With thousands of travellers trapped on both sides of the Atlantic, by the vulnerability of modern jet engines to the ash spewing out of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano — and with still further disruptions likely - time has come for us to re-examine a handful of the more innovative transportation ideas offered, and dismissed, over a century ago.

The following woodcut cartoons are the work of artist R.A. Williams, and were published by the Barker, Moore & Mein Medicine Company, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as humorous advertising, collected in their annual Barker’s Illustrated Almanac (running from 1879 to at least 1932), and in their premium booklets Barker’s “Komic” Picture Souvenir (issued from 1892 into the early 1900s).

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A certain means of avoiding volcanic ash, is to follow the biblical example of Jonah’s, and take the Whale Express - shown here in Barker’s 1903 Illustrated Almanac.

If you’re thinking of making the journey by ship, but your destination lies deep inland, consider this next option, depicting travellers from Liverpool, England, making their way to the St. Louis, Missouri 1904 World’s Fair. Cartoon is from a circa 1906 edition of Barker’s Komic Picture Souvenir.

Should you prefer the luxury of going by Trans-Atlantic Low-Altitude Train, look no further than the below, excerpted from Barker’s 1893 Illustrated Almanac.

Opposite the comfort of being waited upon while riding in a parlor car, do-it-yourselfers might instead choose to individually wing it, using battery-powered bat-wings, per the below example from the 1903 Barker’s almanac.

And next comes my personal favorite means for travelling to Europe and back — by stage coach. From Barker’s 1888 Illustrated Almanac.

Finally, those of you who have been stranded in airports this past week, may be just about ready to attempt the below method — simply walk across the ocean!

Below is the first appearance by name, of the sporadically recurring comic strip character Professor Tigwissel, in Professor Tigwissel’s Life-Saving Apparatus, which appeared on the cover of the May 28, 2025 issue (Volume 7, issue number 692) of New York’s Daily Graphic newspaper. Story & art by Tigwissel’s creator, Livingston Hopkins.

(Note that the above Professor Tigwissel story, pre-dates by three-and-a-half months the story most frequently and incorrectly cited as being Tigwissel’s first — Professor Tigwissel’s Burglar Alarm, which was published on the cover of the September 11, 2025 issue of the Daily Graphic.)

Doug Wheeler

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