The Beauty & the Beast is an American television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, very loosely inspired by the 1987 CBS series of the same name, developed by Sherri Cooper-Landsman and Jennifer Levin that premiered October 11, 2012, on The CW. Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan star in the title roles alongside Austin Basis, Nina Lisandrello, Nicole Gale Anderson, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Max Brown, Brian J. White, Amber Skye Noyes, and Michael Roark.
Video Beauty & the Beast (2012 TV series)
Plot
Catherine Chandler witnessed her mother's murder and almost killed herself until someone--or something--saved her. After nine years, now working as a detective for the NYPD, a case leads her to Vincent Keller, an ex-soldier believed to have been killed in action during military service, who is actually alive. As Catherine comes to know him, she finds out more about her mother's murder and about who--and what--Vincent really is.
Maps Beauty & the Beast (2012 TV series)
Cast and characters
Kristin Kreuk as Catherine Chandler
Jay Ryan as Vincent Keller
Austin Basis as J.T. Forbes
Nina Lisandrello as Tess Vargas
Brian White as Joe Bishop (season 1)
Max Brown as Evan Marks (season 1; guest, season 4)
Sendhil Ramamurthy as Gabriel Lowen (seasons 1-2)
Amber Skye Noyes as Tori Windsor (season 2)
Nicole Gale Anderson as Heather Chandler (seasons 3-4; recurring, seasons 1-2)
Michael Roark as Kyle Johnson (season 4)
src: doctorli-beauty.com
Development
Conception
The CW officially began developing the series in September 2011. The project was described as "a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist," unlike the original series which was a romantic drama with mystery and suspense elements. The show is the first project that Mark Pedowitz developed when he joined the network.
Production
The network ordered a pilot of the series in January 2012. The pilot of the show was filmed in Toronto, Canada from March 22 to April 2, 2012. It was picked up by The CW on May 11, 2012, and was scheduled to premiere during the 2012-13 television season. Filming of the first season continued in Toronto from July 27 and production on the thirteenth episode was completed on December 21, 2012. On November 9, 2012, a full season was ordered. On April 26, 2013, Beauty & the Beast was renewed for a second season. Filming of Beauty & the Beast was split between New York City, NY and Toronto from the second season. On May 8, 2014, Beauty & the Beast was renewed for a third season. Filming on season three commenced on August 29, 2014, and ended on February 12, 2015. On February 13, 2015, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season, before the third season began airing. On October 13, 2015, it was announced that the upcoming fourth season would be its last. Filming of the fourth and final season began on May 29, 2015 and ended on November 17, 2015. The final season premiered on June 2, 2016, before concluding on September 15, 2016.
Crew
Producers
Sherri Cooper-Landsman, Jennifer Levin, Ron Koslow, Gary Fleder, Paul Junger Witt, Frank Siracusa, Tony Thomas, John Weber, Bill Haber, C. Anthony Thomas and current showruner Brad Kern have served as executive producers. Roger Grant, Kevin Lafferty, Thom J. Pretak, Mairzee Almas and Michael J. Maschio serve as producers. Other producers on the show include Stuart Gillard, John A. Norris, Holly Henderson, Don Whitehead, Courtney Kemp Agboh, and Eric Tuchman as co-executive producers; Bill Goddard, Blair Singer, and Melissa Glenn as co-producers; Sean Sforza, Julie Lawrence, Kyle MacDonald, and Larry Goldstein as associate producers; Rick Bota as supervising producer; and Jeff Rake, R.R.K. Sinclair, and Rebecca Sinclair as consulting producers.
Writers
Sherri Cooper-Landsman and Jennifer Levin serve as executive producers and writers on the series alongside Brad Kern who joined the series as an executive producer beginning with the second season. Writers on the series include: Roger Grant, Blair Singer, Kelly Souders, Brian Wayne Peterson, John A. Norris, Eric Tuchman, Allison Moore, Emily Silver, Wendy Straker Hauser, Holly Henderson, Don Whitehead, Jeff Rake, Brian Studler, Pamela Sue Anton, Melissa Glenn, and Rupa Magge.
Directors
Directors who've worked on the series include: Rick Bota, Stuart Gillard, Steven A. Adelson, Morris Claiborne, Mairzee Almas, Bradley Walsh, Fred Gerber, Kevin Fair, Mike Rohl, Gary Fleder, Paul Fox, P.J. Pesce, Paul A. Kaufman, Scott Peters, Jeff Renfroe, Michael Robison, Lee Rose, Rick Rosenthal, Bobby Roth, Norma Bailey, Grant Harvey, Allan Kroeker, Rich Newey, and Sudz Sutherland.
Casting
Casting announcements began in February 2012, when Kristin Kreuk was first cast in the lead role of Catherine Chandler. Austin Basis was then cast in the role of J.T. Forbes, Vincent's best friend. Nina Lisandrello and Nicole Gale Anderson were then added to the cast, with Lisandrello landing the role of Tess Vargas, Catherine's partner and best friend. Anderson signed on to the recurring role of Heather Chandler, Catherine's younger sister. Jay Ryan joined the series in the second lead role, Vincent Keller (the character was originally called Vincent Koslow, though in the original series, Vincent had no last name). Max Brown signed on for the role of Dr. Evan Marks, a medical examiner who has feelings for Catherine. Brian White was the last actor to sign onto the series. White joined in the role of Joe Bishop, Catherine and Tess' commanding officer at the NYPD, who becomes romantically involved with Tess. White's character of Joe Bishop was not included in the second season of the series; the story line was that Bishop lost his job because he focused too much attention on finding the killer of his brother instead of performing his duties.
src: www.beautywithinshercock.ie
Episodes
src: furniturelivehood.com
Reception
Beauty & the Beast has received negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 20% approval rating with an average rating of 3.2/10 based on 30 reviews for the first season. The website's consensus reads, " A thoroughly middling romantic fantasy series, Beauty and the Beast suffers from a silly premise, mediocre writing, and bland characterization." The series was given a 33 out of 100 score on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews from 19 critics. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly gave the pilot of Beauty & the Beast a C- grade, stating that it lacks the same charm that the 1980s drama had, and that 'The Beast' is more of a Hulk rather than an actual beast. David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle called the series an "overheated, badly written, wretchedly acted and unconvincing drama, which makes mincemeat out of the traditional beauty and the beast fairy tale". Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times also made similar observations but praised Nina Lisandrello who still remains as the only cast member in the show to ever receive a positive review. About Lisandrello, McNamara wrote "the only point of light is provided by Catherine's partner, Tess, who, as played with great common-sense appeal by Nina Lisandrello, clearly deserves to be on a better show." More mixed but slightly favorable reviews were provided by David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, who said the series was "such a natural it's downright devilish" and Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times, who stated the "girl-power themes will probably play well to the network's core audience."
src: www.philips.com
Ratings
src: www.rit.tafensw.edu.au
Awards and nominations
The show has been honored with acknowledgements from the People's Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards and Saturn Awards as well as the Leo Awards, Canadian Screen Awards, the American Society of Cinematographers, the Canadian Society of Cinematographers and the Directors Guild of Canada.
src: ell.h-cdn.co
Broadcast
TVGN aired the first four episodes of the second season of the show back to back from May 11, 2014. This was the first syndication style broadcast of the show in the United States. The first four seasons have also been released to stream on Netflix in some regions and on iTunes. In Greece Alpha TV premiered in March 27, 2018 the series.
src: cdn.shopify.com
Tie-ins
Novels
A series of tie-in novels, written by Nancy Holder, have been published through Titan Books.
Sephora is a Paris, France-based multinational chain of personal care and beauty stores founded in Paris in 1969. Featuring nearly 300 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragrance, nail color, and haircare. Sephora is owned by luxury conglomerate LVMH as of 1997. The Sephora logo is a white "S"-shaped flame against a black background. The name comes from the Greek spelling of Zipporah (Greek: ???????, Sepph?ra), wife of Moses.
