A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the river frontiers. This special type of riverboat was designed to carry passengers rather than cargo, and they had to be pushed by a small pusher or towboat attached to it. Showboats were rarely steam-powered because the steam engine had to be placed right in the auditorium for logistical reasons, therefore making it difficult to have a large theater.
The Showboat Branson Belle was on Table Rock Lake, Branson, Missouri.
Gilbert R. Spalding's showboat The Floating Palace was on the Mississippi River in the Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion (1853).
This poster is for a Bryant's Show Boat live production of Tess of the Storm Country in Fayette City, Pennsylvania.
A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a square bow, a shallow draft, and typically have knees, which are large plates mounted to the bow for pushing barges of various heights. These boats usually operate on rivers and inland waterways. Multiple barges lashed together, or a boat and any barges lashed to it, are referred to as a "tow" and can have dozens of barges. Many of these vessels, especially the long distance, or long haul boats, include living quarters for the crew.
3x3 nine unit barge going through La Crosse, Wisconsin
The towboat Angelina pushes two loaded barges in New Orleans.
The towboat Peter Fanchi southbound on the Ohio river at Louisville, Kentucky
The Donna York pushing barges of coal up the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky