Episode #67: 1871 Timeline Twist & The Whaling Disaster of 1871

The Whaling Disaster of 1871. Plate 2

5/14/2025: On today’s episode, Valerie touches on the Ku Klux Klan Act and the Franco-Prussian War, including an unpleasant but likely necessary Paris Seige Menu, new releases of some favorite foods, maybe the first essential oil diffuser, and a historical Easter-Egg laden 1871 Italian map (along with Reddit comments) in the Timeline Twist. Next, Amy Jo tells the gross and gory details of the story of the Whaling Disaster of 1871, where 33 whaling ships were caught in a precarious situation due to their own bravado and stupidity. We discuss a little whaling history, and the tie-in to Moby Dick, as well as just how bad it had to have smelled on those lengthy voyages, just so we could light up our cities. We’re looking at you Paris.

P.T. Barnum's Great Roman Hippodrome

Map showing the burnt district in Chicago : published for the benefit of the Relief Fund

Original food menu (left) and later partial English translation (from a 1929 exhibit, right) created by an eatery during the Siege of Paris

Original food menu (left) and later partial English translation (from a 1929 exhibit, right) created by an eatery during the Siege of Paris

Superior Pickles Label

James W. Tufts Automatic Crystal Fountain, Crandall Collection

Automatic Crystal Fountain, Crandall Collection

L’EUROPA GEOGRAFICO-POLITICA | Link to large Image

Bowhead whale and calf. Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Whalers boiling blubber on the deck of their ship (1874 illustration)

Try pot or Blubber Pot seen in Simon's Town in South Africa

Display from Hawaii Maritime Heritage Center of a whaling-era merchant shop. Image courtesy of NOAA/ONMS/Hans Van Tilburg.

Photograph of Captain George Gilley, the only known native Hawaiian whaling captain. While Captain Gilly was not recorded as aboard any of the whaling ships involved in the 1871 disaster, he was the captain of the Hawaiian-registered whaling Brig William H. Allen, which was similarly lost, crushed in the ice, nearby off Barrow, in 1878. Image from Lebo, S., 2006. Native Hawaiian Seamen's Accounts of the 1876 Arctic Whaling Disaster and the 1877 Massacre of Alaskan Natives from Cape Prince of Wales.

A small anchor and other objects that were observed during the Lost Whaling Fleet NOAA expedition

The Whaling Disaster of 1871. Plate 5. Ships receiving the captains and crews of abandoned ships.

Sources/Photo Sources