Titanic China: 2nd Class

While Titanic had multiple patterns in 1st class for her different areas for eating and drinking, 2nd and 3rd class had 1 type of china respectively.  In 2nd class on the Titanic, they used the Blue Delft pattern which was fairly common at the time.  It was a beautiful flowery pattern with vines that often interlocked around the edge.  Surprisingly, while 1st class china is often more fragile, it is the most common partly because it was pocketed the most due to the beautiful patterns and found uses elsewhere even after the White Star Line was merged with Cunard in 1924.  However, for 2nd and 3rd class china, it is much rarer and harder to find.   2nd class china hardly comes up for sale and when they do, they are very expensive.  But I was able to purchase 2 beautiful examples of original White Star Line 2nd class china which you can see below.

This soup plate was made by Stonier and Co. which supplied the majority of the china for the White Star Line.  One of the unique things about it is the firing fault in the middle of the star in the burgee.  

This beautiful dish was meant for asparaguses.   

Titanic (1997)

When most people think about the Titanic, they can't really do it nowadays without thinking of Jack and Rose in the 1997 movie.  With it being one of the highest grossing movies of all time, Titanic made a huge iceberg-sized impact in our consciousness and culture when it was released and brought on a new surge of fans and people interested in the subject.  While the movie had many flaws (this isn't the place for listing all of them), they got a lot right thanks to the dedication of James Cameron and his team wanting to recreate history as close as possible.  Whether you love the movie, or hate everything including the whimsical lyrics of Celine Dione's popular song, there's no denying that the movie has done much to further the memory and legacy of the Titanic.

When they were building the set for the ship, they ended up building one side for budget reasons and placed it so the smoke coming out of the funnels went aft with the wind.  But when it came time to film the scene where the Titanic departs from Southampton and Rose comments that "It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauretania," they realized that it was the wrong side historically.  In order to correct it, James Cameron decided to film it in reverse and flip the shots in post-production so that history would be honored.  In doing so, they reversed all signage to read backwards so it would be correct when they flipped the shot.  This board which came from a crate was there on the Southampton docks in the background shots.  

One of things I really enjoyed about the movie was the recreation of so many of the luxurious interiors of 1st class.  This wallpaper was used either in the 1st class Reception Room or 1st class Dining Saloon sets which were faithfully recreated in all their glory as the passenger glided down the Grand Staircase and tasted the food listening to Jack talk about his life as a "tumbleweed blowing in the wind."

One of the most beloved characters in the movie as well as most beloved people in the Titanic story was Thomas Andrews who was played so well by Victor Garber.  Speaking through a Northern Irish accent, Victor Garber brought the legendary designer to life well telling Rose, "I'm sorry I didn't build you a stronger ship."  Though he's not the first man to have portrayed Andrews, he's certainly one of the most memorable.  This is an autograph photograph which I got when I had the good fortune of meeting him.  

While the china, glassware, and cutlery in the movie weren't completely accurate, they did make the effort to make them similar to what was used on board.  This is a wine glass from the 1st class Dining Saloon set used as a prop in the movie.  Jack Dawson drank out of a similar smaller glass when toasting, "To making it count!"

Even though historically the 1st class passengers never ate in the Verandah Cafe, the 1997 film had their first dinner scene set there immediately after the "King of the World" moment.  This menu is from that scene and you can see the "Roast Lamb, Mint Sauce" offered from which Cal said, "We will go for the lamb.  Rare with very little mint sauce."  

White Star Line Binoculars

On board the RMS Titanic, there were multiple pairs of binoculars mainly used by officers and lookouts.  Contrary to what some may believe, they didn't primarily use binoculars for viewing things around them because binoculars limited their field of vision to specific areas.  When binoculars were used, they were mainly used when something was sighted far away and they needed to get a better look at it.  Before the Titanic set sail, the binoculars for the lookouts were in a locker and David Blair who was originally was going to be 2nd officer and due to a shuffle left the ship in Southampton accidentally left the ship with the keys to that locker.  So for the voyage, they were left with no access to them.  Following the Titanic disaster, this was a heavily criticized as being one of the contributing factors of the disaster.  Since then, historians have debated on whether or not they really would have made a difference and today, many believe they would not have changed the outcome.  In the debris field, a pair of binoculars were found and recovered from the wreck site.  

These binoculars were used by the 1st officer of the SS Runic which was a White Star Line steamer that sailed from 1900 until 1940 when she was torpedoed and sunk.  On top of the White Star Line connection, the binoculars were made by JW Ray & Co. which was the company that made and supplied the engine telegraphs for the RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic.  

