Program for wooden horse race on FRANCONIA, 1929

program

A small paper booklet for a "horse race" from the FRANCONIA from May 18, 1929. This was a popular pastime on shipboard, in which participants would "buy" a small wooden horse (as pictured on the cover) and then race it with dice rolls against other horses during an evening event, with bets placed on the contenders. This race was taking place in the last weeks of an around-the-world voyage on the FRANCONIA, which began in New York on January 15, 1929, traveling first to the Middle East, then India and various ports in Asia, Hawaii, and then through the Panama Canal on May 24 and then back to New York on May 31. The race card refers to the race as the "Central American Race Meet" and there are references to Panama and the Caribbean, which is probably an indication of where they were. It was no doubt a very luxurious voyage for passengers, and one that might look very different a few months later, after the October 1929 crash of the stock market.