Glory hole photos

M

Mette McCall

Member
I have not come across any photos of the steward's glory holes, the small cabins where they slept. I know that Thomas Andrews had redesigned them to give the crew more privacy, but do any photos of these exist?
 
Privacy? I don't think so! The stewards were berthed about 40 to a room, furnished with ranks of tubular steel ('gas piping') two-tier bunks and a wooden locker for each man. The lockers served also as chairs and tables, there being no other furniture or fittings.

I've never seen any photos of the crew accommodation on the Titanic or its sisters, but pics do exist of these facilities on other ships of the period and they all seem much the same.
 
Interesting, Violet Jessop describes how Andrews has designed her cabin and bunk to reflect more privacy, but perhaps it was easier in a cabin shared by only two women than in a large open berth space.
 
Indeed. The small stewardess cabins were not unlike the passenger cabins which surrounded them, complete with furnishings like washstands and wardrobes. A world apart from the stark dormitories provided for their male counterparts, which were more like the crew accommodation on a naval vessel. If I remember right, Violet recalled how a sweet smile could buy a little of an electrician's time to improve the lighting. No chance of similar concessions in the gloryhole!
 
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