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Description: | On board all ships of this time there were designated rooms for which men could go to smoke tobacco and have a drink. They could also go to talk to fellow male passengers and if the sea wasn't too rough could play a game of cards, chess or a similar game.
There was one smoking room designated for the First Class and one for the Second Class passengers to use. The smoking room for First Class passengers was much more spacious and comfortable than the second class smoking room. It also more expensive and attractive furniture and decoration than the Second Class smoking room.
The Third Class passengers were not given a smoking room, they had a 'general room' which acted as a smoking/lounge room.
This particular smoking room was for the Second Class passengers who were on board R.M.S Olympic. This room would have been also almost as identical as the second class smoking room on board her sister ships Titanic and Britannic.
As you can see from the photograph this room was extremely comfortable, with leather furniture and nice tables and carpet. The tables would of course all be bolted down to the floor to stop them from moving when the ship rocked on the ocean.
Smoking rooms like these at the beginning of the century were only open to gentlemen as they were thought to be inappropriate places for women to be. This was because in many ways it was still seen as quite unladylike for women to smoke.
R.M.S Olympic was built at the Harland and wolff ship yard in Belfast, London at a cost of US $7,500,000. She was launched on October 20, 1910 and entered passenger service in 1911, serving the White Star Line. She served the North Atlantic route, sailing from Southampton Docks.
She was one of a trio of sister ships which were built at the beginning of the twentieth century. The others were called Titanic (1912) and Gigantic (later renamed Britannic) (1914). The sister ships were almost identical in design. R.M.S Olympic however could be distinguished by her open first class promenade. The first class promenade on Titanic and Britannic was partially closed. This was because modifications had been made to Titanic and Britannic (whom came into service later) after Olympic passengers complained of spray coming from the sea onto the promenade.
Unlike her other sister ships, R.M.S Olympic had a much more longer and successful life as a liner than her other sister ships. She served the North Atlantic route for the White Star Line until 1935, when she retired and was turned into scrap. When she went to the scrap yard parts of her interiors were taken out first and were sold to buyers all over the country. Some of her interiors can still be seen in peoples homes today. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | National Monuments Record (English Heritage) | Subjects: | cabin smoking room Olympic White Star Line ship's interior ocean liners Second Class | Temporal: | start=1910-10-20; end=1935-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | Copied by: National Monuments Record (English Heritage) | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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