This map was part of the effort by Canadian Pacific Steamships to persuade Americans to travel to and from Europe by way of Montreal and Quebec City on the company’s new luxury ocean liner RMS Empress of Britain.
The Empress had been built in the hope of attracting passengers eager for a less rough voyage to Britain. The ship’s departure point was closer to Europe than New York, and a good portion of its route was in the sheltered “Smooth St. Lawrence Seaway,” resulting in what the company advertised as “39% Less Ocean.”
The map shows the routes from a number of U.S. and Canadian cities to Montreal and then to the Empress’ port at Quebec City. For each route, two times are shown: the number of “Days to Europe” and the number of “Days - Empress of Britain.” In each case, the time period for the Empress is one and one-half days less. While the map is confusing, this difference is apparently the reduced time of sailing on the open ocean.
In any case, the Canadian Pacific’s “plan never quite worked. Sea travelers persisted in using New York; the grand Empress of Britain was one of the least-patronized liners of the thirties.” Miller 1985, 71.
The verso, ID #2421.02, contains two smaller maps of Canadian Pacific’s routes and ports of call, a Map of the World and a Map of Europe. Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University.
