Streckfus Steamers
Though he gained a reputation for punctuality and efficiency, he complained about the meager profits his packets earned running freight on the rivers.
According to his own design, Streckfus commissioned work on a 175-foot steamboat with a capacity to hold 2,000 passengers, sleeping berths for the crew and the entertainers, a 100 x 27 foot maple dance floor, a bar, a dining room, and electric lights.
[10] While cruising the Mississippi near LaCrosse, WI on the night of June 25, 1910, Streckfus lost his custom-built steamer, the J.S., to a fire allegedly ignited by a drunken and disorderly passenger.
[13] Low water on the Mississippi River often sidelined the erstwhile packets for the next five seasons, but Streckfus bided his time by more bond issues and stock sales.
[12] However, Streckfus business was executed at an inconvenient time: the Mississippi River was low due to droughts, and he would not be able to run regular excursions for about five years.
During the 1920s, Streckfus tramped it a bit further south, between the Quad Cities and Cape Girardeau, Missouri areas.
It did not require as much water depth as other ships in their fleet, so Streckfus Steamers put it into use in the Upper Mississippi, while it served local cruises at New Orleans in the winter.
[15] Fate Marable performed on the Capital starting in 1920, leading a band which included Louis Armstrong, Boyd Adkins, Norman Brashear, Warren “Baby” Dodds, David Jones, Henry Kimball, and Johnny St.
[16] Starting around 1924, the trumpeter Ed Allen led the Whispering Gold Band aboard the S.S. Capitol and stayed with Streckfus Steamers for about two years before moving to New York City.
Eventually, the conservatory-trained pianist headed his own group, the last New Orleans band to have regular employment with Streckfus Steamers.
Diamond Jo Line acquired the steamer the next year for about $23,000, after which it ran the Mississippi River between St. Louis and St.
[21] Streckfus purchased the Sidney in 1911, a 221-foot sternwheeler from the Diamond Jo Line after the steam packet had been damaged by rocks while cruising on the Mississippi River.
He scouted and hired Louis Armstrong, as well as Warren “Baby” Dodds, George “Pops” Foster, and Johnny St.
The United States Coast Guard was enforcing stricter standards for riverboats, so the company built its last two excursion boats—the President and the SS Admiral—with steel hulls.
[26] The ship commenced carrying excursion passenger in July 1934 out of St. Louis, with bands led by Fate Marable and Charlie Creath.
[27] The S.S. President could accommodate 3,100 passengers and continued service for many years after riverboat excursions diminished in popularity after World War II.
[29] SS Admiral commenced excursions in 1940, featuring an air-conditioned cabin and a large ballroom with maple flooring.
Streckfus Steamers ran excursions on the SS Admiral through the 1978 season, and retired the ship in 1979 due to weakness in its hull.
[31] John Streckfus started hiring musicians in 1901, when he engaged a friend to scout talent, which resulted in the first live musical entertainment, an African-American trio from Des Moines playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin.
By 1903, Streckfus employed a house band to play popular music, a quartet which included a drummer, trumpeter, violinist, and a pianist.
The seventeen year-old piano player from Paducah, Kentucky solicited employment from an agent of the company when a Streckfus excursion boat docked in his hometown.
Around 1918, Marable assembled his own orchestra for the Sidney, including many from New Orleans: George "Pops" Foster (bass), Warren "Baby" Dodds (drums), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), David Jones and Norman Mason (saxophone), Lorenzo Brashear (trombone), and Boyd Atkins (violin).
[33] John Streckfus Sr. and his two brothers were amateur musicians and formed specific ideas about what kind of music his guests would hear.
While Louis Armstrong played for Fate Marable's band, he observed Joseph Streckfus smiling, laughing, and tapping to the beat.
Marable made a perfect fit as a bandleader since he enforced these rules, and he imposed the same exacting standards for studying, rehearsing, and playing music.
In the period after World War I, John Streckfus followed the expansion of Jim Crow practices, segregating his musicians and his passengers.
In 1920, Streckfus Steamers began running Monday night cruises for African-American audiences out of St.
[37] On the other hand, according to Louis Armstrong, Fate Marable’s band was the first African American group to play music on the Mississippi riverboats.
[38] Mississippi River lore and riverboat culture feature prominently in the music of John Hartford.
A former Streckfus musician (and later chief engineer of the Delta Queen) Mike O’Leary is the subject of Hartford's song "Let Him Go on Mama" on the Grammy-winning Mark Twang album (1976).
