Titanic's First Class Lounge: 1912 to 2024

Intro and Design the first class Lounge aboard Titanic and her twin sister ship Olympic were one of the most noble rooms on the grand ocean liner and perhaps the most magnificent Apartments ever built at Sea it was situated upon the prominade deck and centered between funnels 2 and three to maximize comfort and location for Titanic's Elite passengers the lounge was a large room 59 ft long and 63 ft wide the space cut into the boat deck above making the room 12' 3 in high the interior designers for Titanic Alden Heaton and Company who had worked with Harland wolf and the White Star Line on previous ships outfitted the lounge like many public rooms aboard Titanic the lounge was a descendant of a room aboard an earlier liner it was common for the designers to reproduce the popular features from their successful ships into their newest larger generations with a few tweaks such as expanding the space and new features Oceanic first class library was an earlier version of Titanic's first class Lounge some Decor elements such as the carvings fixtures clocks and the grand bookcase were almost identical however Titanic's Lounge was much larger than Oceanic Library so there are many more exciting pieces of Decor to discuss the space's overall design is in the Louis quin's Style with details taken from the Palace of Versa in France the woodwork is English Oak the same Oak used in the grand staircase other first class apartments and even second third and crew Oak spaces the carvings in the lounge were some of the most outstanding and intricate aboard the ship the Boise Aries were surrounded with details all carved by hand motifs broke the panels containing musical instruments violins Liars citans bells and musical Scrolls everywhere one looked were ribbons scallops fruits and flowers every detail was Exemplar plaster workor had the right amount of gilded leaves instruments and ribbons in the proper places to stand out against the white painted SE ceiling panels and above the two entrances to the lounge and Doorway to The Pantry were incredibly ornate panels with musical elements fantastic squirrel work and a mascar and insert above the doorway to the forward Corridor which headed to the grand staircase was a very special panel please remember this one Windows and Lighting the room was illuminated and ventilated by 20 large Windows of two types and four bays and four corners on the outboard sides because of the heightening of the room it's boat Tech above the windows were divided into into two sections the lower more prominent and in most cases opening sections were Leed with an elongated diamond design and protected by an exterior glazing overlooking the prominade deck the boat deck had clear story Windows which were curved and arched were made of leting stained glass featuring some fantastic art of minstrels they are singing telling stories playing instruments and entertaining now if the lounge became too cold all these windows were shut and the heat would be turned on the steam radiators along the base of the walls covered by Pierce brass decorative grills kept delicate passengers toasty warm when night fell upon the lounge electric illumination was aided by scones and ceiling fixtures 51 three light Louis the 15th oroo bracket scones adorned the walls in contrast four oval and eight ornamental Orval Electro with shaped cut and engraved glass panels each with eight light bulbs graced the room's Bays corners and sides in the center house in its small deorative Dome that made the room even higher was a massive ornamental orlu oval Electro leier with cut and engraved glass panels and cut glass bead dressings this impressive Electro was one of the largest fixtures aboard the ship it had 48 light bulbs with 16 hanging separately housed with engraved glass Shades and bead Fons hidden in the coua for the electr leier behind the decorative mesh was duck worked for the ventilator on boat deck above which expelled any stale air and heat generated from all the incandescent bulbs within the room the final element Fireplace and Diana Statuette of the lounge which might have generated some illumination was the fireplace on the forward wall was a beautiful faux campan verts marble fireplace it extended out from the bulkhead with an equally remarkable carved Oak surround Fons garlands and more hand carvings of Oak were placed above the fireplace and framed with a large mirror while the fireplace was fake it was electric and generated Heat at least on tanic and possibly a faux flame effect with the use of a light bulb and a small motor hidden in the fake coal The Hearth encompassed a pair of and irons in the shape of ears and a decorative dog grate that held the phony coal on top of the mantle sent two more decorative marble urns or cassetes centered was a bronze statuette a copy of a much larger version now housed in the Lou she was possibly produced by the Barbadian Foundry she was Diana of her size she sat bolted proudly on the mantle remember Diana for later too she is essential many of these elements from Olympics Lounge identical to Titanic the paneling ceiling Windows sconces light fixtures and even fireplace can still be found today most are in the White Swan Hotel in anic England if you need to visit one Titanic related location to feel how it was aboard the ship it is the white swan hotel now the lounge had Socializing, Tea, Games, Reading, and Writing to serve a purpose besides looking beautiful and unique to provide first class passengers with the retreat to relax and spend time idling away as Titanic crossed the sea each class had a room with this purpose but Titanic's first class passengers had several more options after paying more and that meant the lounge ended up not being as popular as the other choices like the reception room on dck however the primary role of the lounge was to be a centralized spot to come and quietly and politely socialize with fellow passengers or read a book there were many secluded Corners in the room and there were 96 seating options from arm and tub chairs French satis Chester fields and more to pick from comfortable Furniture was furnished in Jaden gold velvet framed in Mahogany with matching pillows which also match the carpeting for the room the lounge was also intended to be a casual gaming location the tables were set up for chests Checkers and card games 11 felt top squared card tables with four scallop chip holders in the corners let the Casual bridge and poker players enjoy a friendly game or two tea and beverages were also served within the lounge yet one would not make this room their go-to spot for tea time proper tea time would require a table full of saucers and silverware including a tablecloth for your benefit just a shy 10 oblong tables allowed for this to happen in the lounge and while ship Builder magazine said tea could be taken in this room it seems less practical for a full tea sprad with sandwiches