two lost Franklin ships in this literally uncharted territory. With the rise of printing presses, the Admiralty created many schemes utilizing printing to look for their lost voyagers (Hoag).

At first, just 5 expeditions were provided with printing presses (Hoag 85). However, according to Blum, “Most Arctic ships after 1850 brought with them a printing press to aid in the search for the Erebus and Terror” (Franklin’s ship names) (Blum 194). There were several uses for these printing presses on board, which both coincide with and evolve from their original purpose.

Balloon Messages

One of these creative strategies involved small pilot balloons that, in favorable weather, were to be launched from the boat. As the balloons traveled across the Arctic, they would drop thousands of small printed messages detailing the location of the rescue ships and buried provisions (Hoag).

Cairn Messages

Another use for printing presses in their expeditions was cairn messages. These were small forms that were completed and left under piles of rocks on land. Small sledging teams would disembark the vessel to search for Franklin and his team on land and would leave these messages under the stone piles where the ships could not sail. The idea was that is Franklin came across these messages, he would be able to retrace their steps to the vessel (or if the sledging party got lost themselves in the vast Arctic landscape) (Hoag 88).

Evolving into Entertainment

In her novel on printing in the Arctic, Blum writes that, “The availability of printing presses aboard Arctic-voyaging ships beginning in 1848 transformed the practice of newspaper production among polar sailors” (Blum 40). This encapsulates the phenomenon that occurred across all these ships. As the printing presses were on-board the ships, in order to survive the cold, dreary, winters, the presses were quickly repurposed. As will become clear as we explore each ship together, presses were used for classic newspapers, broadside announcements, songs, poetry, and they would eventually even print on all materials such as silk handkerchiefs, shirts, blankets, etc. (Hoag). The shipboard printing presses on board Polar expeditions in the mid-nineteenth century not only helped to popularize table-top printing presses for those not formally trained, but also represented extraordinary persistence in the face of a lost expedition, entertainment in harsh winter months, and an inspiring creative outlet.