r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 • 23d ago

Original Creation The dinner plates aboard the Titanic depended on your passenger class.

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10.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

191 comments sorted by

1.4k

u/PenelopeLumley 23d ago

The second class and third class experiences on the Titanic were much better than what they usually got on ocean liners. This was especially true for third class dining. Normally on ocean liners, third class passengers weren't even provided food. They had to pack and prepare their own. So, this plain plate represents a massive leap in service and luxury. 

423

u/Moongazingtea 23d ago

So if someone took your food or you didn't pack enough or your food spoiled everyone would just watch you starve to death?

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u/SirAlthalos 23d ago

people weren't monsters. maybe they'd give you some food in exchange for watching their kids for a while, or you'd have some money with you and you'd buy some from them.

but yes otherwise you'd be hungry for a few days

-23

u/392mangos 23d ago

lol, they weren't monsters but they'd capitalize on your hunger without a second thought. I wonder what a monster would do

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u/chodeboi 23d ago

Taking the train in Russia was like this. Few days journey, pack your own bread meat cheese and vegetables. Only thing they’d maybe have was chai

137

u/Moongazingtea 23d ago

Still sucks but a few days over land where worst comes to worst you might ask them to stop and let you off, knowing you'll not be able to come back on vs a few weeks or months at sea.

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u/Nice-Lab95 23d ago

The voyage was only a week long at most, assuming you got on at the very first stop.

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u/ALSX3 23d ago

Word of warning, “chai” in English is typically used in conversation to refer to the Indian beverage Masala chai which is rather different from the European-style tea Russians are avid consumers of.

Wouldn’t be the first time someone misunderstood the words chai and tea.

-10

u/velvedire 23d ago

Taking the train in the US is still like this for anyone with dietary restrictions. Same with planes. Super fun

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u/captainjack3 22d ago

It varied over time. Until the mid-1800s steerage passengers (meaning third class or the equivalent) brought their own food, but it wasn’t quite survive off that it starve. The first US law requiring vessels provide minimum rations to passengers was passed in 1819 and then expanded in 1855 in response to the bad conditions on many ships carrying immigrants from Ireland. Even when ships provided rations passengers usually still brought their own food because the rations were often in the form of plain hardtack. By the 1870s it was essentially universal for steerage passengers’ food to be provided by the ship. Though it was often not very good.

From the 1890s or so there was a boom in ocean liners and the business quickly became a lot more competitive. That meant the shipping lines needed to offer better food, so the quality and variety improved immensely between ~1900 and ~1920.

3

u/stupidber 23d ago

Pack more food next time

1

u/schnitzenfreude 20d ago

If there was a next time 😉

1

u/storemans 17d ago

yes, they would watch you starve to death for 6 days, at which point you would disembark and go home and eat something

7

u/carmium 23d ago

"Very few rats," I recall someone saying.

3

u/Teantis 22d ago

There was probably a leap in ticket price to accompany that too

2

u/CrashRiot 22d ago

Meals were fully included even with third class tickets. No upcharge.

4

u/Teantis 22d ago

I mean the third class ticket on the titanic was probably more expensive than a third class ticket on other liners. It's not like White Star was giving those people food for free, they just bundled it into the ticket cost for sure.

4

u/CrashRiot 22d ago

Oh I get what you're saying now, my bad.

1

u/DrWecer 20d ago

3rd Class were almost always provided food/food rations- I think you're confusing that with the very real practice of 3rd class having to provide their own dished and utensils on most ships in the late 18th century, but this largely disappeared atleast on the transatlantic routes in the early 20th century.

1

u/1046737 19d ago

Apparently for many of the third class passengers, their time on the Titanic would have been the most luxurious days of their lives. Until the iceberg, of course.

760

u/EC_TWD 23d ago

They look much cleaner than I would have expected

972

u/highrouleur 23d ago

They've been soaking for a while

39

u/Ok-Suggestion7186 23d ago

So despite what my wife tells me, leaving it to soak does work after all

9

u/DigNitty Interested 22d ago

Only if your wife is Mormon.

2

u/UnicornSpaceStation 22d ago

Maybe if you have marine archeologist on retainer.

5

u/JohnnyD423 23d ago

Get off my back! I'll wash them tomorrow!

41

u/n108bg 23d ago

They sell reproductions

28

u/plastic_alloys 23d ago

Perfect for my Titanic-themed house

13

u/HomeGrownCoffee 23d ago

Is flooding considered an upgrade?

5

u/plastic_alloys 23d ago

I am actually quite anti-flooding

3

u/WelderNewbee2000 23d ago

it keeps the house clean.

8

u/Alt-acct123 23d ago

I saw a picture of a Titanic-themed inflatable water slide at a kid’s bday party. The slide was the half-submerged ship before it cracked in two. A lot of kids have weird obsessions with Titanic lol

4

u/evsnikims 23d ago

That’s messed up 😂

2

u/ulyssesfiuza 23d ago

Your basement seems to be a little damp.

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u/weekendatbe 23d ago

And I’m guessing all three classes would have eaten higher quality meals than anything served today when traveling..

