Penny For Your Thoughts, By: Nancy Whitaker
We all remember the old TV series, “Gilligan’s Island,” when Gilligan and his crew set off on a three hour tour on the S.S. Minnow and their ship wrecked. The group wound up on an island and made the best out of their surroundings. They always seemed to have enough to eat and drink and they liked it so much they really did not want rescued. There was The Captain, Mr. Howell and his wife, Gilligan, The Professor, Ginger and Mary Ann.
Another sailing trip, back in 1621, carried the people who would make their way to America and begin life as we know it today. They were the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims had a tough time making their way to the new world. They sailed on the ship, Mayflower, with 102 passengers and 25-30 crew members. High winds and gales made the North Atlantic a dangerous place for sailing. Plus supplies were getting low due to a month’s delay on the ship.
According to reports, there were many stores on the Mayflower that supplied the Pilgrims with the essentials needed for the trip. They also had live animals on board such as sheep, dogs, horses and chickens. Time was measured with an hour glass, of all things.
The passengers mostly slept and lived in the low-ceilinged cabins. These cabins were thin-walled and extremely cramped. The cabin area was 25 feet by 15 at its largest, and on the main deck, which was 75 by 20 at the most. Below decks, any person over five feet tall would be unable to stand up straight. The maximum possible space for each person would have been slightly less than the size of a standard single bed.
Passengers would pass the time by reading by candlelight or playing cards and games. Meals on board were cooked on a firebox which was an iron tray with sand in it on which a fire was built. Their food supply was rationed per family and many times they were not only hungry, but suffered from rickets and other diseases. Life on the ship was hard, but we know the group landed on Plymouth Rock.
The Pilgrims were not only running out of food, but also out of their choice of beverage, beer. Reports suggest that when the Pilgrims landed, they were so worried about running out of beer, they built a brewery. That is the story, but is it really true? Would religious puritans really consume alcohol? Here’s what I found out.
Water is essential to life, but at the time of the Mayflower water could also make you sick. In fact, none of the water was safe to drink, so beer and wine became their water. The reason for beer’s advantage over water is harmful microorganisms cannot survive long in beer (or wine). Of course you can boil water to make it safe, but in the 1600s, no one knew that. They just knew beer was safe and water was not. So yes, the pilgrims drank beer, but not to get drunk. It just so happened to be the safest thing to drink at the time.
Beer is not my beverage of choice, so I think I will have water, iced tea or soda.
Although the Pilgrims didn’t sink on the Mayflower, another state of the art ship sank. The ship? The Titanic. No one imagined that The Titanic would ever hit an iceberg and sink. With three separate sections, the Titanic held not only the rich but the poor folks as well.
At one time I bought a book that had the menus and recipes in it for each deck on the Titanic. The upper deck ate a lot better than the lower deck.
When the Titanic sank, it is said the lower deck suffered many casualties. But in the end rich or poor, only so many were rescued. I think the Titanic is such a sad story.
I have never been on a cruise and really have no desire to go on one.
Now I ask…The Minnow; The Mayflower; or The Titanic? Have you ever been on a cruise? Do you like fresh water? I can’t believe that the Pilgrims, and even their kids, drank beer. What do you think?
Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
