1st class dining room

[Mark Chirnside]

Randy,

A bit of a late reply, but I could not remember offhand where the quote was from. I had it written down in a notebook; but I recall now that I took it from White Star's 1911 78-page advertising brochure, 'Olympic & Titanic: The Largest Steamers in the World.'

As another item of interest, the same brochure describes the first class reception room's Axminster carpet in some detail, as well as the Aubusson (is that the right spelling?) tapestries, but there's no mention of the first class dining room floor.

If memory serves, the veranda cafe, smoke room, turkish bath, gymnasium, were tiled, often due to practical necessity. The first class lounge was carpetted, while the reading and writing room was also. Titanic's cafe parisian floor was essentially similar to the normal wooden decking, while the B-deck reception area outside the restaurant was tiled.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Nigel,

No, not Shipbuilder, but from individual publicity photo stills (although some of these photos were included in Shipbuilder, I find the originals have better clarity of detail) and publicity brochures.

I'm not sure why you feel the Debris Field's description of the Dining Room tile doesn't fit my reconstructed tile...I like it fits perfectly.

I'm not telling you to accept the colours of my tiling unquestioningly. All I am saying is that I reconstructed the tile with as much material I could find. The colours you see are the result of my attempt to reconstruct the original hue of the colours found on the recovered tile pieces. Because of the lack of definitive proof, though, my work on the tile is ongoing. In one of those cosmic moments where everything seems to happen at the same time, I had been corresponding over the past couple of weeks with Ken Marschall about floor tiles and because of your recent questions, I asked him just last night about the hue of the colours I am using for the Dining Room tile. He's going to think on it and hopefully come back with some corrections.

I hope that you are not using my wallpaper as a guide, because I lighten the brightness and contrast so that the background does not intrude upon the overlying text. This plays havoc with the colours. There is a small sample of the tile in my original colours on the "Trivia" page, which I keep small so that the depiction cannot be easily pirated.

Parks

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Can you keep me posted about Ken Marshall's conclusion? Did each square sized tile have different colors to create a multi-colored effect.Or did all the same colors like the light blue,red,yellow run through all the tiles on the entire floor in the Dining Saloon?

Regards Nigel Bryant

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Now I have to dig around to find where I read that small rose-shaded table lamps (in the center) were to be found in the a la carte restaurant, with vases of fresh flowers- over the years I have gone nearly mad trying to find out if roses or daffodils were the correct flowers. Daffs don't last too long, but they would have been seasonal. Roses would have been more elegant, repeated the rose motif- and probably have lasted better. At my "Last Dinners" every April 14th, I alternate flowers just in case!

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Another item of interest regarding tile-carpet questions is this: it has always been my belief that the Titanic’s first class smoke room was tiled, like Olympic’s, and I’ve not found any evidence to disprove this. (From the artist’s impression of Britannic’s smoke room, which was never completed, even hers had tiles, albeit of greater detailing in places, such as beneath the dome, but was improved in other respects, when a glass dome was added and lavish gold detailing…fancier carving…chandeliers of magnificence…but no stained glass windows…but that’s another story.)

Yet if I remember correctly, in Cameron’s film the smoke room was shown carpeted. Can anybody tell me if this was another mistake, like the carpet in the dining saloon, on behalf of the set designers?

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Mark,

The Smoking Room was tiled in the same pattern as Olympic.

Parks

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Thanks Parks,

That's what I thought, however I thought there might be some information on the subject indicating a carpet. Know I know it was a mistake on the film's part.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

I think the picture below has been published a few times but the clarity and size of this original copy is so good I thought I'd post it here. Is it really the Titanic's dining room or the Olympic's. To me it looks unfinished:

http://www.images.corbis.com/Corbis/640/0/be/07/4910.jpg

Randy

 

[Nigel Bryant]

To Randy
The photo is from the Olympic's dining saloon,because there was only one photo ever to be taken of the Titanic's Saloon. The reason why it looks unfinished is because it is not dressed up. There are no table cloths,cutlery on the table and no flowers. One thing I have always wondered. At the hymn service on April 14th in Titanic's dining saloon,how could they move the chairs and tables,when the chairs were bolted on a pinion set on the floor and. They could not be moved? How could they clear a space?

Regards Nigel Bryant

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Randy,

Also, I think it may be from the 1920s or afterward, although I am not sure as yet.

Regards,

Mark.

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering about the table lamps. I think they were going to be installed,but they decided not to. Because if they were going to be installed we would of seen them also in the Olympic photos of the 1st-class dining saloon. I have not seen them when the Olympic's saloon tables are set up for a meal. Maybe because the room was already lighten up by other light fixtures that they did not think they would need them or it was to much work for the stewards setting up the tables. It would certainly cause a higher payment for the White Star Line with electricity bills. Any thoughts?

