Interior design on board copied?

[Ludwig Bader]

Well, I knew of course that Harland & Wolff had some kind of "catalogue" from where shipping lines could choose their interior designs out of a standardised offer. You can read about this in the fantastic book by Bruce Beveridge: Titanic - The Ship Magnificent Vol. 2 (Interior Design & Fitting Out).

But now I'm really a bit shocked : I found a historic White Star brochure on the fantastic website http://www.gjenvick.com, where a lot of faksimilies of old brochures etc. are published.

It is this one:

http://www.gjenvick.com/WhiteStarLine/1909-04-16-Brochure-TheFamousBig4-NewYork-Liverpool.html

It provides a lot of information about and pictures of the Big 4 of the White Star Line, Celtic, Baltic, Cedric and Adriatic. I've listed the pictures by number when scrolling down the site so you know what picture I'm talking about:

*No. 3: We see people sitting in chairs of the same design as in Titanic's lounge; the sconce in the background is also almost the same which can be found there.

*No. 4: The most shocking one: We see the Baltic's smoking room, and on first glance it could also be Olympic or Titanic: The same stained glass windows, the same window framing, the same ceiling lamp and sconces between the windows... I can't say whether there are also the beautiful mother-of-pearl inlays due to the bad quality of the picture, but it could be. Only the ceiling design and the furniture are different.

*No. 5 & especially 7: The Writing room of the Adriatic remembers well of its counterpart on Titanic and Olympic: The large bay windows, the white wall and ceiling design, the lamps, the curtains and plants... Just stunning!

*No. 11: The bookcase clearly reminds of its counterpart in Titanic/Olympic's lounge

*No. 13 & 14: The cabin design is almost the same as the Harland & Wolff Type "B" on the Olympic class.

Of course there were a lot of new rooms and designs on board the Olympic class (as the Grand staircase, the dining and reception room, the veranda cafés...) But I was really surprised how similiar former ships' interiors were in comparision to the Olympic and Titanic.

[Tom McCluskie]

Ludwig,

As the former Archive Manager for Harland and Wolff I can assure you H&W most certainly did not have a catalogue of typical interior designs for their vessels. The interior design was in all cases very much a "bespoke" arrangement as required and specified by the vessels owner. Certainly furniture items such as tables and chairs would have a great similarity however it is incorrect to say such things were supplied to a standard pattern. I would urge caution in relying on such dubious publications as "Titanic-The Ship Magnificent" for factual information.

[James Smith]

Tom, what was the function of the "sample rooms" at H&W, of which the authors of TTSM seem to have obtained a photograph? (Top left of this page.)

[Ludwig Bader]

@ Tom:

Well, that's why I put "catalogue" in inverted commas... Of course there were some special arrangements, and I didn't say that the ships were identical - but a very clear similarity is obvious. What do you think about it as an expert for H & W design?

I would also like to know about your opinion of the photographs (p. 69, if you have the book at hand), which show a kind of assortment of different panels and furnitures, even when their comments are not quite detailed. What do you mean about them?

Best regards, Ludwig

[Tom McCluskie]

James/Ludwig,
The term "sample room" is a complete misnomer in that such a room simply did not exist in reality. On many occasions vessel owners would request to view samples of the type and style of interior fitments available which may be considered for their vessel. In point of fact many of the internal fitments would have been manufactured by Harland and Wolff in the Joiners Shop, Upholstery Shop and Paint Department. Harland and Wolff also on several occasions manufactured all the curtains and drapery excluding bed linen and sanitary ware.

In order to view such materials in the context of a shipboard environment a series of "mock ups" would have been produced to illustrate how such fitments would appear in use. These "mock up" areas would have been simple flat sections which were very easily altered to include different style of fittings and colour schemes etc. rather than actual rooms. It was simply not practical or cost effective to construct full scale replica rooms or particular areas of a vessel especially as these areas were subject to many design changes during the interior design process. It is possible the term "Sample room" simply referred to the location of the "mock up" panels i.e. a room in Harland and Wolff where the panels were put on display for the vessel owner to inspect. Unfortunately it would appear the authors of TTSM have, by an inappropriate choice of words, apparently presented an erroneous description of actuality.

I hope this fully answers your question.

[Ludwig Bader]

Thank you, Tom, for your detailed answer!

It is possible the term "Sample room" simply referred to the location of the "mock up" panels i.e. a room in Harland and Wolff where the panels were put on display for the vessel owner to inspect.

That's exactly what was meant in the book. The term "sample room" did not refer to a complete room with all its panels, furniture and other equipment, but to that "mock up" gallery you desribe.

[Jennifer Myers]

Very nice old brochure here: http://www.gjenvick.com

Thanks for sharing old brochure link.

[Timothy Trower]

Jennifer,

Welcome to the message board, and thanks for the link. I just glanced -- I'll have to look much further -- but there were some very interesting categories listed there.