Video Sephora
History
Sephora first launched in Paris on August 14, 1969. It was acquired by Dominique Mandonnaud in 1993, who merged the purchase with his own perfume chain under the Sephora brand. Mandonnaud is credited for founding and implementing Sephora's "assisted self-service" sales experience, which departed from then-typical retail models for cosmetics by encouraging customers to try products in-store before purchasing.
Mandonnaud continued to expand the Sephora brand through the 1990s, opening up its flagship store in Champs Élysées in 1997. In July 1997, Mandonnaud and his partners sold Sephora to LVMH, who expanded the stores globally and bolstered the chain's product offerings to include beauty and cosmetic products.
Sephora extended its operation to the Middle Eastern markets in 2007 and has opened over 44 Sephora UAE and KSA stores as well as an eCommerce store. It extends its partnership with its exclusive brands in the region.
On 1 January 2014, Calvin McDonald replaced David Suliteanu as president and chief executive officer of Sephora Americas. Suliteanu was named CEO of Kendo Brands, another business in the LVMH portfolio.
Sephora opened its first United States store in New York City in 1998 and its first Canadian store in Toronto in 2004. Its North American headquarters is located in San Francisco, with corporate offices in New York City and Montréal. Sephora currently operates over 360 stores across North America.
In 26 August 2016, Sephora opened its 400th location in North America on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. The store is the city's new flagship location.
On 31 March 2017, Sephora opened its largest retail location in North America near Herald Square. The store is approximately 11,380 square feet and features over 13,000 products. It's one of six Sephora TIP Workshop locations, with interactive services and tools, in North America; the others include San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Santa Clara Valley, and Toronto.
Maps Sephora
Operations
Sephora launched its online store to the U.S. in 1999 and into Canada in 2003. The Canadian head office was opened in February 2007 by Marie-Christine Marchives, a former Sephora U.S. and Sephora France employee. Marie-Christine Marchives returned to France in July 2010 to become the general manager of Sephora France. She was replaced in Canada by Klaus Ryum-Larsen. Sephora currently operates over 2,300 stores in 33 countries worldwide generating over an estimated $4 billion in revenue as of 2013. As of September 2013, the Sephora at Champs Élysées in Paris, France, attracts over six million people a year.
Brands
Sephora features a variety of beauty products from more than 100 brands, including NARS Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, Too Faced Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Urban Decay, Benefit Cosmetics, Amazing Cosmetics, First Aid Beauty, Lancôme Cosmetics, Sunday Riley Skincare, philosophy, YSL Beauty by Yves Saint Laurent, Tatcha, Huda Beauty, Kat Von D, and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Sephora also features its own make-up, skincare, beauty tools and accessories. Packaging for the line features the company's elongated flame logo in standard black print.
In 2013, the company debuted fragrance collections with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, known as Elizabeth and James, and a makeup line with Marc Jacobs.
Sephora inside JCPenney
In October 2006, Sephora began opening stores inside JCPenney. Sephora inside JCPenney features some of the same makeup, skincare, and fragrance brands as well as its own product line found in stand alone stores nationwide. Sephora inside JCPenney stores are much smaller than a normal store, usually 1,500 sq ft in size. There are more than 600 Sephora locations in JCPenney stores across the US. In 2017, JC Penney announced the closing of 138 stores nationwide; several of which house a Sephora in JCPenney store.
Subscription service
In August 2015 it was announced that Sephora would launch a subscription service: Play! By Sephora. The monthly subscription service offers boxes containing sample size products for a monthly fee. Boston, Columbus, and Cincinnati were the only three cities to test the initial service launch in September 2015. The service launched throughout the US in 2016. As of 2018, the subscription service is still only available in the US.
For $10 USD billed monthly, each month's box is a collectible bag that changes each month with five deluxe skin care, makeup, or hair care samples. Each box includes a selection of products based on answers provided by customer in PLAY! profile.
Sephora UAE and KSA
Sephora UAE and KSA are regional subdivisions of Sephora. Since 2007, over 30 separate Sephora stores have opened across the Middle East region (UAE, KSA, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait). Sephora UAE and KSA provide make up and skincare products from notable brands such as Christian Dior, Laura Mercier and Kat Von D in a high tech contemporary retail environment. Sephora's first Middle East store opened at Festival City, UAE on 1st March 2007 with a further 30 stores opening across the region since. The Sephora store in the Dubai Mall opened in December 2008 and is now ranked as the company's number two store worldwide after the Paris Flagship store. In 2007 the late Sephora CEO, Jacques Levy expressed a desire to have 100 stores open across the region by 2010. A year later the international financial crisis derailed these ambitions. Levy stepped down in 2011 and died a year later. Despite this early setback Sephora have opened more than 30 more stores and introduced online shopping to the region in November 2016. In December 2017, Sephora opened 'Gifts Beauty Park, the worlds first beauty Festive playground in Dubai. The pop-up store featured fairground and makeup themed games and invited shoppers to sit down with professional Sephora makeup artists to experience the products. In March 2018 Guillaume Motte was announced as the new president of Sephora Europe and Middle East.
Products
Sephora's Middle East stores stock internationally renowned products by the like of Clinique, Estee Laudee and L'Oreal along side local brands such as Shiffa Dubai Skin Care and Huda Beauty. According to Forbes, Huda Beauty, founded by Dubai based blogger and business woman Huda Kattan, was the top selling cosmetic brand across Sephora Middle East, in 2018.
src: www.southcoastplaza.com
Applications
In 2016, Sephora launched the Virtual Artist app, an augmented reality platform. By uploading a photo, the user can receive a virtual makeover, experimenting with different product and shade combinations.
src: slickdeals.net
Acquisitions
In 2000, Sephora.com purchased the assets of Eve.com for "high six-figures".
src: images.fastcompany.net
Lawsuit
On 18 November 2014, four customers filed a class action lawsuit against Sephora. The suit alleges that Sephora engaged in racial discrimination by wrongfully deactivating the customer rewards accounts of Asian customers under the pretense that these customers were buying products from Sephora in bulk and reselling them.
src: media.glamour.com
Environmental record
Sephora's sustainable development initiatives were recognized in December 2015. The company received the Sustainable Brand label, as well as the 2015 R Award for eco-design by the Génération Responsible association. Global Cosmetic News reported that Sephora's newly launched display cases have a 30% lighter metal frame that will reduce CO2 emissions by 220 metric tons.
src: www.altavia-group.com
Awards and honors
In 2010, Women's Wear Daily named Sephora the specialty retailer of the year.
In March 2018, FastCompany named Sephora to the number 36 spot (of 50) on their list of "World's Most Innovative Companies", citing its expanded offering of broadly diverse and inclusive product lines like Fenty Beauty.
Reflecting the White Star Line's reputation for superior comfort and luxury, the RMS Titanic had extensive facilities for First-Class passengers which were widely regarded as the finest of her time. In contrast to her French and German competitors, whose interiors were extravagantly decorated and heavily adorned, the Titanic emphasised comfort and subdued elegance more in the style of a British country manor or luxury hotel. Titanic's enormous size enabled her to feature unusually large rooms, all equipped with the latest technologies for comfort, hygiene, and convenience. Staterooms and public spaces recreated historic styles with a painstaking attention to detail and accuracy. There were a wide range of recreational and sporting facilities in addition which provided ample opportunity for amusement during a voyage.
Although closely similar to her sister ship and predecessor the RMS Olympic, Titanic featured additional First-Class staterooms, augmented public rooms, and myriad minor improvements to enhance her luxury and comfort.
Video First class facilities of the RMS Titanic
Location
The bulk of First-Class facilities and accommodation was located on the upper decks within the superstructure of the Titanic, where the vibrations and noise of the engines were at their lowest. The entirety of A-Deck was devoted to First-Class recreational space and accommodation, along with most of B and C Decks. First-Class facilities were located on every level down to F-Deck, which means that First-Class passengers enjoyed the most space by far of any of the three classes on the ship.
Maps First class facilities of the RMS Titanic
Accommodation
The Titanic offered the finest and most luxurious First-Class accommodations to be found on any contemporary ocean liner. The cheapest First-Class fare could be had for £23 (appr. £2484 in 2017 GBP), without meals. A suite could range in price from £400 (£43,200 in 2017) to £870 (£93,960 in 2017) for a "Deluxe" Parlour Suite at the height of the travelling season. This would be the equivalent of over $116,000 in 2017 dollars for Titanic's most expensive accommodation.
