Taissumani: May 10

A playbill produced on a shipboard printing press advertises a farce performed on January 27th, 1876 at the Royal Arctic Theatre on board the exploration ship Alert, wintering in the Arctic. (HARPER COLLECTION)

In 1875 the British Admiralty sent an expedition north through Davis Strait to Smith Sound. The two ships, Alert and Discovery, were under the command of captains George Nares and Henry Stephenson, their goal the North Pole.

Nares, who had overall command of the expedition, planned to reach as far north a latitude as possible that fall, winter on the shores of Ellesmere Island, then push farther north the next year.

Wintering presented particular challenges for any captain of an exploration ship. There would of course be plenty of work for the scientific staff to conduct. In the case of the Nares expedition, they would have to construct two observatories — one magnetic, the other astronomical – on the shores of the harbour they chose for wintering.

The scientists would be kept busy all winter with their observations. But the officers and men presented the real challenge.

In the Far North, the winter darkness would be long and depressing. The men would need to be kept busy and entertained. A report in the New York Times in 1875 gave an interesting account, under the heading of “Polar Amusements,” of what was planned for “the instruction and amusement” of the men.

“There will be schools for teaching navigation and other branches of knowledge,” it began, and continued, “A large collection of excellent magic-lantern slides furnishes the means of illustrating lectures on astronomy, as well as popular tales and anecdotes.”

Music often played a large role in the entertainments that took place on wintering ships, and the Nares expedition was no exception. “The expedition is rich in musical talent, and each ship has a piano and a harmonium. Lieut. Aldrich is an accomplished pianist; Lieuts. May and Egerton play the banjo, Lieut. Parr the flute, and there is a talented drum and fife band on the lower deck, besides any amount of vocal music fore and aft.”

Some men had unique talents with which to amuse their fellows, and so we are told that “Commander Markham, with Mr. Egerton as a confederate, will give entertainments of magic and legerdemain, and can perform all conjuring tricks, from the magic bottle to dark séances and clairvoyance.”

A high point of the winter’s entertainments, on these as well as many other over-wintering ships, was the performance of plays on improvised stages. “The histrionic talent is also in strong force on board both ships,” we are informed, and then “Many presents of dresses and properties were received, including one for Mr. Irving…” Of course, there were no women on Admiralty ships, but many of the plays that were performed included female roles. The “presents of dresses” were for the use of the men who would don female attire and perform the women’s roles.

Many Arctic ships carried printing presses. The article notes, “There will also be periodical literature and newspapers, besides printed playbills and notices, the printing department being ably conducted by Lieut. Giffard and Robert Symons.”

And ordinary events worthy of celebration would not be forgotten: “Nor has due provision for such festive occasions as birthdays and Christmastide been forgotten. Fortunately, as many as seven birthdays occur during the long Winter nights, five in the Alert and two in the Discovery.”

The writer summed up the importance of all these activities in one overly-long sentence: “The importance of the duties of making the Winter pass quickly and pleasantly away, by amusing as well as employing the minds of all on board, and preventing their caring for the inevitable hardships and sufferings, as well as by strictly enforcing the proper amount of daily exercise and the observance of sanitary regulations, cannot be overestimated, and every member of the expedition, by cordially and heartily entering into the spirit of the work, will, each in his place, thus secure the maintenance of the general health both of mind and body.”

This is still good advice for anyone spending a winter in the Arctic today.

Taissumani recounts a specific event of historic interest. Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.