Details of furniture and fixtures

JJAstorII

JJAstorII

Member
I find it super odd that of all the witness testimony nothing ever came up about the decor of the Titanic and how it differed from the Olympic. I mean obv. this wasn't a concern in the initial years of investigating the disaster, but surely years down the road people would've been curious and asked the survivors?

For example, the floor tile colors or the upholstery in the 1st class smoking room... there doesn't seem to be a definite answer to what color these thingw were though I believe the idea is they were blue and red (in the smoking room) which would then negate the often shown colors from the Olympic. But why was this a mystery? Surely SOMEONE was in those rooms and remembered? With such grandeur and the disaster you'd think those details would be burned in your memory.

Does anyone have an answer to this?
 
Also, if anyone knows any factuality to a story I read about furniture that washed up on Newfoundland shores after the incident. Allegedly a yellow couch and a red/pink upholstered chair washed up indicating they were from the Reading and Writing rooms also indicating that the room was forced open (as it was closed prior to the disaster) according to witness testimony and the furniture thrown overboard for floatation devices. Anyone know more about this?
 
In the book: ''Voices From The Carpathia, Recusing RMS Titanic'' by George Behe, Various passengers from the Carpathia saw dozens of items in the sea such as cork, coffee beans, deckchairs, pillows,

Major Arthur Peuchen noticed on the Carpathia that a Barber's pole (presumably from the 1st Class Barbers on C Deck)

Harold Philmore was found by lifeboat 14 on a piece of staircase.

The ''Japanese'' Man 5th Officer Lowe nearly refused to pick up due to pretty racism was found ''tied to a door''.
 
The problem with these kinds of investigations is that these facts aren't usually considered important until after the people who remember them are dead. What was the color of the house your grandparents lived in? What was the color of the upholstery in their first car? What kind of furniture did they have? You've probably never asked these questions, and you weren't preoccupied by the sinking of a famous ocean liner. Most of the sinking victims spent their interviews detailing the sinking itself.
 
I actually could tell you all those details. My memory is quite sharp especially for details. Being on the ship days before the disaster I would've certainly remembered details of her decor
 
Nobody wants to know what the carpets and upholstery looked like until (A) All the Olympic ships are gone and (B) they realize all the people who actually saw them are about to die.
At that point, the only people who remember the Titanic are so old they barely remember it.
 
Hello JJAstorII..well lets get started. During the investigations the loss of life and how and why this great ship went to the bottom were always going take priority over what color the smoking room chairs were.However there were a lot of survivors who did recall what the interiors looked like and how blown away they were by them.A number of books and documentaries have these recollections.A few of the better ones are Titanic An Illustrated History, Triumph And Tragedy,The Ship Magnificent,and A Night To Remember.W. Lord gives some details of how certain rooms looked in that landmark book.Of course almost every Titanic book will provide some of these details.A great new venue to check out is the Titanic Honor And Glory which gives some very STUNNING recreations of almost every room possible, including 2nd and 3rd class.As for your question regarding the 1st class smoke room, the floor was a tile pattern of blue and red, with chairs upholstered in green leather.Of course Honor and Glory depict these chairs in burgundy.Almost every color illustration Ive seen always has the chairs in green.Unless someone proves me wrong Im inclined to go with the green. In addition to descriptions and photos, there are a number of period illustrations in color too.Again a lot of books will include these.I think Tim Turner's response of waiting 60 years was supposed to mean that after that amount of time your memory of colors, cars, and upholstery will be clouded over with age.Of everything Ive seen and read , survivors memories of the ship and its interiors seem to have been etched on their minds forever. Ruth Becker was able to recall the china and silverware when she was in her 80s.Another was able to recall what her cabin looked like well into her 80s ,to give a couple of examples.Hope any of this has helped somewhat.
 
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Good to know. I think the burgundy chairs work better,considering the floor tiles were red and blue.Maybe the decorators thought of this too , since the colors were changed.
 
The Britannic would have been even more luxurious than the Titanic based on sketches and plans of her accomodation.I do know the floor in the Grand Staircase area would have had a ribbon pattern instead of the black and white pattern. Speaking of smoking room chairs, the 2nd class smoke room is depicted as having green and then red chairs. The Honor and Glory recreations show both. Im guessing that if the 1st class chairs were burgundy, then the 2nd class chairs must have been as well. Im also guessing based on the color illustrations of the other public rooms that their color schemes were the same on both ships.With the exception of the smoking room,Ive yet to run across any picture, depiction or written word that says otherwise.What are your thoughts on this?
 
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