and the trimmings if you needed a snack just ask a steward though the lounge had two wall-mounted glass candy cabinets perhaps for displaying the options to enjoy or more realistically white stars items to obtain and purchase however the lack of tea time was due to the lounge's function as a library Whit star provided a collection of books for their passengers to enjoy the system to check out books was similar to the local library you know today these were novels of the day and great Classics Bound in White Star B finding and periodically the library was switched out so if one were to find themselves sailing aboard Titanic again later the choices would differ all the books were kept in an enormous finely carved mahogany bookcase forward of the third funnel the bookcase was richly detailed and crowned with a shell pediment five glazed panel doors enclosed of five shelves and underneath the bookcase were 12 cupboards the cupboards provide excellent storage for the various magazines newspapers stationaries and board games that were all provided over the lounge flanking the bookcase were two magnificent cartel orlu ornaments on the port side or right of the bookcase was a clock connected to the ship's Magneto system and to the left of the bookcase on the starboard side was a date indicator it wasn't a barometer these were also in the Louis the 15th style and the clock had a figure that represented the god Mars while the date indicator had the goddess Venus unlike many of Olympic's fine fittings the clock and the date indicator have not been seen since she was scrapped the final purpose of the room was to allow passengers to write their post and correspondence in the outboard Bays of the room were four writing desks each desk allowed for two passengers at a time to write on white Starline stationer envelopes with provided pens privacy and light from a small yet lovely lamp everything they needed to say to their friends and loved ones back home if you couldn't see what the date indicator said next to the bookcase you luckily had right in front of you on the desk a date indicator when you were done rating all the tea from your Voyage to your best friend back in Bristol you could give your letters to the steward or drop them off as you left for the grand staircase as a post office box sat right next to the door under that lovely decorative panel you couldn't miss this post office box there was a sign that said letters adjacent to the slot where you could deposit your Titanic's Lounge and Disaster letters now we can only assume that the lounge aboard Titanic was identical to Olympics except for the minor differences from the touch of a carpenter's hand in their carvings so what happened in the lounge during Titanic's Voyage especially on that Infamous night throughout the voyage Titanic's passengers enjoyed the Room daily from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. sometimes staying open late when a stray passenger or two insisted on finishing a letter or just couldn't end their bridge game activity in the room would have become a routine and those same occurrences would have been entertained on Monday April 15th famously passengers were ordered up with their life belts on after the unthinkable occurred with the general sense of confusion many found their way to the one room they utilized throughout the voyage as their Hub were connecting and socializing the lounge reopened quickly after the impact with the Berg passengers swarmed inside the relatively warm room no one initially wanted to head out on Deck into the cold midnight air Steward tried to persuade passengers to leave the room and head for the boat The Lounge's Last Guest deck where the lifeboats awaited women and children one passenger Edith rosenbom had left the lounge earlier that night after finding it too difficult to reach the boat deck due to a crowd swarming a set of stairs and was now sitting comfortably in the lounge once more the room was crowded at first but slowly it emptied eventually Edith sat alone in a Big Easy chair just her and her mascot a soon to be famous toy Pig her room steart Robert wereham had just fetched for her but I ended up sitting there for only about 5 more minutes I am glad I didn't stay longer or I might not be here today as I looked around that lovely room I began noticing it seemed to be on a slant the deck was lopsided you know sort of leaning toward the bow this alarmed me and I got up we can assume several things happened in the lounge after edth left it around 1:20 a.m. sometime later a Wandering Steward must have checked the room he then extinguished the lights in the lounge and his connecting corridors forever as the lights in the forward Corridor are still intact 2 miles below the surface Titanic had little time left and Destruction and Aftermath neither did the lounge the forces killing Titanic had a terrible fate in store for this most beautiful room as the bow of Titanic plunged around 2:15 a.m. a wave of water made its way out on the boat deck the stern Rises and the stress is inside the ship continue to reach a literal Breaking Point ripping the room in Twain splintering magnificent carvings popping panels off bulkheads shattering stained glass tossing Jade and golded Furniture like toys all before submerging this example of Gilded Age opulence into the depths of the North Atlantic on its way down to the bottom the room found no rest bites the tremendous Force caused by the flow of water rips away what is left from the bow windows and light fixtures are teared off of their foundations and Scattered into the debris field the fireplace and mantel are subjugated to unimaginable forces as the wall between the lounge and reading room is jettisoned out of position by the water the beautiful ornaments at top The Mantel tossed and bounced through the melstrom inside Titanic before finding their way far from the ship resting in the mud of the ocean floor to be unseen again for almost 80 years days and weeks after the sinking at the surface a few pieces of flatsome remain from this once remarkable room carved woodwork some pillows one piece of delicate paneling is recovered and saved Perhaps it is the most famous artifact from Titanic until now today Titanic's Rediscovery Lounge within the bow of the wreck is gone instead we explorers and researchers turn to the debris field to find remnants of Titanic's Beauty there scattered all around and far from the ship are examples of the magnificence that once was in 1912 beauty is repeatedly found in this dark cold unforgiving environment found again after being lost over 30 years ago this beauty which once sat at top the Magnificent mantle Now lies half buried in the mud gazing up towards the surface longingly she has been hopeful and waiting for her rescue for over a century will her rescue ever come or will she remain at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity [Music] Patreon Officers August 2024 [Music] [Music] [Music]