Decor & Range
The staterooms on B and C-Decks were richly appointed in a great variety of decorative styles. A label over every door announced the style of that particular stateroom, including Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, French Empire, Georgian, Jacobean and Italian Renaissance. There was a wide range of finely carved panelling, veneers, and marquetry made from exotic imported woods like Mahogany, Sycamore, Walnut, Oak and Satinwood. Such was the attention to historic detail that every piece of furniture, light fixture, upholstery, and woodwork was recreated with an obsessive care for accuracy by designers and master craftsmen at Harland and Wolff. First-Class accommodation occupied almost the entirety of B and C Decks, but also large sections forward on A, D and E-Decks; a handful of First-Class cabins were located on the Boat Deck between the forward Grand Staircase and Officer's Quarters. On E-Deck staterooms and cabins were interchangeable between First and Second-Class, meaning sections could be prioritized for either one of the classes in the event of overbooking or high demand. Only the starboard side of E-Deck belonged to First/Second-Class, the whole of the Port side contained Third-Class and Crew cabins.
The space which had been given over to an encircling B-Deck promenade on the Olympic was converted to additional large staterooms on Titanic, the finest on board. Many of these staterooms had private entrances, separate servants' quarters, adjoining doors, and en-suite bathrooms; they could be booked in groups to accommodate families and servants. In all there were almost 330 First-Class rooms, 100 of which were single-berth.
The type of First-Class stateroom that predominated was a single or double berth stateroom which contained a dressing table, horsehair sofa, wardrobe, and marble-topped washstand with basin. Double berth cabins had "tipped" washbasins on shelves that could be folded back into the cabinet to save room. Many also had additional bunks suspended over the main bed that could be folded against the wall. Staterooms increased in size thereafter with double beds, built-in wardrobes, and comfortable seating areas. Single berth state rooms, like those on A-Deck, were decorated more modestly than the lavish period suites on B and C-Decks. Above most beds was an electrical outlet with a call button that could summon a steward, a reading lamp and a wire-mesh basket for storing small items. Although the Titanic was centrally heated, all First-Class cabins contained electric heaters to provide additional warmth and passengers could get electric bed warmers on request to a steward.
Facilities & Conveniences
As was standard at the time, the bulk of First-Class bathroom facilities were shared. Communal lavatories with illuminated signage could be found along the passageways divided by sex. A passenger could take a bath by notifying a steward, who would draw the bath based on availability. Because of the need to conserve limited fresh water supplies, baths were supplied with sea water; only the attached showers of the private bathrooms utilised fresh water. Titanic had an impressive ratio of private bathrooms to passengers, more than any other ship in 1912. Virtually all of the suites on B and C Decks featured en-suite bathrooms.
Although bed linen was changed daily there was no laundry aboard because of limited fresh water supplies. Passengers could get their clothes pressed and shoes polished on request, for a small fee. Morning tea and pastries were served to passengers in their staterooms, but there was no room service in the modern sense - passengers had to go to the saloon to be served full breakfasts and other meals.
The Parlour Suites
The most splendid First-Class accommodation on both the Titanic and the Olympic were the four parlour suites on B and C Decks, just off of the Grand Staircase. The two on B-Deck were advertised at "Deluxe" Parlour Suites, or Promenade Suites, because they each contained a 50 ft. (15.24 M.) private promenade deck. The promenade deck connected to the First-Class gangway entrances immediately forward, enabling the copious amounts of luggage usually carried by the Titanic's richest passengers to be loaded directly into their suites. The Parlour Suites each comprised two large bedrooms, two walk-in wardrobes, a private bathroom, lavatory, and a spacious sitting room. The sitting rooms were lavish rooms that allowed for receiving small parties of guests. Each featured a faux fireplace, large card table, plush sofas and chairs, sideboards, and writing desks.
The two private promenade decks were unique to the Titanic, decorated in half-timber Tudor panelling, wicker deck chairs, sofas, tables and potted plants. The deck chairs were cane, made by Dryad of Leicester. The chairman of the White Star Line, J. Bruce Ismay, occupied the port-side "Deluxe" Suite on the Titanic, (and survived) while the starboard suite was occupied by the American millionairess Mrs. Charlotte Drake Cardeza, her son, and entourage.
Condition in the Wreck
There has been relatively little exploration of the First-Class staterooms on Titanic since her discovery. Only the staterooms in the bow section forward of the Grand Staircase survive in an appreciable condition. Because the cabins were all framed in pine and teak, many of the walls between staterooms have deteriorated, leaving a warren of tangled electrical wiring, deep silt and wreckage treacherous to ROVs. James Cameron's 2001 Ghosts of the Abyss expedition focused on the cabins of some of the most famous Titanic passengers, including Henry S. Harper, Molly Brown and Edith Russell. Outstanding images of the marble Adam-style fireplace in Bruce Ismay's Deluxe Suite sitting room and the gilded Louis Quinze fireplace of Mrs. Cardeza's sitting room were produced. Ismay's Private Promenade was also discovered, with the remnants of the distinctive half-timber panelling seen for the first time since the sinking.
The more common remains that delineate staterooms include desks and other hardwood furniture, collapsed bunks, silver-plated lamps, doors, brass bed frames, and even upright cabinets with their contents still in place on the shelves. In the debris field are strewn hundreds of items from First-Class staterooms that poured out of the ship during the break-up.
src: upload.wikimedia.org
Sporting facilities
The Titanic featured numerous sporting and relaxation facilities including:
A gymnasium including a punch bag, a rowing machine, exercise bikes, Stationary bicycles, an electric camel and an electric horse.
Turkish baths, electric baths, and steam room
Private massage room
Swimming pool
Squash court
Barber
Gymnasium
The 1st-Class Gymnasium was just aft of the forward Grand Staircase along the Starboard side of the Boat Deck. It was a brightly lit room with white-painted oak panelling and tile floors. Along the wall opposite the entrance was a carved oak installation with an illustrated cutaway of an Olympic-class ocean liner and a map depicting the travel routes of the White Star Line throughout the world. The room was equipped with state-of-the-art exercise equipment manufactured in Wiesbaden, including electric camels, two electric horses, a rowing machine, punching bag, a weightlifting machine and mechanical bicycles.
There was a permanent "Physical Educator" on staff named T.W. McCawley who assisted passengers in using the devices. The gymnasium was open during the following hours and, like other recreational facilities aboard the Titanic, segregated by gender and age:
9:00 am - 12:00 pm for Ladies Only
1:00-3:00 pm for Children Only
2:00-6:00 pm for Gentlemen Only
The roof of the deck house which enclosed the Gymnasium has long since collapsed and the room itself is sinking into the deck below. Nonetheless the wood panelling that lined the walls is recognisable and so are some of the exercise machines.
Turkish Baths
Along the Starboard side of F-Deck was a spa complex for First-Class passengers known as the Turkish Baths. Besides the Titanic, only the White Star liners RMS Adriatic (1906) and the RMS Olympic (1911) featured Turkish Baths on board. There was a Temperate Room, Cool Room, Hot Room, Steam Room, electric bath and two Shampoo Rooms where massage was performed.
The Baths were segregated by sex, available to women between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., and to men between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. There was a charge of 4 shillings/$1, per person for admission.
The Cool Room was the central feature of the Turkish Baths, decorated in a mix of Moorish/Arabic styles to evoke a Turkish hamam. The walls were adorned with glossy blue-green tiles, richly carved teak, and bronze lamps. Against one wall was a marble drinking fountain. The ceiling was deeply recessed and painted a deep crimson, with gilded beams and hanging lanterns, supported by pillars encased in teak. The portholes were concealed by a carved Cairo curtain and the doorways were adorned with gilded semi-domes to lend an exotic effect. Throughout the room were teak folding chairs, Damascus tables and cushioned chaise lounges for relaxation. There were also small curtained cubicles for changing.
