Clodagh Finn: Hook, line, and trinket — the women who scaled liners to sell souvenirs
Capturing a fascinating slice of social history before the trail goes cold
A ‘bumboat’ woman scales the side of the Lusitania in August 1913 to sell souvenirs to the passengers on board. The moment was captured by American tourist Grace Chafee Carroll. Picture: courtesy of Pádraig Ó Maoláin and Cobh Heritage Centre
It is an extraordinary holiday snap. In August 1913, American tourist Grace Chafee Carroll captured the moment a Cobh ‘bumboat’ woman, using hooks and a rope, shimmied up the steep side of the RMS Lusitania to sell her wares as the ocean liner briefly dropped anchor in Cork Harbour.
We don’t know who this fearless saleswoman was, but the names and stories of some of these early entrepreneurs survive.
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