William Oakes
Member
During my recent visit to Belfast Ireland, in October 2023, I visited the former Headqurters of Harland and Woflf.
It is now a hotel called the Titanic Hotel.
I explained that I was a Titanic researcher from the United States and I was given free reign to roam about.
The drawing office is mostly original except that now it has a bar located in the middle of the room.
The bar is tiled with the same tiles that were used in Titanic’s swimming pool.
That got me to thinking about the massive amount of tiles that Harland and Wolff must have purchased.
I’m certain that there were minimum order quantities back then just as there are today for businesses.
It is a pretty safe bet that Harland and Wolff purchased a large quantity in return for a better price.
Back in the 1990’s Harland and Wolff launched a “Maritime Heritage collection."
One of the items offered was a piece of Titanic smoking room tile.
These have become more scarce as time has moved on, but still a controversy rages over this tile.
Many say it is from Olympic.
Still others say it is from Titanic, but that it was removed and replaced with red and blue tile. (I highly doubt that this was removed but I don’t doubt that Titanic’s smoking room tiles were red and blue.)
As I continued my walk around the building I visited Lord Pirrie’s office, and Thomas Andrew’s office, and the presentation room.
I paid particular attention to the flooring.
On the stairs and the landing near Mister Andrews office are tiles that are identical to mine, but in a slightly brighter shade.
These tiles look like one big piece, but in actuality they are four interlocking pieces. When disassembled they would be very easy to paint.
So, I'm wondering, do you think Harland and Wolff purchased a large quantity of a basic shade of tile and then used their labor pool to paint them in the different colors that they desire.
I’m curious to hear what you think?
It is now a hotel called the Titanic Hotel.
I explained that I was a Titanic researcher from the United States and I was given free reign to roam about.
The drawing office is mostly original except that now it has a bar located in the middle of the room.
The bar is tiled with the same tiles that were used in Titanic’s swimming pool.
That got me to thinking about the massive amount of tiles that Harland and Wolff must have purchased.
I’m certain that there were minimum order quantities back then just as there are today for businesses.
It is a pretty safe bet that Harland and Wolff purchased a large quantity in return for a better price.
Back in the 1990’s Harland and Wolff launched a “Maritime Heritage collection."
One of the items offered was a piece of Titanic smoking room tile.
These have become more scarce as time has moved on, but still a controversy rages over this tile.
Many say it is from Olympic.
Still others say it is from Titanic, but that it was removed and replaced with red and blue tile. (I highly doubt that this was removed but I don’t doubt that Titanic’s smoking room tiles were red and blue.)
As I continued my walk around the building I visited Lord Pirrie’s office, and Thomas Andrew’s office, and the presentation room.
I paid particular attention to the flooring.
On the stairs and the landing near Mister Andrews office are tiles that are identical to mine, but in a slightly brighter shade.
These tiles look like one big piece, but in actuality they are four interlocking pieces. When disassembled they would be very easy to paint.
So, I'm wondering, do you think Harland and Wolff purchased a large quantity of a basic shade of tile and then used their labor pool to paint them in the different colors that they desire.
I’m curious to hear what you think?
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