Traveling in the mid-nineteenth century

The summer travel season has arrived, so I thought it would be fun to post a series of suggestions for 19th century travelers.

 

 

These are from handbooks written by John Murray, who wrote A Handbook for Travellers on the Continent (1853) and Hints to Railway Travellers.

In the first part of this series, I’ll be talking about luggage.

Murray writes, “On all occasions it is desirable to have as little baggage as possible.”

“Ladies should be cautioned not to encumber themselves with supernumerary cap and band boxes; even if they travel post in their own carriage, it will be less trouble and expense to buy such articles in the great towns, than to have to take an extra horse in consideration of the number of packages.”

He also suggests luggage should be clearly marked so a lady’s gentleman escort can easily retrieve it and any essential overnight articles should be kept separate. Instead of taking one heavy trunk, travelers are urged to distribute articles into small packages like portmanteaus or carpetbags.

Since carpetbags can get easily wet and one doesn’t want wet garments, handbook writer, Miss Leslie, urges ladies: “Let the bag be about half a quarter of a yard longer at the back than at the front; so as to leave a flap to turn over, and tie down, when all of the articles are in.”

Contrary to what other travel handbook writers urge about keeping luggage to a minimum a guide advising American travelers going to Europe or the East writes: “As regards to baggage, the author would say in opposition to most writers, who advise against it, don’t cramp yourself for lack of baggage; the few dollars charged for extra luggage will be more than compensated for by having every thing that you may want; and when your wardrobe has been pulled to pieces by custom-house officers, it will not require hours to repack before you can close your trunks.”

Hmmm. Sounds like those mid-19th century travelers had to deal with a lot of issues we still do today. In part two, I’ll talk about modes of 19th century travel.

For more on mid-19th century travel, visit this site:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/mncsptravel.html

From an article by Anna Worden: Travel in the mid-19th century: The Citizen’s Companion: June 2009. 

And there’s still plenty of time to enter my website contest to win a copy of my time travel romance, Erin’s Rebel.

Details here: www.susanmacatee.com/News.html