Tugboats of New York: An Illustrated History |
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Tugboats of New York: An Illustrated History
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by George Matteson
Sales Rank: 288785
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List Price: $44.95
$29.67
At Amazon
on 6-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 278 pages
Published by: NYU Press October 1, 2005
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0814757081
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0814757086
Book Dimensions:
12.2 x 9.4 x 1 inches
Weighs: 3.3 pounds
From The New Yorker
In this illustrated history, Matteson, a twenty-year tugboat veteran, narrates two centuries of the city's history from the decks of its tugboats, whose fortunes "powered up with the rising tide of the nineteenth century and then powered back down with the efficiencies of the twentieth." The first boat in New York meant exclusively for towing entered service in 1828, but business was sporadic; her captain was "more likely to be found in the local saloon than at the helm." In 1871, a tugboat was lured up the Hudson to Sing Sing and shanghaied by escaped Tammany men, then chased by a flotilla of guards in rowboats, who finally ran it aground near Nyack. The peak of the tugboat era was 1929, when eight hundred of them plied the city's waters. Today, there are fewer than two hundred, which are used to dock greater ships, though a handful, Matteson notes elegiacally, still "trundle back and forth across the harbor on an indifferent schedule, carrying mostly Long Island garbage and incinerator ash to the mainland."
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Product Description
View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.
2005 Author of the Year Award-Working Harbor Committee of New York and New Jersey
2006 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show in the category of Trade Illustrated Book Design
”Anyone who doubts the beauty or role of the lowly tugboat will be pleasantly surprised by this handsome new bookDrawing on a range of historical sources, the author argues convincingly that the towing industry played a crucial role in building New York’s commercial stature.”
-Armchair Sailor
”Few books can be all things to all people, but this one is an exception. Much more than just a narrow history aimed at tugboat buffs, it has something for everyone. George Matteson, a veteran towboater, has tackled the history of working vessels and has produced a work that is not only poetic and technical, nostalgic and clearheaded, but perceptive of the human and economic dimensions of working on the water. Since towboating in New York reflects the overall course of American industrial, economic, and maritime history, it is a venture into maritime history itself.”
-Steamboat Bill: Journal of the Steamship Society of America
"The seductive promise of the fog-drenched images on the dust jacket of Tugboats of New York is more than fulfilled in the comprehensive contents."
-Sea History
Tugboats of New York is one of those rare constructions where everything works just about perfectly."
-Marine News
"Matteson, who has worked on tugs for twenty years, defines the blue-collar boats' place in the history of America's industrial development and provides anecdotes about life in the harbor."
-Associated Press
"Matteson knows the lore in depth, telling us how tugs work and how crucially they've served the great port."
-San Diego Tribune
"A awesome book reflecting first-rate scholarship, writing, design, and production."
-Woodenboat
"This gem of a book about 'the workhorses of the greatest harbor in the world' was written by someone who himself has operated tugboats since 1979. . . . The book might even be the inspiration for a future tugboat captain.
-Kivekdale Press
"One of those rare constructions where everything works just about perfectly. The text is insightfully, appreciatively, and masterfully written. The illustrations are informative, handsome, and sometimes-deliberately, one gathers, given some of the credits-quite gorgeously artistic."
-Marine Link
"The informative text and copious illustrations- maps, drawings and photographs- make this book a 'must-have' gift for all the New York nautical devotees.Whether weekend sailor or confirmed landlubber, readers of Tugboats of New York will re-discover the lroe of these iconic craft."
-Riverdale Press
"Breathtaking photographs. . . . Matteson's fascinating account of the evolutionary era begins with the geographical formation of New York Harbor, but quickly moves to the era of the vessels themselves. . . . Anyone fond of books about the way things work will enjoy Matteson's detailed explanations; others will relish his metaphors."
-New York Times Book Review
"A handsome account of these durable, powerful, romantic little fellows."
-New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
"This sturdy, if little lauded, workhorse of the city’s waterways has found a champion in George Matteson, himself a veteran tug operator. His marvelous, handsomely designed Tugboats of New York is both an evocative photo album of tugs at work and a detailed essay on nearly two hundred years of tugboat history.”
