Christmas aboard Titanic

[John M. Feeney]

I'm feeling the warmth -- and the melancholy -- of the season lately, and it ocurred to me that, as the day draws near, it might be interesting to speculate on what it would have been like, had she survived, to celebrate Christmas on Titanic.

It never happened, of course. But if it had, what would it have been like? Certainly Olympic should provide some parallels.

I'd have to imagine the bands would be working their fingers to the bone, Mr. Hartley grinning ear to ear. I can imagine trees and wreaths and various holiday trimmings, perhaps even squads of caroling stewards roaming the decks, and "electric sprays" throughout. The public rooms would no doubt be festive indeed -- pianos tinkling away with seasonal mirth.

But what would it be like? Would Captain Smith, as on Sundays, lead a service and a holiday sing-along? And would he have come around briefly dressed as "Father Christmas"? (He certainly would have made a fine Santa Claus!) Would the Crew partake in a reading of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"? Would Eugene Daly or his counterpart be piping away in Steerage at "The Holly and the Ivy"? Would the children be kept amused stringing popcorn? Would roast duckling and plum pudding and hot mull wine be served? What would it really be like?

Any takers?

 

[John M. Feeney]

And as I see it's already the 24th in England:
Happy birthday, Jack Thayer, wherever you are!
(And a merry Christmas Eve!)

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I'm sure Captain Smith would have made a fine Saint Nick. (Who knows, he may have done it on his other ships.) The Big T's dining saloons and other public spaces would have looked fantastic trimmed with garlands of pine needles, red ribbons and extra lights.

BTW, what is mull wine? On my side of the pond, it's turkey or ham with every conceivable trimming, apple cider, hot chocolate or eggnog.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

I've got a few Olympic New Year's eve cabaret programs- will dig 'em out and see what fun!

 

[Sam Brannigan]

Happy birthday Jack

I'm sure the captain would have made a fine santa.
I ask this question in all seriousness.
Was Captain Smith the inspiration for Captain birdseye?

 

[John M. Feeney]

Michael: I borrowed the beverage recollection from Clarence (Angel 2nd Class) in "It's a Wonderful Life". But I've always believed it was factual, and described a fairly esoteric, old-fashioned wine pressed from mulberries. Clarence requested it at "Nick's" ("Santini's") during the "alright, you've never been born" phase of the film, and shortly thereafter got thrown out on his keester, along with George (Bailey).

Anyway, I'm on your side of the pond, too, I think! (U.S.?) Actually, I thought of including turkey in the list, then suddenly wondered how prevalent it might be on a British ship of that period. Alright, I'll admit it. For some strange reason I assumed mull wine might be universal (if incredibly arcane), yet really questioned whether turkey was perhaps strictly an American thing. (And while on that wavelength, does anyone know if goose -- like in Dickens -- is still a Yuletide tradition, or would have been during the Gilded Age?) Anyway, the list was really just suggestive. I was hoping a true Titanic epicurean guru might leap in to rescue me there.

Sam: You've got me entirely with that one. I'm starting to feel like Captain Cook here. (Sorry, Pat, maybe you're right about that age thing!) Well, I remember Clarence Birdseye, but who's Captain Birdseye?

Shelley: Olympic cabaret? Cool! (Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome ...)

Will stay tuned!

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Harumph- the Brits may have had turkey but you can bet your boots it was red currant sauce and not cranberry sauce they dished up in 1912! Next to hot dogs, greasy hamburgers, cold beer, Coca-cola and really bad waxy chocolates- we Yanks do cranberries BEST- let's hear it for those Ocean Spray bogs!

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

Oooh Shelley! Caught you out on this one! Cranberry was not such a rarity in "Dear Old Blighty" as you may think. I have a 1907 menu for Christmas which includes turkey with a cranberry and port wine sauce. Have a good Christmas Shell, I'll get that booklet off to you after (the mail is on melt down over here - but that's nothing unusual. p.s. our local mail box still has Queen Victoria's initials on it - really (and no, I don't mean she scratched them on herself!)
Geoff

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Hi John, yes, I live in South Carolina. Interesting about the wine. I didn't know mulberries were edible. I suspect turkey first ended up dinner tables here in the Colonies.(Turkey's indiginous to the Americas isn't it?) Goose was the big thing in Britain.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[George Behe]

Geoff wrote:

>I have a 1907 menu for Christmas which includes >turkey with a cranberry and
>port wine sauce.

Tell us, old chap -- did you go back for seconds?

Happy Holidays to everyone here, and may the New Year bring you everything you hope for.

Take care, friends.

Sincerely,

George and Pat Behe

 

[Tracy Smith]

Mulberries had better be edible....I used to eat them off the trees when I was a kid in Massachusetts

 

[John M. Feeney]

Well, now you've all got me wondering! Michael, I wasn't sure myself if they were edible raw, but Tracy's still here to tell the tale -- no, not the mummy tale -- so I guess so! And yes, that was my reasoning with turkey -- that it was a U.S. endemic. (Ever hear that story about Ben Franklin's dislike for the bald eagle as a national symbol and preference for the turkey? I can't attest to its veracity, but think of the implications!)

On the subject of mulberries and other esoterics, I do know that certain "wild" foods are safely edible ONLY if cooked. Stranger still, there was a booming market in America, up until sometime in the early 1900's, for a crop marketed as "Pieberry". (It made very tasty pies.) Unfortunately -- it was actually the berries of Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) -- it was only safely edible by adults, as children had a nasty tendency to occasionally be poisoned by it. (It got banned as a food product eventually because of this small "drawback.") I'll dig out the book if you want exact details -- this is just loosely from memory.

Hey, anyone else ever have Pawpaws? Yum! (To those who haven't, they taste vaguely like bananas -- delicious.)

Geoff, thanks for the intercultural update on turkey! Is goose still a Seasonal "biggie" there, or is that old news nowadays? (And George -- tsk, tsk. To think I deliberately qualified that "Clarence" account above with "George (Bailey)", just to avert the obvious zinger.)

Merry Christmas, all!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Black nightshade? Yikes! You can keep it and I'll take your word for it. On the menu at my home tommorrow; salad, ham, macaroni and cheese, and cauliflower with apple pie for dessert. I just hope I have some heavy cream to make a whipped topping with.

This list would probably make the chefs on the Titanic turn white with horror, but shucks, we like it.

I wonder what the Titanic would have served for Christmas. Hmmmmm. Somebody out there has got to have a representative menu from some White Star ship.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Sam Brannigan]

I've just sold tons (or is that tonnes) of mulled wine this Christmas. And cinnamon sticks. Oh, and cloves as well. Not many Pawpaws though.
John - Captain Birdseye is on the TV ads for the Birdseye corp. in the UK. Until recently he was very Captain Smith-ish until they replaced him with some bloody male model who looks like Ricky Martin.

Bring back EJ!

Regards

Sam

 

[Sam Brannigan]

While we're on the subject of being merry, as someone involved in the wine trade, Ive never seen a winelist for the Titanic and would be extremely interested to see what she stocked.

I'm currently trying to find out what the "Larose 1888" was, as described at the beginning of the '76 edition of ANTR.
I've never heard of such a winery. Perhaps it no longer exists, or never did. Unless someone comes to the rescue I'll keep you posted ( if you are interested, of course!)

Sam