Discover Rosenfeld

Admiral Byrd’s Cows

Rear Admiral Richard Byrd was a naval officer, polar explorer, and aviator whose first Antarctic expedition was 1928-1930. For his second expedition (1933-1935), he brought with him three cows and a milking machine. Historically, animals have been aboard ships for many reasons. Connecticut’s West Indies trade was, in part, horses and...

The Mascots

Gar Wood, the first man to travel over 100 mph on the water, was born Garfield Arthur Wood in 1880 and named after the successful presidential ticket of James Garfield and Chester Arthur. James Garfield was considered the last “log cabin” president and a rags-to-riches hero. Before Gar Wood was...

Orlo III: A Mystic Sea Sled

Since the 1600s Mystic, Connecticut has been known for its shipbuilding industry, however many do not know that it was also at the forefront of constructing fast motor boats. The Sea Sled was constructed by the Sea Sled Company in West Mystic and Groton. Albert Hickman, a Canadian and 1899 graduate...

Dreamboat: The Evinrude Lark

Brook Stevens, American industrial designer, popularized the phrase “planned obsolescence” during a talk he gave in 1954. He defined it as “Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, and a little sooner than necessary.” In 1956, Evinrude Motors exhibited Stevens’ concept boat...

The Highball Express

The 1920 summer brochure for the Aeromarine Navy-Cruiser described the aerial cruiser as “A large, perfectly appointed aerial yacht for weekend parties, off-shore trips and long flights along the coast.” Model 75 was a modification of the ex-Navy Curtiss F-5Ls that the company acquired as surplus after World War I....

Books Afloat

It was a boat with books that profoundly influenced the life of Nathaniel Bowditch – the self-educated astronomer famous for The New American Practical Navigator (aka “Bowditch”) first published in 1802. During the War for Independence, the Beverly (Massachusetts) privateer Pilgrim took as a prize the Duke of Gloucester on September...

Iceboating: Fly Like a Bird

“An ice-yacht flits about like a swallow, skimming over the river with the speed and grace of a bird. She is better than a bird, for she takes you along in her flight and gives you the triumph of the wing, as she sweeps, and swings, and trembles on through...

Outboard “Cheap” Thrills

In the November 1927 issue of Motor Boating, the publication announced “A New Magazine for Outboard Yachtsmen to Be a Regular Feature of Motor Boating Hearafter.” Outboard motors became commercially available in 1905 by the formation of the Waterman Marine Motor Company and in 1908 by Envinrude Motor Company (selling...

ISOLA-STELLA: A Unique Craft

Colonel Edward Howland Robinson Green was the son of Hetty Green, the famous miser and richest woman in America also known as “The Witch of Wall Street.” Colonel “Ned” Green, however, was a generous man who was interested in technology and provided the funds for the necessary research. During his...

From Cruising to Combat – Irwin Chase

Pictured here is Irwin Chase Sr., the renowned marine architect and Managing Constructor of Elco. The image was made on July 24, 1941, in New London during sea trials. The image was later featured in an article in the January 1946 issue of Motor Boating. The author of the article, Elco...

The Pink Gold Rush

In late 1949, 100 years after the peak of the California Gold Rush, Pink Gold was discovered off the Florida Keys near Dry Tortugus. The “gold” was a grooved variety of shrimp called “pink” shrimp in the industry - scientifically Panaeus duorarum. In early 1950, the first shrimpers arrived in...

Dazzle Deception

Camouflage, as seen in nature or man-made, is usually used to “hide” from the view of a predator or an enemy by simulating the surrounding environment. This type of camouflage, however, breaks down when the animal, soldier, or machine begins to move, making it visible. During WWI and to lesser degree...

Heli-Bout: Boating George Jetson-Style

Brook Stevens, industrial designer, was responsible for the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, the wide-mouth peanut butter jar, the Miller Brewing logo, and the Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide. “He did everything from cigarette lighters to pavement rippers,” said Gary Wolfe, curator of the Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art...

HALF MOON: An Equally Exciting Life for a Replica

In September of 1609, Henry Hudson, aboard ship Half Moon (Dutch: Halve Maen) with his mixed Dutch and English crew, arrived at the mouth of “The Great North River” (later to be known as the Hudson River). Although he was not the first European to discover the river, Hudson and...