Condition in Wreck
The Cool Room was rediscovered in 2005 during a filming expedition for James Cameron's documentary Last Mysteries of the Titanic, in a remarkable state of preservation. The room would have flooded early in the sinking and its location deep within the ship insulated it from damage when the bow hit the sea bed. It is largely protected from the destructive microbes and sea creatures which consume more exposed parts of the ship; because of this the woodwork is in good condition, even the delicate recliners and framework for the dressing rooms survive in recognisable condition.
Swimming Pool
Across the corridor from the Turkish Baths was a heated swimming pool measuring an impressive 30 ft. long X 14 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep. Water depth was 5 ft. 4 in. at the deep end and 4 ft. 6 in. at the shallow end. Heated salt water from a tank and cold sea water were pumped into the pool once the ship was out to sea. The room offered 13 changing cubicles and 2 shower stalls for convenience. The floors were tiled in blue and white linoleum, and a marble stair with teak footholds descended into the pool. The pool cost $0.25/1 shilling to use but was open to men free of charge between 6 and 8 a.m., for early morning exercise. The Olympic featured two diving boards which proved to be a safety hazard for divers, so they were not installed on Titanic. When the ship was moving the amount of water which sloshed back and forth could make the diving-end deceptively shallow.
The entrance to the Swimming Pool is blocked by a closed watertight door along the bulkhead. It is presumably in good condition like the neighbouring Turkish Baths, given the slow flooding which occurred in this part of the ship and the resilient materials used in the pool's construction.
Squash Court
The Titanic featured a Squash/Racquet Court in the bow, deep within the ship on G-Deck. It measured 30 ft. long X 20 ft. wide and, like the Gymnasium, had its own instructor on staff, Mr. Frederick Wright. There was an accompanying Spectator's Gallery on F-Deck overlooking the court. It could be entered only by a separate staircase starting on D-Deck, from where a passenger would descend the three decks past the viewing platform to G-Deck. The charge to play was 2 shillings/$0.50 (appr. $12.00 in 2017 dollars), for half an hour.
Barber Shop
A small barber shop was located just off the Aft Grand Staircase on C-Deck, open between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. There was a barber permanently on staff who offered shampooing, shaving, and hairdressing services for 1 shilling/$0.25 each. The room itself was installed with two swivel chairs, a marble counter top with two sinks, and leather-padded waiting bench.
The Barber Shop also offered small souvenirs and collectables for purchase, including postcards, White Star branded trinkets, tobacco, dolls, penknives, and hats.
src: titanicbelfast.com
Cafés and restaurants
À la Carte Restaurant
The À la Carte Restaurant was a luxurious restaurant open exclusively to first-class passengers. The Olympic and Titanic were the first British ships to feature restaurants separate from their main dining saloons. This was in imitation of the Ritz restaurant first featured on board the Hamburg-Amerika liner SS Amerika in 1905, which had proven to be enormously popular. The restaurant could accommodate 137 diners at a time. On the Olympic the room was sandwiched between the Second-Class promenades on either side, making it smaller than the version on Titanic, whose restaurant extended to the port side of the ship and whose starboard-side promenade deck was converted to the Café Parisien.
The restaurant was the preferred alternative to the main dining saloon and gave passengers the option of enjoying lavish French haute cuisine at an additional cost. A passenger could choose to eat exclusively in the restaurant for the duration of the voyage and receive a ?3-?5 rebate on his/her ticket at the time of booking. Unlike the main dining saloon, the restaurant gave passengers the freedom to eat whenever they liked (between 8 am and 11 pm). The restaurant was not managed by the White Star Line; Luigi Gatti ran it as a concession and his staff were not part of the regular crew.
The restaurant was one of the most luxurious rooms on the ship, decorated in the Louis XVI style, with exquisitely carved French walnut panelling trimmed in gilt-brass accents. Fluted columns interspersed throughout the room were carved with gilded ribbons and the plaster ceilings were delicately molded with flower and ribbon motifs. Mirrors were installed within the panelling imitating windows and the room was divided into bays along either side with oval mirrors inset. Along the forward wall was a large buffet with a peach-coloured marble top and along the aft wall was a raised bandstand for the orchestra, with buffets on either side containing the silver service and cutlery. The Restaurant featured its own custom Spode china service in gilt and cobalt blue. Axminster carpeting in Rose du Barry covered the floors and the plush chairs of French walnut were upholstered in pink rose-patterned Aubusson tapestry. The À la Carte Restaurant provided the most intimate atmosphere on board. In fact, half of the tables in the restaurant catered for two people, whereas very few of such tables were offered in the main dining saloon.
The passengers often referred to the restaurant as the Ritz. Ms. Walter Douglas, a first-class passenger who survived the shipwreck, gave her account of the À la Carte Restaurant:
It was the last word in luxury. The tables were grey with pink roses and white daisies [...] the stringed orchestra playing music from Puccini and Tchaikovsky. The food was superb: caviar, lobster, quail from Egypt, plovers' eggs, and hothouse grapes and fresh peaches.
On the night of the sinking, the Wideners, a wealthy couple from Philadelphia, hosted a dinner party at the restaurant in honour of Captain Smith.
Artifacts & Fittings from the À la Carte Restaurant
The 2001 Ghosts of the Abyss expedition attempted to gain entry to the À la Carte Restaurant, only to find that the aft end of A and B Decks in the seriously damaged stern section had collapsed upon one another. Relatively few artefacts have been recovered from the debris field that are identified with the À la Carte Restaurant. The most noteworthy is the door from a safe once contained in the Restaurant office which is displayed in various travelling exhibitions. Other pieces are a twisted gilt-brass light chandelier, a gilded wall sconce, and many intact pieces from the Spode china dinner service believed to have been made for the Restaurant. In 2012 a paper menu pad from the restaurant was displayed with the travelling Titanic exhibition in Las Vegas.
Much of the exquisite gilded woodwork from the Olympic's À la Carte Restaurant was purchased before her scrapping and survived for years in private homes in the North of England. In 2000 Celebrity Cruises purchased the panelling, with mirrors and sconces, from the owners of a private home in Sheffield and installed them in a new RMS Olympic-themed restaurant aboard the Celebrity Millennium. Another home was found to contain about 24 panels from the restaurant in 2012.
Dining Saloon
On D Deck, there was an enormous First-Class dining saloon, 114 ft. long x 92 ft. wide. Measuring 1,000 m2 in area, it was the largest room on board any ship in 1912, and accommodated up to 554 passengers. The ship's designers had originally planned to build an extravagant two-storey dining saloon topped by a dome for the Titanic and her sisters, like those on the rival Cunard liners Lusitania and Mauretania. This was vetoed early in the design stages in favour of a lavish single deck saloon which nonetheless greatly exceeded its Cunard rivals in terms of space.
The dining saloon was decorated in wooden panelling carved in the Jacobean style and painted in glossy white enamel. There were two aisles the length of the room which created a large central dining area delineated by pillars. At both the aft and forward end of this central area were two elaborately carved oak buffet stations that contrasted warmly with the otherwise entirely white room. On either side of the central seating area the room was divided into alcoves by partition walls with arched windows. In total, there were 115 tables, set for two to twelve people. Children were allowed to eat here with their parents, as long as the dining saloon was not fully booked.
The Titanic's dining saloon featured red and blue linoleum tiles. The furniture was made of oak and chairs upholstered in dark green leather, unusual in the fact that they were not swivel chairs bolted to the floor (a standard feature in other First-Class dining saloons of the time). The rooms' portholes were elegantly concealed by rectangular 5 ft. tall leaded-glass windows, giving passengers the impression that they were eating onshore instead of at sea. For even more atmosphere, the windows were lit from behind during the evening meals. The dining saloon's meals were prepared in the galley next door, which also serviced the second-class dining saloon, located further aft on D Deck.