Regards Nigel Bryant

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Hi everyone,
I need a color drawing or a post-card of the Titanic's first-class saloon on the net.I have seen one at titanic.eb.com/02_ONBOARD/pict_11.html
but it is to small. Does anyone known where a larger version of this postcard is on the net.

-Parks
What was Ken Marshall's conclusion on the tiles? Keep me posted on his conclusion. Look at the site above,look how colorful the tiles are in the postcard, they are certainly eye appealing, that's why I need a larger version. If someone has a copy of the postcard can they send it to me. Parks, I hope this helps in your research.

Kind Regards
Nigel Bryant

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Nigel,

Despite the fact that I could hardly talk due to a severe case of bronchitis (I have been sick this past weekend, which is why I haven't posted much), I managed a 3-hour conversation with Ken last night on a variety of subjects. We discussed the dining saloon tiles at length. Here's what we know:

- Ken's interpretation of the colour Olympic brochures is that the spaces between the red borders and the goldenrod 'crosses' is either a white or light grey.
- The tile fragments assembled for exhibition, as shown in the Eaton & Haas book, show predominently white, but there is a bluish tint in some corners.
- Ken saw, in the lights of the Mir submersible, a tile fragment that could only have come from those unique dining saloon tiles (Ken recognised it by its shape), and it was a peacock blue.

So, where does that leave us? Somewhere between white and blue. Now that I have as much information as I can gather on these tiles (short of holding one in my hands), I'm going to have to re-evaluate my tile rendition. At the moment, I think I need to lighten the blue.

The postcard you referred to is enlarged in the Eaton & Haas book, "Titanic: Journey Through Time," with a photo of a recovered tile underneath. If you are truly interested in the tiling, you should get that book.

Parks

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Thanks Parks,
Hope you a feeling better soon.
Regards Nigel

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Nigel,

I had a chance to update my dining room tile. You might want to check it at:

http://home.flash.net/~sparks12/timeline.html
http://home.flash.net/~sparks12/trivia.html

Parks

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Parks,

The tile in the first-class Dining Saloon looks great,the colors certain would match the sumptuous surroundings of the room. I have also noticed that you updated the smoking room tile,that looks awesome as well.

Regards Nigel

 

[Nigel Bryant]

To Parks
I hope you a feeling better. I was wondering you know the dining room postcard I mentioned to you that is in "Titanic:Journey through Time","Last Dinner onboard the Titanic" and on the link I mention above in a previous discussion. Is that postcard of the tile pattern colors accurate? Because nearly every single tile pattern is in different colors? Was each square tile had different colors on them to create a multi- colored effect? Or are you researching one particular color on a tile out of all the rest of the different colored tiles? Or were all the tiles the same color that you researched ? I have a black and white version of the post-card and it looks exactly the same as on the Olympic photos. So did all the tile squares have different colors on them, referring to the postcard or the the colors in your research run right through the whole tiles on the floor in the 1st-class dining saloon?
Hope you are feeling better?
Regards Nigel Bryant

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Nigel,

Possibly the codeine in my system is befuddling my brain, but I don't understand your questions.

Parks

 

[Nigel Bryant]

To Parks
1)
Is the post-card image of the Dining Saloon tiles accurate?
2)
As you see there are different types of colors on tiles eg: green,white,red,light blue.
Does each tile piece have a different combination of colors?
3)
Or do all the tiles have the same colors that you reserched with the light blue,red and gold over the entrie tiles covering the whole floor space?

In short did all the tiles have a cobination of colors? Or just the three colors that you researched?

Regards Nigel

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Nigel,

Recovered tile fragments show that the pattern shown in the brochures/postcards was accurate. The Dining Saloon pattern is complex and was formed by a multitude of pieces; therefore, it is difficult to talk of one tile containing the pattern. The pattern, though, required the use of 3 consistent colours throughout the room. Individual pieces formed the different colour/pattern boundaries; e.g., the red pieces were cut to form the border around the goldenrod pieces, which form the central 'cross' design. The pieces that filled in the space between red border and goldenrod cross were of one colour. That background colour, which sets the entire mood of the tiled floor, has not been definitively determined, because of the uncertainty in the accuracy of the colour as seen in both the postcard and the faded recovered pieces. I don't see any green, as you do. But I am still working on trying to nail down the exact original hue of the one uncertain colour. Is there a reason for your specific interest? Arriving at the correct answer may take some time.

Parks