“Sneak Ability”

Over several years of development and sea trials of possible PT boat designs, the essential elements for a successful patrol torpedo gunboat evolved. As one Naval officer observed during evaluation of a manufacturer’s boat, “The three vital characteristics of a PT boat are: (a) SNEAK ABILITY; the ability to reach attack...

The Uptown Eclipse

Throughout history, total solar eclipse events have progressed science, engaged a citizen science community, and have also been agents to questionable cures and superstitions. Solar eclipses are an opportunity for scientific research. One of the predictions of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity was the bending of light by the gravity of...

The Summer Commute

What better way to commute from your home on Matinicock Point on Long Island Sound to your offices in New York City than by steam commuter Navette? French for shuttle, Navette was launched on March 24, 1917 from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., from the design of Captain Nathaniel Herreshoff. She...

Speed

In 1920, Guy Lombardo traveled from his home in London, Ontario to Detroit to watch the Gold Cup race. The Gold Cup race – officially known as “American Power Boat Association Challenge Cup” – is contested annually since the first race in 1904 (with the exception of WW II years). In...

The Experiment

The America’s Cup, arguably the most venerable trophy in sports, has attracted the world’s best sailors and yacht designers since the first match in 1851. The first few challenges had no restriction on design of the yachts, although time was allowed based on tonnage. The keeper of the Cup is...

Oh My Cod

In late October 1938, Morris Rosenfeld was in Gloucester, Massachusetts to visually document what would be the last International Fishermen’s Cup race. The first such race was proposed in 1920 as a “race for real sailors” – a friendly match between the fishing schooners of Lundenberg, Nova Scotia, and Gloucester....

A Mayflower By Any Other Name

On October 14, 1912 the 318-foot steel hulled Presidential yacht, Mayflower steamed into New York Harbor and dropped anchor in the North River. President Taft was on board for the review of the maritime might of the U.S. Navy - the Naval Review of 1912. The luxurious steam yacht Mayflower was...

The Joys of Fitting-Out

The spring season brings longer daylight in the northern latitudes and rising temperatures. Since the early 1900s, it also brings the "Fitting-Out Number" issues of The Rudder and Motor Boating magazines. The Fitting Out issues were filled with practical tips for getting a vessel in shape for the upcoming season...

The Plywood Derby

On July 21, 1941, the first of two plywood derbies took place off the waters of New London, Conn. Nine PT (Patrol Torpedo) boats from four shipbuilders competed for the chance to contract with the U.S. Navy to develop what was to become the “small navy.” These small (70- to 80-foot)...

The Champion

Lorna Whittelsey won her first national women’s sailing championship – The Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Cup – in 1927 when she was 15 years old. Miss Whittelsey began competitive sailing at the age of 6 in her family’s Indian Harbor knockabout and she was successfully “skipping” a 17-foot knockabout by 8....

The Careers

The stately three-masted schooner, Hussar was built in 1923 by Burmeister & Wain at Copenhagen from Cox & Stevens design #263 (MS accession # SP.1975.1.34.167) for E.F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post. Hussar was luxuriously appointed with Oriental carpets, stained-glass windows and gold-fauceted bathrooms. She was later sold...

The Dream

On June 23, 1928, William Albert Robinson and his little 32-foot ketch Svaap were part of a special class of three small ocean cruisers that started in the Bermuda Race. The class consisted of Svaap, Miladi (a Herreshoff cutter), and yawl Islander built by Harry Pidgeon (he had already circumnavigated the...

The Flying Boat

In the early 20th century, flying boats allowed contemplation of long distance, over-water transport. At the time, no civil airports had a sufficient runway to accommodate the weight of such a plane and water was the alternative landing strip. Pictured here is the Sikorsky Amphibion (the use of the "o" became a...

The Lightning Class

In a collection spanning more than 100 years and one million images, it is interesting to pick a date and look to see what Morris Rosenfeld and his sons were photographing that particular day, week, or month. Every January in the Rosenfeld Collection, the majority of the images are of the...