On the Titanic a seating chart for diners was drafted that remained in place the length of the voyage, though passengers could make special seating requests with the Purser at the beginning of the voyage. The dining saloon was open between 8 and 10 am for breakfast, 1 and 2:30 pm for lunch, and 6 and 7:30 pm for dinner. Passengers could dine up to 8:15 at the latest, but only on request in advance to a steward. A bugle call to the tune of "The Roast Beef of Old England" was sounded half an hour in advance of lunch or dinner by the ship's bugler, Peter W. Fletcher, so that passengers could dress, before a second call signalling the start of the meal. On Sundays, beginning at 11:00 am, the dining saloon was also used for the Anglican Church service, which was conducted by the captain or, in his absence, by a minister travelling in first class. The service was accompanied by a quintet, which included a piano. Contrary to what has often been portrayed in films, the orchestra did not play during meals.
Condition in the Wreck & Artifacts
Not until filming for James Cameron's Ghosts of the Abyss in 2001 was the Dining Saloon explored. Located mid-ship, most of the room has collapsed - the aft end was severed during the break-up of the ship, allowing its contents to spill out. The very forward part survives and is accessible from the Reception Room, the partition wall having deteriorated. Several of the rectangular leaded-glass windows remain in situ along with much of the wooden panelling, the gilded brass light fixtures, and the cast iron supports for the tables.
Several of the Titanic's dining room chairs were recovered by the Mackay Bennett as wreckage in the weeks after the sinking, as is attested in photographs. Several of the bronze grilles from the swinging doors in the dining saloon have been identified in the debris field, along with innumerable pieces of silverware, china, and glassware from the dining saloon service.
Verandah Café
The Verandah Café (also known as the Palm Court, or the Verandah and Palm Court) was divided into two rooms, located on both sides of the second-class staircase, on A Deck. Reminiscent of an outdoor sidewalk café, its rooms were brightly lit by large windows and double sliding doors that opened onto the aft end of the First-Class Promenade Deck. The café was elegantly furnished with wicker tables and chairs, spread out across a checkerboard tiled floor in light brown and beige. Various outdoor plants filled the rooms, including potted Kentia palms and ivy-covered trellises. It offered commanding views of the ocean but was fully enclosed so that it could be enjoyed in all types of weather, unlike the open-air cafés on the Lusitania and Mauretania. First-class passengers could enjoy a selection of refreshments in the café.
The Verandah Café had both smoking and non-smoking sections. The smoking section, located on the port side, was accessible from the first-class smoking room. The non-smoking section, located on the starboard side, was used as a play area by mothers and children. To note, no such official area existed on board. Contrary to the Titanic's, the Olympic's non-smoking section was frequently deserted.
The Verandah Café was similar in style on both the Olympic and the Titanic. While there are many photos of the Olympic's café, only one photo of the Titanic's remains today. The room was in the stern and was torn apart by the severe implosions which occurred on the descent to the ocean floor; on the wreck the remnants of A-Deck have collapsed. A fragment of the decorative bronze grille from one of the Verandah and Palm Court windows was recovered in 1994 by RMS Titanic Inc. and has been displayed in the travelling exhibitions.
Café Parisien
The Café Parisien was a new feature on the Titanic, designed to occupy a part of the space which on the Olympic served as a rarely used B-Deck promenade. Located on the starboard side, the café was connected to the À la Carte Restaurant.
Like the restaurant, the Café Parisien was open from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm and shared the same menu and servers. The café was furnished with wicker tables and chairs, accommodating up to 68 passengers, and was decorated in ivy-covered trellises and other climbing plants. There was a tiered buffet stand in the centre of the room and sideboards were sited at each end of the room containing the china service. The Café Parisien was most popular among young adults.
In 1912, the British magazine The Shipbuilder gave the following description of the café:
...a Café Parisien, which is an entirely new feature on board ship, has been arranged in connection with the restaurant, and here lunches and dinners can be served under the same excellent conditions and with all the advantages of the restaurant itself...it will be seen that this café has the appearance of a charming sun-lit verandah, tastefully decorated in French trellis-work with ivy and other creeping plants, and is provided with small groups of chairs surrounding convenient tables.
src: img00.deviantart.net
Gathering places
There were many other venues that could be visited by first-class passengers, including:
Reception Room
Lounge
Smoking room (men only)
Reading & Writing Room
Promenade Deck
Grand Staircase
Smoking Room
First-Class male passengers could enjoy a Georgian style smoking room, found at the aft end of A Deck just off the Aft Grand Staircase. In keeping with social conventions of the time, the room was exclusive to men. In order to recreate the same atmosphere of a gentlemen's club, the room was decorated with dark mahogany panelling inlaid with mother-of-pearl and richly carved. Numerous large stained-glass windows were installed in pedimented niches within the panelling, illuminated from behind. Like the Lounge, the ceilings and windows were raised above the level of the Boat Deck for increased height and the room was flanked by alcoves with bay windows, also in stained-glass.
The floor was laid with blue and red linoleum tiles and the plaster ceiling was moulded with plaster medallions. In the centre of the far-back wall was a Norman Wilkinson painting, Plymouth Harbour, which hung over a coal-burning fireplace in white marble. This was the only real fireplace on board: the others were installed with electric heaters. Square tables with raised edges (to prevent drink spillage in rough weather) dotted the room, surrounded by round club chairs upholstered in leather, of an unknown colour (probably green or burgundy).
To the right of the fireplace was a revolving door which led to the Verandah Café. The room was U-shaped because the ventilation shaft from the Turbine Engine Room occupied the forward end. This area also included bathrooms.
The Smoking Room was the preferred spot of gamblers who crossed the Atlantic. Professional card sharps also travelled on board under aliases, and the purser could do nothing but warn passengers about these swindlers, since passengers played at their own risk. At least four professional players travelled on board the Titanic. Cigars and drinks could be made available upon request of the passengers, and were provided by the stewards of the adjacent bar. The bar stopped serving at 11:30 pm and the Smoking Room itself closed at midnight.
Condition in Wreck & Artifacts
The Smoking Room was destroyed during the sinking, being located just aft of where the break-up occurred in an area that was ripped apart during the stern's plunge to the sea floor. No pictures of the Titanic's Smoking Room are known, only those of the Olympic. Certain artefacts have been recovered from the debris field which once decorated the room, including two of the gilt-bronze chandeliers, and portions of the red and blue linoleum floor tiles.
First-Class Lounge
The First Class Lounge was one of the most ornate public rooms on board the Titanic, modelled in the Louis XV style after the Palace of Versailles. It occupied a large space mid-ship on A-Deck, offering views onto the Promenade Deck and the ocean beyond. Intricately carved English oak panelling with intermittent motifs of musical instruments were the dominant feature of the room. Bronze sconces and large rounded mirrors were installed throughout. A 49-light opaque glass and ormolu Electrolier with crystal embellishment occupied the central recess of the ceiling, which was itself elaborately molded with instrumental motifs. Adjoining the open seating area were cosy alcoves with inset mirrors and tall bay windows of leaded and stained glass.
The Lounge had an impressive height of 12 ft. 3 in., enabled by raising the ceiling above the level of the Boat-Deck. Groups of tables and chairs, sofas, and armchairs upholstered in plush velvet with green and gold floral patterns were scattered throughout. At the centre of the forward wall was a gracefully carved grey marble decorative fireplace (it contained only an electric heater). A replica statue of the Diana of Versailles stood on the mantelpiece, with a large mirror above. At the opposite end the wall curved and contained a wide mahogany bookcase which functioned as a lending library for First-Class passengers. They could choose from a permanent collection of classics and the latest releases, which were freshly stocked on every voyage.
Open daily between 8am and 11pm, the room was used primarily for socializing and the taking of tea, coffee and light refreshment before and after dinner, serviced by a small connecting bar. It was a largely female domain but available to both sexes; because of its size it was also convenient for holding concerts and other First-Class events, as is attested on the Olympic.
Artifacts from the Lounge
The Titanic's Lounge was destroyed when the ship broke apart, being located in an area where the midsection decks collapsed upon impact with the ocean floor. Several pieces of wreckage from the Lounge have been identified in the debris field surrounding the wreck, including the Artemis statue, bronze sconces, and portions of the window frames. A beautifully carved piece of oak panelling that once hung above the forward entrance to the Lounge was recovered as wreckage and can be seen at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, along with an oak leg from one of the Lounge tables.
