House Flags of U.S. Shipping Companies: J

Jackson Marine Corp.

  by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of Jackson Marine Corp., Aransas Pass, Texas. A blue, white and blue triband with the letters 'JMC' in blue across the broader white central stripe (this is double sided). The flag is made of nylon fabric with a cotton hoist. The hoist has a brass eyelet at each end."
Aransas Pass is named for the pass between the islands that link Corpus Christi and Aransas bays. In 1720 the French navigator Jean Béranger, seeking to reinstate the French claim to La Salle's old site at Matagorda Bay, entered Aransas Pass and explored Aransas Bay. He wrote a lucid account and a member of his company made an accurate map.
Jarig Bakker, 18 August 2004

J. H. Brown & Co.

J. H. Brown & Co., Providence
The same family that endowed Brown University in Providence. The flag is the same as that of Texas, but John H. Brown was already sending ships to China as early as 1787, so there is presumably no connection.

Source: Painting in collection of Peabody Essex Museum, at www.pem.org, follow links to library.

Joe McMillan, 4 September 2001

Johnes & Johnson

  by Joe McMillan

Johnes & Johnson, New York
Mid 19th century firm. Flag a white burgee with blue upper and lower edges and the initials "JJ."
Source:  chart of "Private Signals of the Merchants of New York"

Joe McMillan, 25 October 2001

Joy Steamship Co.

The Joy Steamboat Co. was a little company transporting goods and passengers in the Long Island Sound, tried to survive against heavy competition, and went under (1899-1907). A quote from the Encyclopedia Titanica message board:

“The Joy Line was a relatively new company, serving the NYC/Boston/Providence routes. In today's term the Joy Line could be described as a budget competitor to the older, larger and better financed lines which plied Long Island Sound. chief amongst them the Fall River Line.”

To give an idea of the Joy Line’s area of activity, see this clickable map.

Here is a long but relevant quote from a 1908 speech about the trend towards a transportation monopoly in Massachusetts (http://library.louisville.edu/law/brandeis/b16.html):

“A few years ago we had four rail and water lines to New York via the Sound—the Fall River Line, the Providence Line, the Stonington Line and the Norwich Line. All of these have passed into the hands of the New Haven; and another rail and water line to New York—the New Bedford Line—belongs also to the New Haven. Later a new competitor—the Joy Line—arose; but soon it also passed into New Haven control. Finally the Enterprise Transportation Company was started, with boats running from New York to Fall River and to Providence, and with good promise of success. The New Haven, under secret cover of the Neptune Line and of the Joy Line, entered into fierce competition with the Enterprise Transportation Company. Last October the Enterprise Transportation Company succumbed. (...) Not a single independent line of steamboats exists between Massachusetts and New York except the Metropolitan Line; and now that, like other competitors of the New Haven, has passed into receivers' hands. May we not expect to see (...) the last vestige of steamship competition disappear?”

For “New Haven” read the railroad interests of the (in)famous J.P. Morgan. As to the house flag – it could hardly have been simpler. See this painting of the ill-fated ship Larchmont: http://www.1artclub.com/uploads/18-0084.jpg and the (clickable) picture of various steamship passes (top row, centre): http://www.liveauctioneers.com/s/lot-55149.html. Both show a blue flag bearing the owner’s name in white letters.

Jan Mertens, 28 December 2005