Wet Britches and Muddy Boots: A History of Travel in Victorian America [Hardcover]

What was travel like in the 1880s? Was it easy to get from place to place? Were the rides comfortable? How long did journeys take?Wet Britches and Muddy Bootsdescribes all forms of public transport from canal boats to oceangoing vessels, passenger trains to the overland stage. Trips over long distances often involved several modes of transportation and many days, even weeks. Baggage and sometimes even children were lost en route. Travelers might start out with a walk down to the river to meet a boat for the journey to a town where they caught a stagecoach for the rail junction to catch the train for a ride to the city. John H. White Jr. discusses not only the means of travel but also the people who made the system run-riverboat pilots, locomotive engineers, stewards, stagecoach drivers, seamen. He provides a fascinating glimpse into a time when travel within the United States was a true adventure.

The real-life adventure of 19th-century travel

John H. White, Jr., is author of 13 books, includingAmerican Railroad Passenger Car,a nominee for the National Book Award. White was Curator for the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History from 1958 to 1990.

This book provides a holistic (i.e., by mode of transport) perspective of the realities of the human experience of travel as the technology and operational supply of transport service evolved during the Victorian era and the years immediately preceding and following. I know of no other extant publication that provides this perspective.

...[A] popular history, informative and engaging...White has given us a book that's as unusual as it is useful. Read it cover-to-cover or just pick out a random chapter in a stolen hour, and the book will be equally enjoyable either way.

Many authors have written about transportation subjects but few have ever provided an overview of transportation in general. John H. Write, Jr., has attempted this amibitious task, and he has succl£Ñ