Rearranging Deck Chairs On The Titanic

On board the RMS Titanic, a passenger could go to the Inquiry Office on C-Deck off the Forward Grand Staircase and rent a deck chair.   They would take the passenger's name and write it on a card and slide it into a slot on the top slat to ensure there was no confusion of who had the chair.  A passenger could then sit on the chair with the option of also renting a blanket in cooler weather with a cup of tea or coffee or a book from the ship's library as the sea passed below them.  During the sinking, some had the idea of using deck chairs as makeshift rafts or flotation devices.  Some people such as Thomas Andrews and Charles Joughin threw deck chairs off the ship.  Following the disaster, the White Star Line contracted the Commercial Cable Company to send their ships out to recover the bodies of the victims floating in the North Atlantic in busy shipping lanes.  In total, 4 ships went out there.  Along with the bodes, crew members also recovered items floating on the surface from the wreck.  1st class Dining Saloon chairs, paneling, life jackets, deck chairs, and many other items were found and the crew would recover them and bring them home where they would be re-purposed for practical use such as furniture, game boards, picture frames, etc.  

The section of wood above came from a deck chair recovered by the CS Minia, the 2nd ship to arrive on the scene.  Due to bad weather, only 17 people were recovered.  This deck chair was owned by 1st Officer James Adams who lived in Halifax.  It was still with him when in 1917, the highly explosive cargo of the SS Mont-Blanc in the Halifax harbor ignited and created the largest explosion in history until the atomic-bomb.  The explosion impacted everyone in the surrounding area, damaging the deck chair.  The chair remained intact, though in bad condition for many years until it was put on display at a museum and then dismantled due to its condition.  Some pieces were used to repair other exisitng Titanic deck chairs, other were sold, others gifted.  The chair was used to give the team on the 1997 Titanic film the dimensions for recreating the chair on set.