Blue Hoosier Blues - Original Capitol Orchestra

MISSISSIPPI

The first steamships on the Mississippi were used only for goods transport. It was assumed that passengers would not entrust themselves to the 'floating volcanoes'. This was a mistake. The demand for passenger transport was great from the beginning. At the same time the desire for comfort and relaxation was growing, understandable too when one realises that in 1817 the journey from New Orleans to Louisville took 25 days. Riverboats were floating luxury hotels. 'The saloons took up the entire length of the ship', one can read in an early travel guide from New Orleans. 'They were fitted out with elegant carpets, sumptuous furniture and pianos.' these ships offered employment to entertainers in the nineteenth century, and became a natural cultural bridge for those musicians who had left the entertainment centre of New Orleans, since the war year of 1917, for the more liberal north, mainly Chicago, in search of new performing opportunities.