The panelling and fittings of the Lounge on Titanic's sister ship Olympic, which were identical to those of the Titanic, have been largely preserved in the dining room of the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, England. They were installed after being purchased at auction when the Olympic was scrapped in 1935. This room gives the best approximation of how the Lounge appeared on the Olympic and thereby the Titanic. The impressive Electrolier of the Olympic is also preserved at Cutler's Hall in Sheffield, England.
Reading and Writing Room
As the title indicates, the Reading and Writing Room was a leisurely space on A-Deck for relaxation, reading, and writing home to family and friends. The room was on the Port side of the long corridor which connected the Grand Staircase to the Lounge and was generally a female domain, though men could also use the room. It was divided into two zones with a spacious main area and a smaller seating alcove off to the right separated by a porticoed doorway with oeil-de-boeuf windows. Like the Lounge, the room was raised above the Boat Deck, allowing for 11 ft. high windows and an enhanced feeling of spaciousness.
Decorated in a refined Georgian decorative order and painted white, the room featured delicate plaster work combined with sleek panelling, fluted columns, and a white marble fireplace. Potted palms on tall stands were placed in the corners of the room, while shaded sconces and beaded crystal chandeliers provided soft lighting. Comfortable silk-upholstered settees and chairs in shades of yellow and blue were grouped around tables and writing desks for convenience. The windows were lined with pink silk curtains and looked out onto the Promenade Deck, allowing ample sunlight to flood the room. The popularity of this space had proved disappointing aboard the Olympic, and Thomas Andrews had plans to convert part of the room on the Titanic into further passenger quarters.
Reception Room
The First-Class Dining Saloon on D-Deck was preceded by a large Reception Room, measuring 460 m2 (4,951 sq ft), located at the foot of the forward Grand Staircase and encompassing the entire width of the ship. An ornate candelabra rested on the middle railing at the base of the staircase, the light oak colour of which contrasted warmly with the white-painted Reception Room. The Reception area would have been the first impression of the Titanic for many First-Class passengers entering through the two semi-enclosed entry vestibules on either side of the staircase. Around the corner from the Reception Room, forward of the staircase, was the set of three First-Class elevators which ran the length of the stairwell.
The Reception Room was decorated in richly carved mahogany Jacobean-style panelling painted a glossy white. Furnished with comfortable wicker chairs and Chesterfields upholstered in green damask silk, the room would have been conspicuously light and airy because of the beautifully illuminated leaded-glass windows which ran along either side of the room. These were lit naturally during the day through portholes concealed behind the windows and electrically in the evening. In contrast to the linoleum floors on the Olympic, the Titanic's Reception Room was covered with plush Axminster carpeting and there were potted palms in built-in holders in the corners of the alcoves. An imposing Aubusson tapestry, La Chasse du duc de Guise, hung in front of the staircase. On the wall close to the tapestry were letters indicating the name of the deck.
It was recorded on the inaugural voyage of the Olympic, whose reception hall was slightly smaller, that the room quickly filled up after dinner. On the starboard side, there was an area reserved for a quintet and it held a Steinway grand piano. The Titanic's Reception Room was enlarged in contrast to her sister ship through a reconfiguration of the two entry vestibules, reducing their size and adding broad arched entrances into the Reception area.
The Reception Room was open to passengers before and after meals. Here, the orchestra played from 4 to 5 pm while tea was served, then after dinner, from 8 to 9:15 pm. Stewards served liquor and cigars until 11 pm, at which time the hall closed. Generally, there were many spectators in the Room while the orchestra played.
Entrance Vestibules
The Titanic and Olympic both featured duplicate entrance vestibules on their port and starboard sides within the D-Deck Reception Rooms. There were sets of double gangway doors within the hull, screened by wrought-iron grilles. These were partially enclosed areas in the same white Georgian-style panelling; each vestibule contained a large sideboard for storing china. One set of French doors led into the Reception Room, but there was also a broad arched entryway leading to the elevators. Separate corridors led off of the vestibules to the First-Class staterooms in the forward part of D-Deck.
The Titanic's vestibules differed from those on the Olympic - they were reduced in size to make the Reception Room larger and they eliminated the communicating corridor between the two sides in order to enlarge the elevator foyers. The Olympic vestibules contained Third-Class staircases that led down to E-Deck, which were eliminated on Titanic, and the elaborate wrought-iron grilles which covered the gangway doors were unique to Titanic.
It was reported that during the sinking 2nd Officer Lightoller ordered crew members to open the port side gangway doors on D-Deck for loading more passengers into the lifeboats nearer to sea level. The 1986 expedition confirmed that one of the port-side doors was wide open and the inner doors pulled back. This would have significantly increased the Titanic's flooding if the crew neglected to close doors.
Condition in Wreck
Since its first exploration by James Cameron in 1995, the Reception Room has become one of the best documented rooms inside the wreck of the Titanic. It is accessed fairly easily via ROV from the forward stairwell, though there is a deep layer of silt and hanging rusticles which obscure large parts of the room. The Ghosts of the Abyss exploration in 2001 discovered that the Titanic's Reception Room differed in several minor details from the Olympic: there were more support pillars, the decorative grilles of the elevator entrances were different, and there was a completely unknown wrought iron grill door in the front of the D-Deck gangway entrance. Most of the exquisite leaded-glass windows remain in situ, along with much of the mahogany panelling, built-in plant holders, light fixtures, and carved framework surrounding the steel support pillars of the room. Small amounts of the original white lead paint survive in the carved creases of the woodwork, and several of the swinging doors with their bronze grilles still hang in the entrance vestibule doorways.
Promenade and Boat Decks
The Promenade Deck encircled the whole of A-Deck and together with the middle part of the Boat Deck constituted the outdoor space for First-Class passengers to enjoy the sea air and take exercise. Grand First-Class public rooms with their large bay windows, like the Smoking Room and Lounge, characterise the aft end of the Promenade. The forward end is distinguished by the stateroom windows which lined the walls along either side, with their heavy bronze frames and etched glass panes. Parts of this deck were as wide as 30 ft. and sheltered alcoves at points along the deck were used to store the dozens of folded teak deckchairs which passengers could rent during the voyage.
The aft end of the Promenade was a large open air space flanked by two large cargo cranes. This part of the deck was installed with wooden slatted wrought iron benches from where passengers could enjoy views of the stern and the sea. Francis Browne took several photos of this area on the Titanic, including a famous one of 6 year old Douglas Spedden spinning a top with his father. A key distinguishing feature between the Titanic and her sister ship is the Titanic's enclosed forward Promenade Deck, which was installed as protection against the elements and to reinforce a part of the ship prone to heavy vibration. Both had proven to be issues on board the Olympic.
Deck chairs and steamer rugs could be rented at the Purser's Office for 4 shillings/1 dollar each, which applied for the entire voyage. Stewards would bring broth and hot drinks for passengers to enjoy if requested. Oftentimes a passenger could spend the entire day relaxing and reading in his/her deck chair. The Promenade Deck was popular for playing games like shuffleboard, deck quoits, dominoes, and chess, which could be obtained from the Quartermaster.
The middle part of the Boat Deck also served as a 200 ft. long open air promenade for First-Class passengers between the Officer's Promenade at the forward end and the Second-Class Promenade further aft. The Gymnasium was located on the Starboard side and the raised roof of the Lounge, 82 ft. above the waterline, functioned as a large sun deck where deckchairs could be set up. This part of the deck was occupied by only four of the Titanic's 20 lifeboats, which were swung out to the side of the ship at the beginning of the voyage to leave the decks totally uncluttered for the First-Class.
The deck chairs from Titanic, 614 in all between the First and Second-Class areas, have become some of the most recognisable artefacts from the liner. Chief Baker Charles Joughin described throwing dozens overboard from the Promenade Deck during the sinking to be used as flotation devices; passing ships in the weeks after the sinking encountered islands of floating debris including deck chairs. About 10 of Titanic's deck chairs are known today, including one in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia and one in the Museum of the City of New York.
