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Monday, November 29, 2010

The Reward of the Great Eastern

I collect 19th century school rewards, which were known as Rewards of Merit. In the second half of the century, they were usually lithographed and looked like little trade cards, but in the early 1800s, they were engraved and looked like bank notes. In fact, sometimes these bond-like rewards could be saved up by students and redeemed for a larger prize, like a book or watercolor set.

One of my rewards is this engraving of a metal-hulled ship with paddles, masts and a funnel. Though the masts are too few, I wonder if the artist intended the engraving to represent the Great Eastern.

In 1852, Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed a ship to transport emigrants to the United States. It was 692 feet long, which was six times larger than any ship of the time. It could hold 4,000 passengers, and was named the Great Eastern.

 The Great Eastern was launched January 31, 1858, after several false attempts.

The Great Eastern had six masts, two paddle wheels, one propeller and five engines. It was the first ship to use a double-skinned hull, and its launch was the source of much excitement. It had a long career, was used to lay a good portion of the transatlantic telegraph cable, and was finally broken apart in 1889.

What I enjoy about this reward — whether or not it represents the Great Eastern — is knowing that the child who received it was probably as excited as if it had been of a photograph of a rocket blasting off into space! And isn't it so much classier than this?


14 comments:

  1. I remember receiving these certificates of merit when I was at school! (Showing my age)

    Ah the Great Eastern! What a white elephant it turned out to be! Grand plans Brunel had. Funny that it gained no success as a passenger ship, but as a cable layer it was perfect!

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  2. It sure beats the gold star stickers we received on our papers as a child! lol

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  3. Hi, David and Stefan! Alas, David, all I ever got was a gold star ...

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  4. Charming post, and delightful images. That is some chain behind Mr. Brunel!

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  5. Thanks for visiting, Reggie! I'm still looking forward to seeing your recovered chairs!

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  6. Working in Education, I was unaware of these awards. I think it would be a good idea to revive them. Even as a child I was fascinated by the engraved technique on bank notes and postage stamps. I wondered how they got those fine, raised lines, and there was something so special about the way you could actually feel the design.

    The Great Eastern is a totally new entity to me. Considering the Titanic and other disasters, I think I would be afraid to board such a "new" contraption! I found this post very interesting, and enjoyed learning about the awards and the ship. Thank you.

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  7. I love all this ephemera-as you can probably guess from visiting. pgt

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  8. Thanks Terry and Gaye!

    Terry, your comments reminded me that children are indeed fascinated by engravings. I remember my nephew once asked if George Washington really did have all those lines on his face!

    Gaye, I do know from visiting little augury that we'd probably have fun antiquing together. I love what I'm seeing of your photograph collection!

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  9. They are truly fabulous, and I was completely unaware of their existence! So glad I was perusing new blogs. Thank you for this post.

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  10. Fascinating story about the ungainly ship! It seems vaguely familiar. I think I have seen pictures/engravings of it before.

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  11. As David Toms knows, while the Great Eastern was an important step forward in shipbuilding, it never was the commercial success that had been projected, and ended up as an oddity, used by a department store as sort of a traveling billboard. Its end was inglorious.

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  12. I wish they would bring back these school rewards. They're beautiful! I had no idea of their existence. Wonderful old photos too. Great post!

    H.H.

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  13. Thanks, H.H.! I certainly feel as though there's room for rewards of merit in today's schools, and it needn't be old-fashioned engravings. I could see rewarding children with reproductions of fine art, for example, which in turn might foster trips to galleries and museums ...

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