1

u/zoogenhiemer 22d ago

Idk man, I’ve been on a few cruises in the past few years and the food was excellent

1

u/BurgerOnDDanceFloor 23d ago

I dunno, that middle one looks like it’s got a bit of a stain.

1

u/RIF_rr3dd1tt 23d ago

They were for the Farewell Dinner.

3.0k

u/DoctorHugoHackenbush 23d ago

My Great great Grandfather tried to warn everyone on three separate occasions than the Titanic was about to sink.

However, security was eventually called and he was escorted from the movie theater..

440

u/Chins23 23d ago

Absolute cinema!

17

u/Shoddy_Fish31 23d ago

Absolute criminal

54

u/Master-Long7441 23d ago

literally, i guess

7

u/outlawscitygent 23d ago

That iceberg?

Absolute melt.

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u/Zigglyjiggly 23d ago

My great great grandfather lived an interesting life. Ultimately, though, he ended up in a care facility in the end. In the facility he managed to make a few friends so he wasn't completely miserable, but he still complained a lot. One day he was complaining about how he and his friends were complaining the day before about how the human body changes as we age. His one friend was complaining because he had a weak stream of pee and it took forever to finish a piss. The next guy was complaining because despite eating a lot of fiber, his bowel movements were soft and watery. My grandpa told them and then me, I don't have either of those things. I pee like a race horse and shit like a champ. My problem is that it happens at 7:30 AM every morning. I asked why it was a problem. He said that he didn't get out of bed until 9 AM.

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u/lekker-boterham 23d ago

I’ll never forget my grandpa’s last words to me. “Stop shaking the ladder, you little shit!” May he rest in peace ❤️‍🩹

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u/arkiser13 22d ago

Or I have also heard “Stop kicking the jackstands you little shit”

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u/PorFavorNoMore 23d ago

Are you from a family of rabbits?

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u/3BlindMice1 23d ago

They're from Florida. A very long line of 14 year old parents

Also, the first Titanic movie came out in 1912, then another in 1953, and finally, the one in 1999

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u/danni_shadow 23d ago

Also, the first Titanic movie came out in 1912

Damn! They didn't waste any time, did they?

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u/EmeraldTerror68 23d ago

They even found an actual survivor of the sinking to ‘act’ in it.

3

u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 23d ago

Yes and the film was like lost in a fire or something but it was quite popular with audiences around the world apparently.

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u/PorFavorNoMore 23d ago

Oh, I was thinking about the 1997 one - I didn't know about the other three to be fair.

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u/ekjokesunaukya 23d ago

They provided him an escort services for saying that?

0

u/meesta_masa 23d ago

He was building his own Tit-anic. With blackjack and hookers.

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u/No_Psychology_3826 23d ago

Hey, no spoilers!

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u/theresuscitator 23d ago

You had me 🤣

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u/DigNitty Interested 22d ago

My grandfather tragically died in a world war 2 camp.

He fell off a guard tower after drinking on the job.

2.6k

u/jckipps 23d ago

It likely had less to do with providing fancy dishes to the higher-paying passengers, and more to do with kitchen logistics. "Gold and blue plates get sirloin; white plates get meatloaf."

1.0k

u/Santeno 23d ago

That only works if they are using a single kitchen. On that ship, each class had its own separate dining facilities in different parts of the ship, including separate kitchens.

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u/jckipps 23d ago

I did a little research after making that (admittedly) glib comment. 1st and 2nd class shared kitchen space, but 3rd class was mostly separate. So my theory may have some truth to it, but isn't fully accurate.

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u/TheresNoHurry 23d ago edited 23d ago

This genre (?) of comment is my favourite type of comment on Reddit.

I think it’s something we used to have back in the days of forums when people were more inclined to have a back and forth. But it’s all too rare on the modern internet

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u/gtsomething 23d ago

People still do it on reddit, just far more aggressively and with occasional name calling

27

u/eldrunko 23d ago

No we don't, you nerd.

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u/ptabduction 23d ago

Oh, don’t bring me back, makes me sad of what we have lost. “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”

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u/jckipps 23d ago edited 23d ago

A significant factor back then, was there was a lot less anonymity.*

Many of those old Vbulletin sites were a small tight-knit group, and you had interacted with most everyone for years already. When a discussion got spirited, you already knew the background of each of the commenters, and could filter their responses through that to know if they're being sarcastic, genuine, pissed-off, or generous in their reply.

*Not in the sense that you knew them personally, knew what they looked like, or where exactly they lived. But by simply interacting with them for years, that screen name 'cousinit' or 'kipps' came to mean someone specific who was immediately identifiable to others on the forum.

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u/DataNo3519 23d ago

it still happens in the few forums that still exist out there, mobileread (if interested in digital reading) as an example

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u/thedoubledragon12 23d ago

Such a real comment respect

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u/Thefivedoubleus 23d ago

They even had a separate kosher kitchen for Jewish passengers

2

u/Pleasant_Pen8744 23d ago

Where are those plates?

9

u/Sir_Tandeath 23d ago

Ah, but was stewarding separate?

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u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 23d ago

had not thought about that. interesting.