Grand Staircase
The Grand Staircase was one of the most impressive features on board the Titanic and the centre of First-Class activity. The main stairwell was located in the forward part of the ship and began on the Boat Deck, extending six flights down to E-Deck. B and D Decks contained entry foyers on either side where First-Class passengers would embark and disembark, the D-Deck entryway leading directly into the Reception Room. Each level was constructed in solid English oak with sweeping curves and the surrounding spaces panelled in the sleek neoclassical William and Mary style. The balustrades displayed distinctive wrought iron grilles with ormolu swags in the style of Louis XIV. The A-Deck level was undoubtedly the most spectacular and is the most recognisable due to its frequent depiction in film.
The staircase was crowned by an extravagant wrought iron and glass dome with a large chandelier at the centre. This dome was installed on the roof of the boat deck and provided natural light to the stairwell before being artificially lit at night from behind. On the central landing of the A-Deck staircase was an exquisitely carved clock with allegorical figures on either side, known as Honour and Glory crowning Time. At the foot of the staircase, on the newel post of the middle balustrade, was a bronze cherub holding an electric torch. B and C Decks probably had smaller replicas of these cherubs at either corner of the staircases, and contained landscape oil paintings as the focal points of their landings instead of the unique clock on A-Deck.
From the Grand Staircase a passenger could access almost all of the facilities available in First Class, level by level:
The Boat Deck level gave access to the outside promenade space, sun deck, the lifeboats, and the adjoining Gymnasium. The A-Deck level accessed First Class accommodation at the forward part of the ship and the grand public rooms located further aft via a long corridor. Entry vestibules opened onto the encircling Promenade Deck from the stairway.
B and C Decks connected to the main corridors containing the bulk of First-Class accommodation, including the extravagant 'Millionaire's Suites' located immediately off the B-Deck level staircase. On the Starboard side of the C-Deck staircase was the Purser's Office, where passengers stored their jewellery and other valuable belongings during the voyage.
On D-Deck the staircase opened directly onto the Reception Room and adjoining Dining Saloon. Instead of a cherub, the central post of the staircase contained an impressive gilt candelabra with electric lights. Behind the staircases were installed the three First-Class elevators which ran between E and A Decks.
On E-Deck the staircase narrowed and lost the sweeping curve of the upper flights; a modest single flight terminated on F-Deck, where the Turkish Baths and Swimming Pool could be reached.
src: pre00.deviantart.net
Aft Grand Staircase
There was in fact a second Grand Staircase located further aft in the ship, between the third and fourth funnels. It was in the same style as the forward Grand Staircase with an illuminated dome at the centre, but it was smaller and only installed between A, B, and C Decks. A simple clock graced the main landing in contrast to the ornate "Honour and Glory Crowning Time" clock in the forward Staircase. One could access the Smoking Room immediately off the A-Deck level, and the Lounge via a long companionway with revolving doors on the port side. On the Titanic there were two additional stateroom suites installed on either side of the A-Deck staircase, one of which was occupied by Thomas Andrews, the ship's builder.
The whole of the B-Deck foyer was used as a reception area for patrons of the Á La Carte Restaurant and Café Parisien, specially designed in the Georgian style and painted white like the main Reception Room on D-Deck. There was a recess for coat storage and comfortable rattan seating was arranged in groups throughout the room. This was in contrast to the B-Deck foyer of Olympic, where there was no restaurant reception room and the foyer space was much smaller because of additional cabins and storage rooms.
This staircase was located just aft of where the Titanic broke apart during the sinking and was totally destroyed. It is assumed to be the source of much of the woodwork recovered as wreckage after the sinking.
src: i.ytimg.com
See also
Second and Third-Class facilities on the RMS Titanic
src: i.pinimg.com
References
src: greendragonblog.com
Bibliography
Archibald, Rick; Ballard, Robert (2005). The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard. Madison Press Books. ISBN 978-1-59223-424-0.
Beveridge, Bruce (2009). The Ship Magnificent, Volume Two: Interior Design & Fitting. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4626-4.
Chirnside, Mark (2004). The Olympic-class ships : " Olympic ", " Titanic ", " Britannic ". Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2868-3.
Lynch, Don; Marschall, Ken (2003). Ghosts of the Abyss. Madison Press Books. ISBN 0-306-81223-1.
Lynch, Don; Marschall, Ken (1997). Titanic: An Illustrated History. Wellfleet press. ISBN 978-0-7858-1972-1.
Marschall, Ken (2001). James Cameron's Titanic Expedition: What We Saw on and Inside the Wreck. marconigraph.com.
O'Donnel, E. E. (1998). L'Album " Titanic " du Révérend Père Browne. MDV. ISBN 2-910821-19-6.
Masson, Philippe (1998). Le Drame du " Titanic ". Tallendier. ISBN 2-235-02176-X.
Piouffre, Gérard (2009). Le " Titanic " ne répond plus. Tallendier. ISBN 978-2-03-584196-4.
Tibballs, Geoff (1997). The Titanic: The Extraordinary Story of the Unsinkable Ship. Carlton Books Ltd. ISBN 0-89577-990-0.
Wels, Susan (1997). Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner. Time Life Books. ISBN 0-7835-5261-0.
The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952.
Video Gibson Les Paul Custom
History
The Gibson Les Paul was introduced in 1952, and was originally made with a mahogany body and a 1" thick maple cap, mahogany neck with rosewood fret board and two P-90 pickups. The guitar was only available in a gold finish. In late 1953, a more luxurious version was introduced, most probably on specific request by Les Paul himself, as he wanted a more luxurious and classy looking guitar. He requested a black guitar as he wanted it to "look like a tuxedo". Nicknamed the Black Beauty, the guitar had a mahogany body and neck, ebony fret board, and mother of pearl block markers inlays in the fret board. The "Split Diamond" inlay on the headstock was taken from the carved archtop Super 400, which was the top of the Gibson line. The pickups were a P-90 in the bridge position and an Alnico V pickup, newly designed by Seth Lover, in the neck position. The frets are low and flat, as opposed to the usual medium jumbo frets found on other Les Paul customs, and the guitar soon was given the nickname "The Fretless Wonder". The 1954 Les Paul Custom also saw the introduction of Gibson's new bridge, the ABR-1. The new Custom also shipped with a different case from the Standard, using a black and gold case instead of the brown and pink case that was the top-of-the-line case for the Les Paul Standard models. This was to be the case until the Custom was replaced and discontinued (though a similar black case was used with the LP/SG Custom models).
In mid-1957, Gibson began to equip the Les Paul Custom with the new PAF (Patent Applied For) pickup designed by Seth Lover. Most Customs have three PAFs, though there are a small number that have the traditional two-pickup configuration. By 1958, Gibson had replaced the Kluson tuners with Grover Rotomatics. It is this configuration that remained until the guitar was discontinued in 1960, replaced by the new double cutaway body Les Paul model. There are a small number of 1961 Les Paul Customs that were made with the single cutaway body before the transition to the new, SG-style body was complete.
The Les Paul Custom remained a double cutaway model until 1963, when Les Paul's endorsement with Gibson ended, and the guitar was subsequently renamed the SG Custom.
In 1968, Gibson reintroduced the Les Paul Custom as a two pickup model. The headstock angle was changed from 17 degrees to 14, a wider headstock and a maple top (in lieu of the original 1953-1961 mahogany top construction). In 1969, Norlin had acquired Gibson, and the Les Paul Custom saw many changes between 1969 and 2004. The mahogany neck was replaced with a three-piece maple neck in 1975 (though some mahogany ones were still made)with this change lasting till around 1982, and the solid mahogany body was replaced with a "pancake" body in late 1969, where a small strip of maple resides between two thicker pieces of mahogany. This would last until 1977. In 1970, a "Made in USA" stamp was added to the back of the headstock, and a volute was added to help strengthen the headstock.
