Memories of the Island Queen
by Rose Pranger
submitted by
Don Baumann
For those who know and those
who don't, here is some info about this boat which took passengers - 4,100 of
them strong up to Coney Island when I was a kid. Here are my recollections of
the big steamer. A web site with a photo is shown at the end of this message:
THE ISLAND QUEEN
Anyone who lived in the Tri-State area in the 30s and 40s, remembers the
ISLAND QUEEN with affection. This big steamboat carried more than 4,000
folks up to Coney Island on the Ohio side on mega trips up and down the river.
For more years than I care to confess, I did not know that CONEY ISLAND was not
an island. A lot of people I knew in the West End of Newport did not have cars -
but even then a family could drive up to the amusement park via the Eastern part
of Cincinnati. I was kind of sorry I found this out. This revelation ruined a
part of my childhood.
It was an adventure to go down in the bowels of the big boat and watch the men
stoke the furnaces. It was hot and noisy but worth the inconvenience.
On a personal note - My Dad Frank Bamberger, was a trombonist with the Clyde
Trask Orchestra, which played on the GIGANTIC dance floor. It was customary to
dance and/or just listen to the music and Clyde Trask's’ band was the best
around, with a reputation up there with the likes of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey
and band leaders of the day. My Dad even arranged music for Clyde Trask.
Mom said she would take me on the boat when I was but a small tyke - under 2
years old - circa 1932 or 1933. I wish I could have been older so I could brag
about this feat.
As I grew to some maturity, there were Moonlight rides on the Island Queen.
A bunch of we ‘cuties’ would go on a ride and sashay out on the dance floor and
hope a Knight in Shining Armor would venture out to ask for a dance. It happened
only on occasion but that was fine. We went home the same way we had come -
unescorted.
I was walking home from school - in 1947 - A Junior at Academy Notre Dame of
Providence in Newport, when I heard the EXTRA (for the uninformed, an EXTRA was
a Special Edition of the paper, rushed out on the street ASAP after a major
incident - sold by a newsboy shouting just that). The boat had been destroyed by
an explosion up river and I shed a few tears, I am not ashamed to confess. It
was the end of an era. I will never understand why someone or some company with
deep pockets could not have built another vessel, the size and quality of the
Island Queen. Heck, they build baseball stadiums, don’t they?
Sad Note: A caretaker for a tenant of my Grandmother’s, was killed in the tragic
accident. We saw her name in the newspaper.
It was hard to find a web site which does justice to a picture of the boat. But
here is one:
http://www.tulane.edu/~lmiller/raeburn/iq.htm
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