Why no Ballroom

[Matthew R. Boswell]

If I'm not mistaken, the Lusitania and Mauritania had ballrooms. Wasn't dancing popular in 1912? With an extra 100 feet, I think the Olympic class ships would have had a ballroom. Why, on a ship equipped with everything popular, was there no ballroom. I know the band played during dinner, but WHY NO DANCING!?

 

[Sahand Miraminy]

I always thought that the Reading and Writing Room should have been a ballroom with hardwood floors instead of carpeting and without a lot of furniture. The large curved windows would make it a very nice ballroom. Besides it wasn't used much by passengers anyways as the writing room.

 

[David marbeck]

I agree with both of you. You make a very good point matthew. I was sure that dancing was very popular in the edwardian society. so why no ballroom? It doesnt really make sense!

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Matthew,

Detailed furniture deck plans of the Lusitania and Mauritania [see attachment] do not indicate that either had ballrooms.

<table border=1>[tr][td]

Lounge & RW Room
Lounge & RW Room.bmp (15.6 k)[/td][/tr][/table]​

 

[Dave Gittins]

White Star was pretty tight when it came to creating unprofitable areas of the ship. For instance, Titanic and Olympic did not have big domes or vaults above their dining rooms, as many ships did. Such things take up space that could be used for berths. A ballroom worthy of the name, with room for things like the Viennese waltz, would have taken a lot of space.

Whether White Star was influenced by certain groups who opposed dancing on principle, I wouldn't like to say. Although dancing was widely popular, some churches regarded it as sinful, especially if it included dances like the tango, which is "a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire" if ever there was one.

There's an old joke about the church that was against pre-marital sex, because it might lead to dancing. I know of some groups who are touchy about dancing to this day.

 

[Marilyn Lena Penner]

I think I get the joke. I belong to a church who is against dancing because it might lead to pre-marital sex. In fact, my mother is still concerned about the effect of English country dancing on my Christian witness. [You can imagine her concern for her teen-aged grand-daughters]

As for ballrooms on ships in Titanic's time: didn't the dining lounges have space for dancing, like nightclubs did later in the century? The band played rag-time as well as waltzes, and bunny-hugs, fox-trots, et al didn't take up a lot of space. Couples did the steps moving in a circle, but the circle did not have to be large. And the circumference of ladies' hems: there doesn't seem to be a lot of freedom of movement below the knee for making those sweeping Viennese waltz moves. IMHO it would be more the "Lawrence Welk" style of waltz, perhaps.

Maybe most of the passengers were more concerned about business conversation or smoking or strolling upon desk or a deck of cards in the evenings. Or digesting their food.

A letter or two from the period, talking about dancing on board, if any, would be helpful.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

Nope, take a look at any picture of the Titanic's public areas, and you'll find that there is no place for dancing.

 

[Matt DiTullio]

As far as I know, from looking at the Lusitania's deck plans, there was no ballroom on her either...Unless the dining room or lounge functioned as one at night.

 

[Georgia Rinker]

And if you think about it, too, the Titanic was a mail and parcel ship- it was pretty much set up for transport! I would much think that even though the White Star and the Cunard lines were both competing, it wasn't as neck and neck as we'd think they were. They were both very different as far as their objectives, ultimately, a transport ship wouldn't really need such things. I think about the best comparison to it would be watching an in-flight movie to being on the promenade deck. We can't ballroom dance in the middle of first class on a plane, right?

 

[Jeremy Aufderheide]

>> We can't ballroom dance in the middle of first class on a plane, right?

No. But have you seen "The Big Bus"? Anything's possible.

 

[Georgia Rinker]

I have not seen "The Big Bus"! I'm sure anything would be possible given the circumstances.

Although there wasn't even enough room to be able to seat all of the 2nd class dining all at once, either, though. There were alotted times where people could come in and eat (I can't say that about the other classes, though.) Do you think from that logic they would be able to have a dining area, though? It may have been to little!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>And if you think about it, too, the Titanic was a mail and parcel ship- it was pretty much set up for transport!<<

Actually, the Titanic, like most of the liners on the North Atlantic run, was an immigrant ship. It was the need to carry as many immigrants as possible in a style that would be appealing to the "Huddled Masses Yearning To Breathe Free" that dictated in part the ever increasing size of the ships which were being built at the time.

That the passengers traveling in the 2cnd and 1st cabin would also demand bigger, better, and more comfortable was another factor in that equation.

The mails were simply pure profit icing on the cake.

 

[Georgia Rinker]

Well this is very true! The big thing at the time was immigration and the Titanic and the other Olympic class liners were big on comfort rather than overall speed! They were the only liners to offer 3rd class real mattresses instead of bedding stuffed with straw or rags! That had to be a good plus!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>They were the only liners to offer 3rd class real mattresses instead of bedding stuffed with straw or rags!<<

Actually, this is not entirely accurate. The shipping lines had obligations under the law to meet certain standards of comfort and habitability. White Star was hardly all that original, but they were a leader in this respect.

It was really all about the market. The market demanded something a bit better then what came before and those lines which met the demand were the ones which did well over the long haul. They knew the customer could go with somebody else so each had to give them a reason to book on their ships as opposed to the competition.

 

[Augusto Félix Solari]

Interesting, however those regulations were not met by the german competition...