In 1974, Gibson released the 20th anniversary Les Paul Custom in a white, black, cherry sunburst and honey sunburst finish (at least these four colors were made) with "20th Anniversary" engraved on the 15th fret block inlay. By 1976, the new Nashville bridge begins to replace the ABR-1. In 1977, the pancake body was replaced by the traditional solid mahogany body, though the top was still maple, as was the neck. It was around this time that the current serial number system appears as well. In 1975 Gibson began making a number of Customs with maple fingerboards, instead of the typical ebony (this was discontinued by the early 1980s). From 1979 to 1982(83?) Gibson made a limited edition of 75 worldwide LP custom in the Silverburst colour with 2 "Tim shaw Burstbuckers".In 1981, the volute is phased out. In 1984, Gibson closed the Kalamazoo plant, and all production was moved to Nashville. In 1986, Norlin sold Gibson to a group of investors led by Henry Juszkiewicz.
The Les Paul Custom specs by the end of the 1980s:
Smaller headstock
Mahogany neck
Mahogany body
Maple top
Ebony fingerboard
Gold hardware
2 humbucking pickups
Nashville bridge
Standard Gibson frets, as opposed to wide, flatter frets
Gibson has been using the 490R/498T pickups in the Custom since the 1990s, and these are still standard spec on the Custom model.
Specific production years
The Gibson guitars in from 2000-2003 were specially made on the requirements of the client on what kind of wood on the fret board,types of wood for neck and body, type of hardware and some models were also rounded of deeply on the request for specific number of coil turns in the pickups as well. Type of logo designs and hard cases were also manufactured on the request of the customer. These special custom series came up with specific serial numbers which were encrypted with Custom's CS and small, more compact serial number CS XXXXX
The first two numbers represent on which number this specific model was built, next two represent the year they were made in and the last numeric value represents the month of formation
Maps Gibson Les Paul Custom
Current models
In 2004, Gibson moved construction of the Les Paul Custom to its Nashville Custom Shop. The specs remained similar, with the only immediate changes being a TKL-made Custom Shop case (black with a crushed red interior) and a Certificate of Authenticity, as well as a Gibson Custom decal on the back of the headstock. The serial number system for the Custom also changed from the 8 digit USA numbering system to the Custom Shop numbering system, which reads as CS YNNNN (Y = last number of the year of manufacture, N = guitar's place in sequential production for the year).
In 2012, Gibson replaced the ebony fingerboard on the production Custom with a solid paper-phenolic resin composite material.
While the Custom is currently only available in ebony, it is often offered in Alpine White, Wine Red, Cherry Sunburst and Silverburst as well. The Custom model differs from the Les Paul Standard in many ways. The cosmetic differences include gold hardware (though silverburst Customs have chrome hardware); block inlays on the fretboard rather than the trapezoid inlays of the Standard (with an inlay at the 1st fret, whereas the Standard has none); a "split-diamond" pearl inlay on the headstock; and multi-ply binding around the body and headstock (the neck retains single-ply binding). The construction differences are a physically larger headstock; an ebony, maple or richlite fretboard, both of which tend to sound "snappier" (acoustically) than the rosewood fingerboard found on the Les Paul Standard; lower frets with more squared off tops (though lower than the frets on a Standard, today's production Custom does not have "Fretless Wonder" frets) and larger round "speed" style knobs (though other knob types can be seen depending on the year and model). Gibson also does limited color runs, such as Pelham Blue, Frost Blue, Kerry Green, transparent colors, metallic colors and sunbursts that are not typically offered on a normal Custom. The hardware for these models can be either gold or chrome, depending on the color/specs. Starting in 2011, Gibson began to reintroduce maple fingerboards to the Custom, offering limited runs in the traditional colors, as well as transparent colors with figured tops.
In 2013, Gibson did a limited run of 1957 reissue Customs (both 2 and 3 pickup models) with ebony fingerboards. These were the first Customs since 2011 to feature ebony fingerboards, and came with white handling gloves, a 20th anniversary toggle switch control cover, a special COA and a Gibson Custom case. In 2012, Gibson reintroduced the original brown and pink "California girl" case for its Custom Shop models, largely replacing the black and red case that had been in use for almost a decade.
The current Les Paul Custom specs are:
Weight relieved mahogany body
Maple top
Mahogany neck
Richlite fingerboard
Ebony finish
Gold hardware
490R/498T humbucking pickups
Nashville bridge
Stop tailpiece
Speed knobs
Grover tuners
Additionally, Gibson makes a number of signature Les Paul Custom models that are distinctly separate models from the standard production Custom, including:
Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom
Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom
Tak Matsumoto Doublecut Custom
src: images.gibson.com
Previous models
Gibson has also made a number of other Custom models, including:
1954 Les Paul Custom Reissue
Solid mahogany body
"Fretless Wonder" frets
Alnico "staple" neck pickup
P90 bridge pickup
Kluson tuners
ABR-1 bridge
Non-weight relieved body
1957 Les Paul Custom Reissue (2 and 3 pickup models)
Solid mahogany body
"Fretless Wonder" frets
2 or 3 '57 Classic pickups
Kluson tuners (some released with Grover tuners)
ABR-1 bridge
Optional Bigsby
Non-weight relieved body
1961 Les Paul/SG Custom
SG body shape and contours
Original neck/body joint
1968 Les Paul Custom Reissue
Maple cap
Larger neck
'57 Classic pickups
ABR-1 bridge
Non-weight relieved body
There was also a small run of Guitar Center-exclusive models available in sunburst with a figured maple top and a slim neck profile
60th Anniversary Les Paul Custom (2010)
Specs similar to the 1957 Reissue, with minor changes to reflect the 1960 Les Paul Custom
Les Paul Custom Rosewood Maduro (2012 model)
Rosewood fretboard
Pickup specs varied based on color
Les Paul Classic Custom (2012 Limited Edition)
No back binding
Baked maple fingerboard
Acrylic inlays
USA production model (non-Custom Shop)
Les Paul Custom (2013 Limited Edition)
Custom Shop 20th Anniversary 1957 Les Paul "Black Beauty" with 3-Pickup
One piece ebony fingerboard
Deep-set neck tenon
Gloss finish
Limited to 100 pieces
Each comes with a handmade, one of a kind Custom Shop 20th Anniversary COA which is framed, a set of white gloves, a custom fitted dust cover (that fits the guitar) with "retro" 1993 Custom Shop logo and with a stamped brass"20th Anniversary" cover over the pickup toggle switch cavity.
Custom Lite models
Les Paul Custom Lite (approx. 1986-1990)
Slim body
No back binding
Belly contour
2 volume, 1 tone, coil tap
Ebony fingerboard
Les Paul Custom Lite (2013 Limited Edition)
Slim body
No back binding
Belly contour
2 volume, 1 tone, coil tap
Rosewood fingerboard
USA production model (non-Custom Shop)
Past Signature Model customs
Randy Rhoads Les Paul Custom (Limited Edition)
Reproduction of Rhoads' 1974 20th Anniversary Custom
Available in both VOS (Vintage Original Spec) and Aged
Mick Jones Les Paul Custom (Limited Edition)
Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom (Limited Edition)
Based on the Les Paul Custom stolen from Page
3 pickup model
Bigsby tailpiece
Custom wiring with a six-way toggle switch
VOS finish
Gibson discontinued many models with ebony fingerboards as factory spec after the August 2011 federal raid due to concerns regarding the legality of ebony that the company had purchased. The 2013 Les Paul Custom that commemorates the Custom Shop's 20th anniversary is the first and only Custom to feature an ebony fingerboard since late 2011.
src: images.gibson.com
Notable Les Paul Custom players
src: i.ytimg.com
Other models
Gibson's subsidiary, Epiphone, also makes the Les Paul Custom guitar.
As of 2009, it comes in various finishes and variations. It comes in Ebony (with gold hardware, chrome hardware and chrome-plated pickguard on a limited edition, and with aged white binding, gold hardware, and uncovered pickups another limited edition), Alpine White (with gold hardware), Silverburst (with chrome hardware), Prophecy EX (with EMG pickups, transparent black finish with a quilted maple top, and black hardware), Prophecy GX (Gibson Dirty Finger pickups, transparent red finish with a quilted maple top, and gold hardware), and the Zakk Wylde signature (antique ivory with bulls eye graphic and gold hardware, Camo finish with a bulls eye graphic, maple fingerboard and gold hardware, and orange with a buzzsaw graphic and chrome hardware, EMG pickups).
