{"product_id":"1881-ohio-river-paddlewheeler-victoria-steamboat-wreck-bicycle-parade-nast-jun-18","title":"1881 Ohio River Paddlewheeler, Victoria Steamboat Wreck, Bicycle Parade, Nast — Jun 18","description":"1881 Ohio River Paddlewheeler, Victoria Steamboat Wreck, Bicycle Parade, Nast — Jun 18\n\n📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜\nThis June 18, 1881 issue of Harper's Weekly captures the joy and danger of Gilded Age waterborne travel in a single dramatic number — a crowded Sunday excursion on the Ohio River, the catastrophic wreck of the Canadian steamboat Victoria, a parade of early cyclists through Boston, and Thomas Nast's political commentary. For collectors of steamboat history, early bicycle history, maritime disaster history, Thomas Nast, and Gilded Age Americana, this issue is a vivid and historically engaging primary source.\n\n💥 \"WRECK OF THE VICTORIA\" — CANADIAN STEAMBOAT DISASTER\nThe most historically significant content in this issue is the reporting and illustration of the wreck of the Canadian excursion steamboat Victoria — one of the deadliest maritime disasters in Canadian history. The Victoria capsized on the Thames River near London, Ontario on May 24, 1881 — Victoria Day — while carrying a large excursion crowd, killing over 180 people, many of them women and children who had gathered to watch a public holiday celebration from the water. Published just weeks after the disaster, this Harper's Weekly coverage is a primary source document of one of Canada's most tragic maritime catastrophes — of great interest to collectors of Canadian history, steamboat history, and Victorian maritime disaster history.\n\n⛴️ \"A SUNDAY EXCURSION ON THE OHIO RIVER\"\nA fine half-page illustration of a Sunday excursion on the Ohio River — a wonderfully crowded paddlewheeler packed with Gilded Age passengers enjoying the most popular leisure activity of the American inland waterway world. The summer excursion steamer was the great democratic pleasure craft of 19th-century America, carrying working families, courting couples, church groups, and holiday crowds up and down the Ohio, Mississippi, and their tributaries on long summer afternoons. This half-page engraving captures the festive crowding, the period dress, and the sheer human pleasure of river excursion life with vivid detail — a fully displayable and deeply charming piece of American river history and Victorian leisure culture. Particularly poignant placed alongside the Victoria disaster coverage — a reminder of both the joy and the danger that attended steamboat excursion travel in this era.\n\n🚲 \"WHEELMEN IN BOSTON\" — EARLY BICYCLE PARADE\nA charming half-page illustration of a parade of \"wheelmen\" — early cyclists on their boneshaker bicycles — rolling through the streets of Boston. The early bicycle craze of the late 1870s and early 1880s was one of the great sporting and social phenomena of the Gilded Age, with cycling clubs springing up across America and organized rides and parades drawing enthusiastic crowds. The boneshaker — with its solid rubber tires and iron frame — was the predecessor of the modern bicycle, and this parade of wheelmen through Boston's streets is a rare and delightful primary source document of early American cycling history. A prized piece for collectors of bicycle history, Boston history, and Victorian sporting culture.\n\n🗳️ THOMAS NAST — \"THE NEW STAMP ACT — APPROVED\"\nA Thomas Nast political cartoon — \"The New Stamp Act — Approved\" — delivers a sharp commentary on new taxation measures, drawing a deliberate and provocative parallel between Gilded Age fiscal policy and the original Stamp Act that helped ignite the American Revolution. A fully displayable Nast original for collectors of American political cartooning and Gilded Age political history.\n\n🔍 CONDITION \u0026amp; TRANSPARENCY 🔍\nCompleteness: Complete 16-page issue.\nAuthenticity: Guaranteed original woodblock printing from June 18, 1881 — not a reproduction.\nCondition Report: Presents well for its 144-year age. Natural toning to the newsprint consistent with age. The Ohio River paddlewheeler illustration, the Victoria disaster coverage, the Boston wheelmen print, and the Nast cartoon are all clear and displayable.\nI photograph every page of every issue so you can inspect the condition closely before purchasing. Please review all images carefully and don't hesitate to ask any questions — I'm happy to provide additional detail or close-up shots of any page, illustration, or area of concern before you buy.\n\n📦 SHIPPING \u0026amp; PRESERVATION 📦\n\nHoused in an acid-free archival folder with Mylar overlay to protect the 144-year-old newsprint\nFlat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement\nFully tracked for your peace of mind\n\n\n🏷️ TAGS\n1881 Harpers Weekly, Ohio River Paddlewheeler Excursion, Victoria Steamboat Disaster Canada, Wheelmen Boston Bicycle Parade, Thomas Nast New Stamp Act, Early Bicycle History 1881, Canadian Maritime Disaster 1881, Ohio River Steamboat History, Boneshaker Bicycle Victorian, Gilded Age River Travel, Antique Newspaper 1881, 19th Century Americana, Victorian Steamboat Excursion, Early Cycling History America, Canadian History Primary","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52264014184668,"sku":null,"price":38.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0849\/4759\/9580\/files\/b16fa14a-il_fullxfull.7870420516_7kbr.jpg?v=1786496634","url":"https:\/\/thekeenantiquarian.com\/products\/1881-ohio-river-paddlewheeler-victoria-steamboat-wreck-bicycle-parade-nast-jun-18","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}