Titanic Coal

On board the Titanic, there were 29 boilers equipped with 162 furnaces meant to keep the Titanic running.  The stokers and firemen worked below, shoveling coal from the chutes where they were stored in one wall to to the furnaces on the other side.  These men rarely saw sunlight during the whole voyage and worked not only a very hot job, but also a very dirty job as they shoveled coal kicking up coal dust.  This led to their nickname being "The Black Gang."  Despite what some may believe, not all of the Titanic's boilers were lit.  They were divided by watertight compartments into six boiler rooms and 5 of them were used, leaving Boiler Room No. 1 unused.  The men hired to staff that boiler room were given another task, putting out a coal fire.  Coal fires were not uncommon at the time and despite popular belief, it did not cause or contribute to the sinking.  To get this fire out, the staff from Boiler Room No. 1 were assigned to Boiler Room No. 5 to clear out the whole chute which they did on April 13th.  The stokers were among the first to notice the collision and water as the iceberg caused water to pour into Boiler Room No. 6 and Boiler Room No. 5.  The first thing they did was get the fires out.  With the very cold water and very hot boilers, they didn't want a boiler explosion.  So they released the steam from the furnaces up through the funnels and gradually cooled the boilers.  Not very men survived from the boiler room.  During the break up, Boiler Room No. 1 and 2 were affected.  Boiler Room No. 1 was ripped apart sending the boilers straight to the bottom and the coal in the bunkers with them.  It also exposed the boilers in Boiler Room No. 2 at the back of the bow section and are still visible in the wreck today.  As it turned out, one of the boilers from Boiler Room No. 1 was the first recognizable item from the Titanic seen confirming to the French-American teams led by Jean-Louis Michel and Dr. Robert Ballard that they had found the wreck of the Titanic.  

Coal is the only artifact recovered from the ship's wreck site you can legally own.  You can typically find small pieces of coal at artifact exhibition gift shops and people have turned them into different things such as necklaces and bracelets.  This is a larger lump of coal than usual and if you look closely, you can see the red rust from the wreck site still clinging to it from contact with something at the wreck site.  

RMS Olympic Oleograph Advertisement

This oleograph depicts the RMS Olympic in a port, advertising her for the White Star Line.  Advertisements such as this were typically hung in a White Star Line agent's office along with other advertisements, depicting ships available for people to sail on by the White Star Line.  The artist Fred Pansing painted 2 other depictions of the Olympic which were used for the Olympic and Titanic and this must have been painted and/or used during the Titanic era due to the fact Mr. Pansing passed away in 1912.  Following the Titanic disaster, the White Star Line was particular about showing their ships having enough lifeboats, so there is a chance a different artist added more boats later.  These were used even in 1920s and there are just a handful in existence today.

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.  

The 1st class Smoke Room

The Titanic's 1st class Smoke Room was a gorgeous public room, reserved mainly for 1st class men on the Titanic.  The paneling was darkly stained mahogany inlaid with mother of pearl.  It was lit from ornate chandeliers and wall sconces with stained glass windows lit from behind setting the ambiance.  A fireplace with an beautifully carved marble mantle and painting by Norman Wilkinson of the entrance to Plymouth Harbor called, "Approach to the New World" were at the center of the room.  It was furnished with comfortable leather chairs and chairs topped with green baize fabric which rested on top of linoleum red and blue tiles.  After dinner, it was customary for the men and women to retire to separate rooms for conversations and gossip before joining each other again.  For the men, they would typically go up to the Smoke Room where the space was open late into the night.  There were some late night card games and conversations on the evening of the 14th of April when the Titanic struck the iceberg.  Afterwards, it became a busy room where people stayed to get warm and wait to decide what to do.  Thomas Andrews was reportedly seen at one point in that room, though contrary to popular belief, it wasn't the last place where he was seen.  William Stead was also seen in that room during the sinking.  Unfortunately, the room was obliterated during the break up and subsequent implosion of the stern.  There are pieces of it on the ocean floor including tiles, stained glass windows, sconces, and chandeliers, some of which have been recovered.  Items do still exist from the RMS Olympic's 1st class Smoke Room which had an almost identical room to the one on the Titanic with the exception of the color scheme on the Olympic being green and blue rather than the red and blue on the Titanic.

Above are items from my collection which related to the 1st class Smoke Room.  The background is a copy of one of the stained glass windows.  The piece of wood on top is a cross section of the ceiling arch tray of the RMS Olympic's 1st class Smoke Room.

The next item is an original C.R. Hoffman photographic postcard of the RMS Olympic's 1st class Smoke Room, showing the room in all her beauty. 

The next items are original WSL playing cards.  The only cards we know for sure were used on the Titanic looked like the one on the far left.  Examples were saved by certain card players on board.

The final item is a section of green baize fabric which was used on top of the tables in the 1st class Smoke Room of the Titanic.  This fabric section came from a larger piece which was taken as a souvenir from Harland & Wolff during the Titanic's construction.