AA-2026-F89864
On the image
Somewhere in the Inside Passage — that corridor of fjord-cut coastline running between Seattle and Skagway where snow-capped peaks drop almost vertically to the water — a small group of passengers has assembled on the stern deck to look at scenery so spectacular that it reliably turns otherwise sensible people into amateur photographers. The woman in the orange hood has her back to everything except the mountains, which is the correct response. The man beside her, in an officer's cap and olive jacket, holds what appears to be a radio handset, which in the 1950s meant he was either crew with actual duties or a passenger who had acquired a piece of equipment he found authoritative.
Ferry travel through this stretch of the Pacific Northwest in the 1950s occupied a particular niche: essential transport for coastal communities that had no road, dressed up by the landscape into something that felt like a cruise. The Alaska Marine Highway System would not be formally established until 1963, so services in this era ran on a patchwork of private and state operators, each crossing feeling like a minor act of logistics rather than a scheduled departure.
The wake unspools behind the vessel in a clean white line that will vanish in minutes, which is roughly how long the people on deck will stand out here before the cold wins the argument.
Visually related — by likeness
Passengers on Deck, Inside Passage Ferry, Alaska or British Columbia, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-F89864. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/passengers-on-deck-inside-passage-ferry-alaska-or-british-columbia-1950s.
@misc{aaAA2026F89864,
title = {Passengers on Deck, Inside Passage Ferry, Alaska or British Columbia, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-F89864},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/passengers-on-deck-inside-passage-ferry-alaska-or-british-columbia-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Passengers on Deck, Inside Passage Ferry, Alaska or British Columbia, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-F89864 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/passengers-on-deck-inside-passage-ferry-alaska-or-british-columbia-1950s ER -
From the community
Identifications, corrections, and discussion from readers — reviewed by a librarian before appearing here.
Sign in to add an identification, correction, or comment.
No notes yet — be the first to add what you know about this image.