For the past 164 years, a little-known ceremony takes place on board the first ship to arrive in the Port of Toronto. It’s called the Top Hat Ceremony. When the first ocean-going vessel, referred to as a “Saltie,” arrives in port, a representative of PortsToronto (or back in the day, the Toronto Port Authority) greets the captain of the vessel with a top hat, a briefcase and $100. If there was ever a reason to rush a ship to Toronto in 2025, a top hat and $100 is not it!
However, in 1861, the first time the port authority decided to hold this event, a silk top hat was a pretty big deal, because it was the key to the city: for 24 hours the captain and crew could eat and drink for free! And the $100 bonus in the briefcase was about a month’s salary for the captain, perhaps worth as much as $5,000 today.
On March 28, however, the hat was held above Captain Sergei’s head, as it’s over 200 years old now. The briefcase cost more than the $100 it contained, but the gesture was greatly appreciated! And we at the Mission to Seafarers brought gift bags for all the seafarers on board as a welcome-to-Toronto treat.
The rough seas added a week to the ship’s transit from San Sebastian, Brazil, where Captain Sergei and his crew picked up more than 19,000 metric tonnes of sugar to deliver to the Redpath Sugar Refinery at the foot of Jarvis Street in Toronto. After it’s been refined, the sugar will find its way to various factories and stores around Ontario – and ultimately to our homes in one form or another. And the seafarers will, once again, have ensured that a delivery of something important and precious that we don’t grow anywhere in our country has arrived safely on our doorsteps.
By weight, 90 per cent of everything that arrives in our country comes by way of ship. The kinds of goods we receive today haven’t change appreciably since 1861: the construction materials we need to keep our ever-expanding city and province growing; and the food items that don’t grow locally, such as coffee, tea and sugar, to name only a few. In 1861, bolts of cloth such as wool, linen and cotton would arrive. More often these days, the finished garments by the container-full find their way here from various countries such as China, India, the Philippines and Thailand.
And the seafarers continue to sacrifice so much of their lives to ensure the safe arrival of all these and many more products, living apart from their families and loved ones because in spite of the low pay at sea, it is still better pay than they would make in their countries of origin such as Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia. And this pay usually supports not just their immediate families but their extended families as well. Remittance payments often make up a huge percentage of the GDP of these countries.
But what can make up for the time the seafarers are away, putting the health and happiness of others always ahead of themselves? Knowing that they are not forgotten, that they are not invisible, that we on land appreciate their sacrifice and the danger of their work. “The Ministry of Small Gestures” is how the work of the Mission to Seafarers is described; small gestures indeed, compared with the huge gesture of the seafarers. We get to go to our homes and families after our shifts but shift’s end for them sends them alone to a small room with a small bunk on a large ship that makes noise day after day. Not to mention bouncing around on an ocean.
So the gift of a small bag of treats that includes warm hats and scarves, and yes, even chocolates, is warmly welcomed – more kudos to our team of wonderful volunteer knitters from around the province! Even a small gesture has great meaning. And the bigger gestures of the work we do – the Happiness Index, the Ship Visiting App and the Happy@Sea app – help us to provide the things that seafarers need to make their lives better while at sea.
As the 2025 shipping season begins on the Great Lakes, as you drink that first cup of coffee in the morning or your last cup of hot chocolate in the evening, remember the seafarers who made sure you had that cup to brighten your day. And find a way to thank them for their sacrifice for us.
To make a donation through CanadaHelps, visit www.mtsso.org.
A tip of the hat to seafarers
For the past 164 years, a little-known ceremony takes place on board the first ship to arrive in the Port of Toronto. It’s called the Top Hat Ceremony. When the first ocean-going vessel, referred to as a “Saltie,” arrives in port, a representative of PortsToronto (or back in the day, the Toronto Port Authority) greets the captain of the vessel with a top hat, a briefcase and $100. If there was ever a reason to rush a ship to Toronto in 2025, a top hat and $100 is not it!
However, in 1861, the first time the port authority decided to hold this event, a silk top hat was a pretty big deal, because it was the key to the city: for 24 hours the captain and crew could eat and drink for free! And the $100 bonus in the briefcase was about a month’s salary for the captain, perhaps worth as much as $5,000 today.
On March 28, however, the hat was held above Captain Sergei’s head, as it’s over 200 years old now. The briefcase cost more than the $100 it contained, but the gesture was greatly appreciated! And we at the Mission to Seafarers brought gift bags for all the seafarers on board as a welcome-to-Toronto treat.
The rough seas added a week to the ship’s transit from San Sebastian, Brazil, where Captain Sergei and his crew picked up more than 19,000 metric tonnes of sugar to deliver to the Redpath Sugar Refinery at the foot of Jarvis Street in Toronto. After it’s been refined, the sugar will find its way to various factories and stores around Ontario – and ultimately to our homes in one form or another. And the seafarers will, once again, have ensured that a delivery of something important and precious that we don’t grow anywhere in our country has arrived safely on our doorsteps.
By weight, 90 per cent of everything that arrives in our country comes by way of ship. The kinds of goods we receive today haven’t change appreciably since 1861: the construction materials we need to keep our ever-expanding city and province growing; and the food items that don’t grow locally, such as coffee, tea and sugar, to name only a few. In 1861, bolts of cloth such as wool, linen and cotton would arrive. More often these days, the finished garments by the container-full find their way here from various countries such as China, India, the Philippines and Thailand.
And the seafarers continue to sacrifice so much of their lives to ensure the safe arrival of all these and many more products, living apart from their families and loved ones because in spite of the low pay at sea, it is still better pay than they would make in their countries of origin such as Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia. And this pay usually supports not just their immediate families but their extended families as well. Remittance payments often make up a huge percentage of the GDP of these countries.
But what can make up for the time the seafarers are away, putting the health and happiness of others always ahead of themselves? Knowing that they are not forgotten, that they are not invisible, that we on land appreciate their sacrifice and the danger of their work. “The Ministry of Small Gestures” is how the work of the Mission to Seafarers is described; small gestures indeed, compared with the huge gesture of the seafarers. We get to go to our homes and families after our shifts but shift’s end for them sends them alone to a small room with a small bunk on a large ship that makes noise day after day. Not to mention bouncing around on an ocean.
So the gift of a small bag of treats that includes warm hats and scarves, and yes, even chocolates, is warmly welcomed – more kudos to our team of wonderful volunteer knitters from around the province! Even a small gesture has great meaning. And the bigger gestures of the work we do – the Happiness Index, the Ship Visiting App and the Happy@Sea app – help us to provide the things that seafarers need to make their lives better while at sea.
As the 2025 shipping season begins on the Great Lakes, as you drink that first cup of coffee in the morning or your last cup of hot chocolate in the evening, remember the seafarers who made sure you had that cup to brighten your day. And find a way to thank them for their sacrifice for us.
To make a donation through CanadaHelps, visit www.mtsso.org.
Author
The Rev. Judith Alltree
The Rev. Judith Alltree is the recently retired regional director of the Mission to Seafarers Canada. She is the current vice-chair of the Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario and the Port Chaplain for the various departments that make up the Port of Toronto.
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