Sam Brannigan
Member
Oh God, I'm in big troub...oh, it's okay - Phil Hind is British. Phew!
(Sorry all American readers!)
he he.
(Sorry all American readers!)
he he.
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Smoking etiquette
- Thread starter Tommy. S. Watson
- Start date
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- Tags
- smoking social etiquette
monica e. hall
Member
Sam..... hmm" Good stuff, though.
Sam Brannigan
Member
Getting back to the Titanic, I realise that there was a general rule about not smoking while working, but I wonder if officers in particular were allowed a crafty smoke while on duty.
Bridge duty was surely tedious and full of responsibility - two factors which would leave me gasping for a f** (that's enough sniggering Bob!).
Do you think that rather than disappearing to the officer's smoke room while on duty they simply lit up on the bridge? After all, when it comes to less important things such as navigation and safety Smith et al were fairly lax.
As for Fleet and Lee lighting up in the crows nest (they would have to bend down to avoid the wind extinguishing their light and could miss something...) it doesn't bear thinking about.
No need for Rose and Jack snogging on the deck to distract their attention...
Just a thought!
Bridge duty was surely tedious and full of responsibility - two factors which would leave me gasping for a f** (that's enough sniggering Bob!).
Do you think that rather than disappearing to the officer's smoke room while on duty they simply lit up on the bridge? After all, when it comes to less important things such as navigation and safety Smith et al were fairly lax.
As for Fleet and Lee lighting up in the crows nest (they would have to bend down to avoid the wind extinguishing their light and could miss something...) it doesn't bear thinking about.
No need for Rose and Jack snogging on the deck to distract their attention...
Just a thought!
Bob Godfrey
Member
Shipping lines generally had a ruling that officers were strictly prohibited from smoking while on duty, whether at sea or in harbour. They were also usually forbidden to drink alcohol at any time while at sea, or to indulge in card playing or any form of gambling. They weren't even allowed to use profane language or insult the passengers. No fun at all! Except possibly snogging. No rule against that.
Sam Brannigan
Member
""If I were the head of a tobacco company, I'd say, 'God bless "Titanic," ' " Bruce Silverman, a California ad executive, who directed that state's antismoking media campaign, says...
But what is "Titanic"? Leonardo DiCaprio smoking pensively on the Titanic deck is classic Marlboro Man. The swells in first class trading cigarettes are Dunhill. The rough-and-tumble crowd in steerage rolling their own could be taken as a coded reference to the no-frills, no-additive, no-bull Winston, while Kate Winslet blowing smoke in her mother's face is very much "You've come a long way, baby"--Virginia Slims. As for the climactic smoking scene, in which Winslet coquettishly snatches a cigarette from a man's mouth, that's pure Joe Camel. As Camel's former ad agency, Young and Rubicam, said of the brand's archetypal smoker, "Always the winner, on top of the situation, beating the system, and covering the scene, whatever he does he does with a style and joie de vivre all his own." In "Titanic," smoking is sexy and social and sophisticated and genuine and rebellious, and in the end virtually everybody dies--which is the most perfect touch of all."
From The New Yorker, March 9th 1998
But what is "Titanic"? Leonardo DiCaprio smoking pensively on the Titanic deck is classic Marlboro Man. The swells in first class trading cigarettes are Dunhill. The rough-and-tumble crowd in steerage rolling their own could be taken as a coded reference to the no-frills, no-additive, no-bull Winston, while Kate Winslet blowing smoke in her mother's face is very much "You've come a long way, baby"--Virginia Slims. As for the climactic smoking scene, in which Winslet coquettishly snatches a cigarette from a man's mouth, that's pure Joe Camel. As Camel's former ad agency, Young and Rubicam, said of the brand's archetypal smoker, "Always the winner, on top of the situation, beating the system, and covering the scene, whatever he does he does with a style and joie de vivre all his own." In "Titanic," smoking is sexy and social and sophisticated and genuine and rebellious, and in the end virtually everybody dies--which is the most perfect touch of all."
From The New Yorker, March 9th 1998
sashka pozzetti
Guest
There surely must have been some crafty smoking going on somewhere. I just cannot believe that people in 1912 had some special powers that we don't have today that enabled them to smoke when not on the ship, and then manage without for 5-6 days or so!
Bob Godfrey
Member
They only had to get through a few hours while on watch, Sashka. At other times they could smoke as much as they liked and the officers were provided with their own smoking room. I daresay there was a good deal of crafty smoking by crew members on duty in out of the way locations, but officers were expected to set a good example. Smoking on the Bridge would have been especially unwelcome. Drifting smoke, and pinpoints of light from cigarette ends at night, don't make for good observational conditions.
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sashka pozzetti
Guest
I obviously know different kinds of smokers! The lengths they go to. (obviously no ET smokers would become so devious!) they can't last more than what seems like 15 minutes. I suppose the possibility of losing your job must have been a good incentive!!
Bob Godfrey
Member
You know wealthier smokers, Sashka. In 1912 the average working man didn't earn enough to finance a chain smoking habit.
George L. Lorton
Member
I'll say cigarettes are expensive. Back in 1912 did they have filtered cigarettes at all or did you only have cigarette holders. Curious. I know in the old west you used to have to roll your own. Only sissies used pre rolled manufactured cigarettes.
Inger Sheil
Member
There are plenty of photos of Harold Lowe in uniform with a pipe...presumably he's not on watch. Although in at least one he has a sextant in one hand and a pipe dangling out of the corner of his (smiling) mouth.
George L. Lorton
Member
I remember my dad's pipe kit. Pipes smell nicer then cigarettes. I wonder if Officer Lowe would have sneaked a smoke with a pipe. Of course if anybody could be clever enough to not get caught it would be Fifth Officer Harold Lowe.
Jason Schleisman
Member
I recently bought a first-class tablecloth from the SS United States. It was still in its unopened, original plastic bag from the auction in the mid-80's. I opened it and discovered that it reaked of old cigarette smoke!! I was very surprised because I know that these had been washed and carefully pressed before being sealed up for the auction.
It was a very ephemeral moment, realizing that this was the past wafting back to the present. I had not realized that one could probably smoke in the first-class dining room. It made me wonder if people (mostly men at the time I suppose) would have smoked during dinner on the Titanic, or if that was simply not done, but saved for later in the actual Smoking Room. Interesting.
It was a very ephemeral moment, realizing that this was the past wafting back to the present. I had not realized that one could probably smoke in the first-class dining room. It made me wonder if people (mostly men at the time I suppose) would have smoked during dinner on the Titanic, or if that was simply not done, but saved for later in the actual Smoking Room. Interesting.
Bob Godfrey
Member
The prospect of the officers having a sneaky smoke while trying not to get caught is an interesting one, as it was they who were supposed to be doing the catching! I've wondered whether Boxhall, who claimed to have been in his cabin having a cup of tea just before the collision, was actually enjoying a quick smoke.
Cork tip 'luxury' cigarettes were on sale in 1912 (targetted at women smokers) but filters didn't become popular before the 1950s, by which time they were generally made of crepe paper. Other materials had been tried, including (of all things!) asbestos.
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Cork tip 'luxury' cigarettes were on sale in 1912 (targetted at women smokers) but filters didn't become popular before the 1950s, by which time they were generally made of crepe paper. Other materials had been tried, including (of all things!) asbestos.
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monica e. hall
Member
But what was the on-board price of Woodbines, Bob...
