Smoking Room Details Some New Questions

[Daniel Klistorner]

I Like Titanic's if it's what we think it was (red and blue - with possibly burgundy leather chairs).

That is a nice rare photo of Olympic's smoking room that still shows the old tile pattern! There is nothing in the picture to indicate that the chairs and tables were not bolted to the floor though.

Daniel.

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Yeah I agree with you all that the Smoking Room chairs and settees were bolted to the floor, it's just that foremost table does not seemed to aligned with those two arm chairs, which made me thought that the chairs were not bolted. Having them bolted, I guess would save stewards from constantly keeping the room tidy, instead of trying to make sure that all the chairs were against the tables in a tidy fashion.

It is a nice photograph. In rear corner just right of the revolving door is that mystery piece of furniture that I was trying to figure out. It is not clear enough to figure what it is.

Regards,

Nigel

 

[Dave Hudson]

Nigel,

FASCINATING PHOTO! I had never seen that one before! The floor tiles are the originals, meaning that it is an early picture. About the chair bolts: The table would have HAD to have been bolted. The chairs were optional. However, bolting a chair to the floor was by no means permanent. Obviously, there were bolts (as seen in other photos) but in Mr. Mengot's they had merely been unbolted. I believe (keyword: believe) that bolting was done by drilling small holes in the floor so that when the legs of tables, chairs, etc. were aligned with them, small screws on the bottom could be tightened, thereby securing them to the floor. These holes were located in multiple locations throughout the room so that furniture could be rearranged at the passenger's request. These holes can be seen in many photos. They are most obvious on page 64 of the Susan Wels book put out by the Discovery Channel. That is why tile was favored in the Smoking Room over carpet. However, that leads to another question: if there was carpeting in the Lounge, then were the chairs still bolted?

Also,

By "mystery piece," do you mean the square looking thing just beneath the revolving door? That was a wrap-around couch that was built into the wall just under the stained glass panels on either side of the fireplace. They were more like one-sided booths rather than couches, though. The square part that shows up in the photo is the end of it. The glossier, inner square is a section of leather that was placed on the end. There were two of these couches--one on either side of the fireplace. The edge of the other can barely be seen on the extreme left. In deck plans, they show up as J-shaped protrusions that sort of surround the fireplace.

Daniel,

Medieval figures are a great theory. That would fit the room's decor and it all seems to fit. Good idea.

All the best,

David

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

David,

I think Nigel is talking about another mystery object. If you were standing in the room looking towards the painting and the fireplace, it would be on your right. I think it is some kind of cabinet or something, but seeing it in photos is quite rare, so I'm not quite sure what it looks like.

As for the holes in the floor, I can't see them, but on pg.64 I can clearly see the chairs bolted to the floor. I'd also say that the tables were rather permanently bolted to the floor, whilst the chairs were probably unbolted in good weather, and secured when the weather was rough.

Daniel.

 

[Dave Hudson]

Daniel,

I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about. Just to the right of the painting? You mean the arched panel? That's one of the stained glass panels that were on either side of the fireplace.

Nigel said that it was to the right of the revolving door.


A correction to my previous post:

"The glossier, inner square is a section of leather that was placed on the end."

Upon looking at a colored postcard, I've realized that the inner square is actually raised paneling and not leather.

David

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Sorry I just received a virus on my new computer, so i am working of my old 486 at the moment. You can see the mystery cabinet in a postcard in "Titanic" Peter Threash. I think this post-card is also in "Illustrated History" as well.
The mystery cabinet is located in the formost corner on the port-side of the smoking room.

Regards,

Nigel

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

... sorry, I left out that it was to the right of the revolving door ....

Daniel.

 

[Richard Paola]

that location of the fireplace would have been the same spot Thomas Andrews was last seen, would it not ? the picture looks the same as well !!

 

[Richard Coplen]

Hey all,
I can't understand how you have all come to the conclusion that the smoking-room's furniture was red in colour. I have seen several colour postcards of the Titanic's smoke-room and in every one, the furniture is green in colour. What do you think?
Richie.

 

[Dan Cherry]

Hello, Richard,
we do know that Olympic's smoke room had green furniture, with green/gray and buff tiles. It has been proven that Titanic's floor tiles were red and blue. It is postulated that the leather chairs were colored to complement the floor color.
Also, often-times Olympic photographs have been passed off for Titanic.

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

.

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Sorry, I'll try again ...

 

[Beverly J. Crowder]

Oh Daniel,
Just imagine what that painting looked like in COLOR!! I like WOOD.. I just LOVE the woodwork and the details in the woodwork in those ships.
Just gorgous daaahhhhling.

Beverly

 

[Richard Coplen]

Hey Dan,
I just don't know. Something inside me refuses to accept that the furniture was reddish in colour. In my opinion green would have complimented the wood-work in the room much more so than red. Green is a much more cozy colour. Although the floor tiles were red and blue, this does'nt necessarily mean the furniture was green. When you take the dining-saloon for example, it's chairs were green whereas the linoleum on the floor was a multitude of colours including red and blue. I am still firmly of the opinion that the smoking-room furniture was green. I don't think Harland and Wolff would go to so much bother to contrast the two ships by putting different furniture in each. Who knows? Perhaps Olympic's tiles greenish tiles were later additions and they were originally red and blue also. Just a thought...

 

[Mark Chirnside]

I am afraid I think that's been extensively disproven.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Dan Cherry]

Hello, Beverly,
Wilkinson's son researched his father's original painting and estate and came up with a facsimile painting, which was published (in color) in my copy of Titanic Voices and, as you may know, appeared in the 1997 movie. I don't know where the painting from the set is now, but I'd like to examine it in person...

Hello, Richard,
There are many instances where Titanic was nearly a carbon copy of Olympic, yet there are also color schemes, plan arrangements and layouts where Titanic was distinctly different from her sister. Titanic was an improvement over Olympic, just as Britannic was to be one step better than Titanic. It was the intent of the White Star Line to make each sister unique in her own right.
It is entire plausible (and in some cases evident) that color schemes were slightly different between the Olympic-class ships to give them individuality....

After Titanic sank, several features from that vessel were incorporated into Olympic: the wheelhouse was squared off, the bridge wing cabs extended outboard like Titanic's, a Cafe Parisian was added, the a la carte restaurant expanded, and later, B-deck outboard cabins were installed. We do know that Olympic's tile pattern changed at least once (see Titanic: an Illustrated History) but I've seen no evidence to suggest the color scheme aboard Olympic in her smoke room changed as well....

My .02

 

[Beverly J. Crowder]

Hello Dan,
No, I haven't read Titanic Voices, and I believe that is something that I will have to add to my library. I did recall the painting from the movie, but you don't really get to VIEW it, if you understand what I am saying. Thank you Dan.

Beverly