Holland America Line advertising card; "Royal Mail Line" - "The Netherlands American Steam Navigation Co." — Buy a copy
The Holland America Line had its origins in the Dutch shipping firm Plate, Reuchlin & Co., which was established in 1871. The company began a regular steamship service between Rotterdam and New York on October 15, 1872, with the iron screw steamship Rotterdam. She was soon joined by a sister ship, the Maas.
The new service required more capital than Plate, Reuchlin & Co. could provide, and a new joint-stock company was consequently formed to take over its ships and operations. On April 18, 1873, the Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (NASM) was established. Internationally, the company became better known as the Holland America Line.
The Rotterdam and Maas continued the Rotterdam–New York service, and additional steamships were soon added. During the 1870s and 1880s the company developed Rotterdam into its principal European gateway for the North Atlantic passenger and emigrant trade.
In 1881, the company faced new Dutch competition when the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company opened a passenger and cargo service between Amsterdam and New York. The competition became particularly intense in 1882, when Holland America responded by establishing its own Amsterdam–New York service. In 1883 the two companies reached an agreement under which Holland America took over its competitor's New York service and maintained sailings from both Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Emigrant traffic formed an important part of the company's North Atlantic business. This was reflected in the large steerage capacity of its ships. The Rotterdam of 1897, for example, could accommodate about 2,000 third-class passengers, while the Potsdam, Rijndam and Noordam, introduced between 1900 and 1902, each had accommodation for approximately 1,800 third-class passengers.
The Holland America Line in Norway
The Holland America Line was represented in Norway from at least 1883, when its services were advertised in Christiania (Oslo) under the name “Amsterdam Line.” The company's General Agent was Nils Peterson, with an office at Prindsens Gade 2 B, and advertisements indicate that he was supported by a network of principal and sub-agents in towns and rural districts.
Norwegian emigrants did not have to travel through Britain to reach the company's transatlantic steamships. Advertisements from 1883 announced regular departures from Christiania every Saturday, with the journey to Amsterdam made aboard Norwegian steamships. At Amsterdam, passengers transferred to the transatlantic steamer for New York. The company emphasized that this involved only one change of ship and avoided the railway journey across England required by many of the competing routes.
The service was marketed specifically to Norwegian emigrants. Advertisements emphasized low fares, cleanliness, good food and friendly treatment, and stated that Norwegian-speaking attendants were available aboard the transatlantic steamships. The company also used testimonials from Norwegian passengers who had already traveled by the route.
Through tickets were sold to destinations far beyond New York. In 1883, Peterson advertised fares of 90 kroner to New York, 140 kroner to Chicago, and 172 kroner to St. Paul or Minneapolis, with reduced fares for families and larger parties. For one departure in September, Chr. O. Sundre, an employee of Peterson's office, was to accompany the emigrants as far as Chicago and possibly farther.
The Holland America Line played a relatively limited role in Norwegian emigration compared with the major British, German and Scandinavian lines. Norwegian agents sold through tickets not only to New York but also to destinations in the American interior, making the Dutch route another alternative for emigrants traveling from Norway to North America..
