A national icon found in the Canadian imagination as well as on the dime, the Bluenose was a fast schooner launched in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, in 1921. She won the Fisherman's Race race the same year and for the next 17 years, holding the title against both American and Canadian vessels.
The pride of the Nova Scotia shipbuilding industry became known as the "Queen of the North Atlantic." In 1933, she represented the Century of Progress theme at the World's Fair in Chicago. Iin 1935 she sailed to England in honour of the Silver Jubilee of the King, George V.
As well as enjoying pride of place on the dime since 1937, the ship has been featured on three postage stamps. Her image still adorns the license plates of Nova Scotians. A replica, the Bluenose II, was built after the first ship was decommissioned.
Stan Rogers, the legendary Canadian folksinger, even wrote a song to celebrate the ship "with her picture on a dime." The song also contains a reminder that she was "the last of the Grand Banks schooners that fed so many men" before the severe decline of the East Coast fishery.
No comments:
Post a Comment