-BookForum
"The story of the development of the tugboat industry in one of the busiest seaports in the world is a remarkable one, and Matteson delivers it in rich and lively detail. . . . The photographs alone, with extensive captioning, make this book worth buying. These photographs are gems."
-WorkBoat
”His book guides you effortlessly into the world of tugboating, showing you the rope(pun intended) with the ease of a master. You can’t help but respect him for both his undoubtedly hard-won insider’s view of a gritty profession and his spare, pointed, informative prose.”
-The Waserwoman’s Genes
"A brave and jaunty disquisition, copiously illustrated, on the history of tugboats in the port of New York-written with boundless enthusiasm and affection for its subject, and with more than a little longing for the days when ships of all kinds dominated the rhythm of life in and around the city's endless waterways."
-Ric Burns
"Matteson narrates two hundred years of city history from the decks of its tugboats."
-The New Yorker
"Not only does George Matteson possess the been-there, done-that experience of actually operating tugboats in New York Harbor, he also has a gift for evocative language. Matteson's tale is literally a page-turner. The book's photographs of tugs, their crews and their machinery, drawn from many sources, are first rate, with many rising to the level of fine art. Matteson's book is a treasure."
-Richard Stepler, South Street Seaport Museum
”Anyone who doubts the beauty or role of the lowly tugboat will be pleasantly surprised by this handsome new book, which charts the development of the waterfront workhorse in New York CityThe illustrations, text and personal anecdotes combine to create an engagingly textured work. Matteson’s book would make a welcome winter addition to any maritime library- whether owned by a New York City devotee, a photography fan or a tug enthusiast.”
Mystic Seaport Members Magazine
"Do you like tugboats? Yes, we knew it. Hardworking and cute, what's not to like? Tugboats of New York provides in one elegant volume the whole story for those ready to go beyond a passing crush and learn something about the worker bees of the working harbor which is the reason the city is here to begin with."
-Crawford Doyle Booksellers
”Fascinating History”-NY Daily News
Tugboats are the workhorses of the greatest harbor in the world, easing massive ocean liners and garbage scows alike cleanly into their berths. Tugboats of New York captures the history and lore of these iconic craft, from their precursors in the early 1800s to their heyday in the 1950s, when more than 700 small but potent boats dotted the harbor. They are the most versatile of vessels, not only guiding large oceangoing ships safely into harbor, but also conducting rescue operations and navigating vast quantities of oil, cement, and scrap iron through traffic-clogged waters.
A twenty-year veteran of New York tugboats, George Matteson knows the tides and currents of New York from the Bronx to the Verrazano Narrows. His history of tugboating shows how this inherently risky business pits men and their boats against weather, water, and the scarcely measurable physics of ships and barges of far greater dimension.
The story of New York's tugs parallels the broader history of New York's industrial development, from the rise of railroads to the decline of the port in the wake of labor disputes and large container ships. It is also a story of remarkable seamen who pass their craft from pilot to apprentice over generations, along with the lore of great waterways that remain unchanged despite the lengthening shadows of skyscrapers and commerce.
Rich with first-person anecdotes of life on the New York waterways and one hundred and fifty black-and-white illustrations, including rare and sumptuous photographs from the likes of Gordon Parks and Todd Webb, Tugboats of New York will fascinate readers interested in New York history, boating, and maritime history.
Reader Reviews
As soon as I'd read the New York Times Book Review of this book, I had to have it. Because I was brought up in the New York metropolitan area I was able to enjoy riding the Staten Island ferry to and from Manhatten to enjoy the sights and sounds of the harbor and the tugs going about their business. I also listened in on a short wave radio to the messages relayed through the New York Marine Operator as the tugboat captains got their orders from their bosses on what barge to pick up, where to take it and so on. This book is delightfully written by someone who certainly knows the towing business and who seems to cover every conceivable aspect without becoming excessive. The photographs chosen are of the highest quality and taken by some of the top names among photographers of that era. Many of them are so good, they are "suitable for framing" as the saying goes. Their rendition in the book are of equally top quality and the captions are full of interesting facts and are not just taken from the text of the book but can stand on their own. Very informative and at the same time, easy to read, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all, especially to those of us who still carry that little boy or girl inside of us.
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Tugboats of New York: An Illustrated History
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Price: $29.67
Updated on 6-19-2008.
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