Luncheon on a Houseboat
- Aug 8
- 5 min read
“Mrs. J.M. Brogan and daughters, Misses Janet and Edith Brogan pleasantly entertained a party of about thirty friends Saturday at the house boat ‘Yosemite,’ near Carr’s Landing. The party went up the river on the steamer Josie. The excellent fishing was enjoyed and one of the features of the day was a fish dinner in the ‘Yosemite’.”
–The Saturday Evening News, October 31, 1898.
By the 1890s, the great logging boom was over. With the end of logging, the Tittabawassee, Shiawassee and Saginaw rivers were no longer encumbered by logs and instead became a place of recreation. Swimming, canoeing and boating were all common, and by the late 1890s, houseboats had become a popular summer retreat–a Saginaw fad. They were so common the paper reported: “A number of houseboats are being built at Carr’s Landing, and several old ones are rebuilt. (The Saginaw Evening News, June 7, 1898.)
By the early 20th century, colonies of houseboats developed. There was a large group at Fitzhugh Beach, directly across from Riverside Park. There was another substantial one on the Shiawassee River at Carr’s Landing, an area southwest of Green Point. (The photographs accompanying this post were taken at Carr’s Landing. The houseboats were owned by various members of the Brogan family. Edward J. Brogan participated in lumbering, and his obituary notes he superintended the closing of the Tittabawassee Boom Company’s operations.)
Most houseboats on Saginaw’s rivers were created by using a log raft as a base for a deck and a simple shack-like cottage. Facilities were few – a cook stove provided heat and a place to prepare food, an outhouse and the river provided plumbing. “The average recreational houseboater was a Saginaw businessman, an industrialist or public official with enough money to own and maintain one of the floating cottages.” (The Saginaw News, March 23, 1958).
In the winter, many houseboat owners stored their boats in the river and lagoons around Rust Park. It was so common that in 1912, the city enacted ordinances that prohibited the stored boats from being inhabited during their winter storage. It also stipulated: “In anchoring house boats they must be placed at least 100 feet from bridge, and care must be used in placing them in such position that outside closets [toilets] or other objectionable features will be inconspicuous as possible from the street and bridge.” Also, the ordinance required they ‘shall be kept painted a uniform color, preferably green to harmonize with surrounding foliage.”
Besides recreation, houseboats along the Saginaw River sometimes provided year-round living. With the enactment of prohibition, more than one houseboat owner used his floating abode as a site for an offshore still.
The city made several attempts to remove houseboats as a health hazard–houseboats were not equipped with plumbing, and waste went directly into the river. However, as they provided low-cost housing, their numbers increased in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Although the last houseboat on the Saginaw River was removed in 1962, for over six decades they were a common sight in Saginaw. Advertising reminds us it is much too late to select a site for our houseboat:
“Riverside Park: Should the weather conditions on Sunday be as fine as during the past week, cars will be operated to Riverside Park between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 5 p.m. Now would be the time to look that canoe over or select the site for the house boat for the next summer. (The Saginaw Daily News, April 16, 1910.)
The Recipe – “Cold” Slaw
“Friday a delightful party took place at Carrs [sic] Landing when Miss Myrtle Myers [sic] acted a hostess for a party of sixteen of her friends before leaving for her summer vacation. Starting at 11 o’clock from the city in Meyers [sic] yacht, the happy company reached the houseboat at the landing in time for lunch. A bounteous supper was enjoyed at the close of which the rest of the day was most delightfully passed. Mrs. Wm. Gemmill and Mrs. F.J. Meyers acted as chaperones for the party, the return trip to this city being made about 6 o’clock.” (The Saginaw Evening News, July 4, 1908.)
As the CTK staff rebelled against the idea of frying fish on a hot summer day, we focused on a classic accompaniment to fish–coleslaw. However–there is always a however in a CTK recipe–our quest for an 1890s coleslaw recipe proved to be a little more complicated than expected. A digital search of The Saginaw Evening News failed to reveal any pre-1926 references to “coleslaw” or “cole slaw.” However, we changed our tactic and found ample references to “cold slaw.” For an introduction to the complicated history of calling coleslaw “cold slaw,” we refer you to Merriam-Webster (As the Saginaw papers shifted their style in the twentieth century, articles were published explaining the history of the word and, perhaps, attempting to convince readers to adopt coleslaw…now back to the recipe…
“Dressing For Cold Slaw. Cold slaw is one of the favorite dishes made from cabbage. Much depends on the dressing, and therefore this recipe may be of use: beat the yolks of 2 eggs very light; add a cup of cream or sweet milk and vinegar to taste. Season the slaw with salt and pepper and add the boiled dressing boiling hot. Set aside to cool for the meal desired.” (The Saginaw Evening News, November 21, 1893.)
CTK Interpretation:
Ingredients:
1 small head of cabbage chopped coarsely
2 egg yolks, well beaten
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup vinegar [You may wish to use less vinegar.]
To taste: salt and pepper
Method:
Prepare cabbage by removing and discarding outer leaves. Wash and drain. Chop coarsely and season with salt and pepper. Beat eggs and add heavy cream. In a double boiler, bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened. Add vinegar and heat until dressing is boiling. Stir and pour while still boiling over chopped cabbage. Refrigerate until served.
CTK NOTES:
This seemed like something one could manage making in a houseboat kitchen–which would be fitted with a cookstove and icebox. And it was a potluck; it could easily be stowed in the bottom of a canoe during the trip from Saginaw.
Conceptually, this dressing is good, if a little bland and tart. Other recipes from the period included dry mustard and sugar. We may need to attend another houseboat picnic–perhaps this time at Fitzhugh Beach on the Tittabawassee River.
Addendum: Although our table decoration is simply a sprig of Larkspur, descriptions of recreational houseboats often note that they included garden planters. At least one had a pool for water lilies.
