QUEENS OF THE SEAS
OCEAN LINERS WERE ONCE THE HEIGHT OF MODERNITY – BEGUILING US WITH THEIR GLAMOROUS WORLDS ON THE WATER. GET ON BOARD WITH THEIR STORY
“Not merely a nautical engine, but rather a microcosm, and carries a small world with it... all the instincts, follies and passions of human nature.” So Jules Verne, author of Around the World in Eighty Days and more, described his 1871 voyage on the ocean liner SS Great Eastern. Though the ocean liner’s glory days have passed, we’re still fascinated by these floating worlds – currently being explored in two exhibitions: the V& A’s ‘Ocean Liners: Speed and Style’ and ‘Titanic Stories’ at the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall. Despite most of us having never been on one, they’re so entrenched in culture that we can picture their decks, their dining rooms and, most probably, what we’d want to wear to dinner.
BIRTH OF THE LINERS
The early ocean liners – vessels that make regular voyages on fixed schedules, or “line voyages” – were technological marvels but not the glamorous mode of transport we’d imagine today. The first regular transatlantic steamship service came in 1840, with Samuel Cunard’s mail steamer, RMS Britannia, and the first passengers on such lines were mainly emigrating to the United States from Europe: in numbers of more than 11 million between 1900 and 1914 alone. The more passengers, the better the profit, and conditions on board were frequently squalid, until the mid-19th century’s introduction of maritime hygiene rules. Although the wealthier cabin class had it slightly better, it wasn’t a relaxing experience. “What the agitation of a steam vessel is, on a bad winter’s night in the wild Atlantic, it is impossible for the most vivid imagination to conceive,” wrote Charles Dickens of his 1842 journey on Britannia.
New shipbuilding technology improved the passengers’ lot and luxurious touches began to be introduced, where class appropriate. Cunard’s Umbria and Etruria, built in 1884/5, were promoted as “floating hotels”, and had facilities including a barber’s shop and a music room. Décor began to echo that of fashionable hotels – the interiors of 1905’s Amerika even shared a designer with The Ritz.
THE LEISURE LINER
The First World War marked a break in the development of liners – especially after the sinking of transatlantic liner Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915, seen as pivotal to the United States joining the war. But it was new »
“These ‘floating hotels’ had facilities including a barber’s shop”
immigration regulation in the States in the early 1920s that really changed the liner’s direction: pushing it towards the pursuit of a wealthy tourist market. The result was modern, glamorous liners – vessels of national pride and importance to the shipbuilding industries. Their images were circulated around the world – on the colourful Art Deco-style advertising posters, postcards and in press photographs, often showing celebrities on board.
LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE
Facilities on board became more and more elaborate, from Turkish baths on the Adriatic (1907) to a 137m-long promenade on 1931’s Atlantique, to Normandie’s 380-seat theatre. By 1926, Vogue was describing liner travel as “the feeling of floating in a dreamland”.
On board, the day’s highlight was dinner, not just for its fare, although turtle soup reigned supreme as a first-class-passenger favourite from the 1880s to the 1970s (environmentalists stepped in to protect the green turtle). A bugle “dress call” half an hour before dinner built anticipation. From about 1910, liners were built with a grand staircase leading into the dining salon. Each guest could make a ‘ grande descente’, showing off their ensemble for the evening. It’s said actress Hedy Lamarr, who booked her passage on the Normandie after hearing movie mogul Louis B Mayer was on board, maximised this opportunity; her film contract was secured by the time they docked in New York.
But it wasn’t just dinner: each activity required suitable attire – whether the gym, the bar or poolside. In 1934 Vogue recommended taking at least 16 ensembles, including beach pyjamas, bathing suit, evening dresses, cocktail dresses and evening wraps.
TROUBLED WATERS
The outbreak of war again disrupted this dreamlike world. Some liners, such as the Queen Mary, were used as troopships – painted a muted grey, she was dubbed the “Grey Ghost” and later inspired the film, The Poseidon
Adventure – but the glamour returned after the war. The QE2, launched in 1967, took style cues from the Space Age trend, optimistically described in its publicity as “the most
“By 1926, Vogue was describing liner travel as ‘the feeling of floating in a dreamland’”
exciting thing to be launched since Apollo 1”.
With the increase in long distance air travel, the liner’s transit role was greatly reduced. Instead, cruise ships catered to the desire for escapism on the water – continuing to grow in popularity and reach new markets. While some liners were modified to operate on cruise routes, the typical bulk and high fuel consumption meant many were unsuited to the task. An exception is the Queen Mary 2, launched in 2004, the largest liner ever and still making transatlantic voyages, as well as Caribbean cruises. Their décor, however, rather than reflect the style of the era as the liners had done, tends to evoke the past – tapping into our nostalgia for the time when liners ruled the ocean waves.