Even Keel

My circumstances compel me to become master of my own boat.
— Eliza Thorrold

This is an “unofficial” member of our series, a large 3-foot-by-3-foot steamroller print we created at the 2011 Roadworks Festival in San Francisco, CA. We also printed a small letterpress keepsake version of the piece. Both hand-printed versions of the piece are individually hand-painted with watercolor. In 2022 we released a reproduction postcard of the design.

Eliza Thorrold (1860 – 1935) was the first licensed female tugboat master on San Francisco Bay. After her husband Charles, who piloted the Ethel & Marion before her, died an untimely death, she fought for and received her operator’s license to continue their tugboat business in his stead and provide for her family. After she left the high seas and entered retirement as a landlubber, she became master of her own taffy pull by opening a successful ice cream and candy shop with her son.

Even Keel is stuffed to the gills with symbols of nautical San Francisco. Eliza takes the helm along the brightly-colored shore, surrounded by a foggy Golden Gate Bridge, a trio of sea lions, a migrating humpback whale, and the city skyline. A parrot of Telegraph Hill perches on the starboard side, and there’s plenty of salt water taffy in the cargo hold.

You can learn more about our process behind the steamroller print on our blog.

Year created
2011

At issue
The history of San Francisco and early California women mariners

Edition size
10 giant steamroller prints, 60 small letterpress prints

Significance of edition number
Eliza’s birth in 1860

STEAMROLLER PRINT SOLD OUT
MINI-BROADSIDE SOLD OUT
BUY POSTCARD