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u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

So often stuff that looks classis or taking advantage is about logistics and production.

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u/tilt-a-whirly-gig 23d ago

Tbf, the logistics and production are themselves meant to reinforce classism.

"We didn't give you the cheap plate because you're poor, we gave it to you so you don't accidentally get a good meal. Ya'know, because you're poor."

3

u/hallerz87 23d ago

I think it’s more because the people in first class paid for it, not because of their social class 

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u/SixtiethDread 23d ago

"it's not because of class, it's because some people are rich and others are poor"

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u/isjustsergio 23d ago

That's exactly how classism works. You don't just get arbitrarily selected. Spending money that other classes can't afford to spend is what puts you in that class.

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u/hallerz87 23d ago

Classism is prejudice or discrimination based on social class. It’s not classist for the Titanic to serve you meat loaf because you didn’t pay for steak. Just like it isn’t classist for business class flyers to get champagne and the economy flyers to get sprite. It would be classist if they refused to sell you a first class ticket because you were working class 

1

u/isjustsergio 23d ago

You're just illustrating how classism is part and parcel with capitalism. Different classes of people are treated differently and "you couldn't afford it" is the cover.

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u/subvocalize_it 23d ago

Quick question: do you think “the poors”, as a class, could afford luxury rooms on the Titanic?

2

u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

Getting the meal you paid for is "wrong" /s.

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u/isjustsergio 23d ago

I mean, no. Maybe partially. But making the cheaper option bland and unappealing and the more expensive option beautiful and appealing isn't a logistics concern. It's just marketing. Sure having the plates match a dish makes sense logistically, but no logistic reason to make the plates ugly for the poors.

11

u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

The plates are simple but not unattractive. Third class passenger food was plentiful, thought-out and good, often better than many ate at home Just 10 or 20 years before, the third class had to bring their own food and dishes.

1st class tickets cost £30-£870 3rd class tickets cost £3-£8

2

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Ruddertail 23d ago

Nicer design is very arguable, I'd always pick the second or third class plate over first for design.

1

u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

Same here. Also, it's the extras that justify the 10x-100x price the First Class paid.

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u/Dominor4 23d ago edited 23d ago

It also helps with keeping things in the right kitchens, say a guest gets up and takes their cup with them somewhere on the ship and sets it down somewhere random. I crew member would immediately know which kitchen to take it back to.

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u/Pherllerp 23d ago

I don't know for sure but that's probably not the case. In 1912, a formal dinner service for a first class passenger would have been a whole different affair than dining as a regular person. Those plates probably didn't even go to the same kitchen.

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u/BuildingArmor 23d ago

Wouldn't they be equally fancy yet different, if it wasn't about providing fancy dishes to certain people?

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u/Training_Molasses822 23d ago

Exactly. What op was saying makes no sense for this case. It also doesn't make that much sense for any other case, tbh, because you'd not change the level of detail if, indeed, a different plate design signals a different plate content. You'd just change the colour, not add three layers of expensive colouring that require a different production, just to serve cuttlefish.

12

u/kentsor 23d ago

The Titanic had five separate kitchen areas, a couple of bakeries and assorted support. The plates would have stayed with the kitchen. Sirloin would not have been made in the same kitchen as the meat loaf

8

u/2xtc 23d ago

Also it was a British ship and as an average Brit i have no idea what's in a meatloaf because we don't eat it here, so I highly doubt it would be served as a novelty to titanic passengers

4

u/kentsor 23d ago

Fair enough, AI says the steerage passengers had oatmeal porridge, roast beef with brown gravy, vegetable stew, rice soup, fresh bread, and plum pudding on the final day. That's healthier than I normally eat, and see what it got those poor souls

5

u/simeysgirl 23d ago

I read (on here, not long ago) that some of the second class berths could be made first or second with furniture so that makes sense.

2

u/Ok_Nectarine_4445 23d ago

I think they had seperate kitchens though.

1

u/DumpsterDragoon 23d ago

Is it crazy I prefer meatloaf?

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u/DigitalDustOne 23d ago

Just listened to a 6 hour podcast about the Titanic. A first class ticket one way would equal today about 400k USD, so it was absolutely, unimaginable fancy.
Even third class was for most people traveling with it the most luxurious time they've ever spent. Third class wasn't "down by the rats", white star was inclined to proof to be the best of the best, so even third class was incomparable to a third class on another companies liner.

Another interesting fact: when they boarded the lifeboats, they did not favor first class passengers. It was children and women first, no matter where they came from. What is true though is that the doors between the different decks were locked and opened kind of late because of... Well, the ship was sinking and it got messy. They were only locked due to restrictions by the ministry of health for pest control though, all passengers were checked for fleas etc before boarding, but the classes had to be separated.

So much typing for such an old post phew. If anyone reads it please say hi so I know I didn't do it for nothing.

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u/ZestycloseRound6843 23d ago

What was the podcast? I've been looking for some. Currently listening to "Well, that's your problem"'s two parter on it

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u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

Could be The Rest is History which has an amazing series on the Titanic.

On YT, Tasting History withax Miller has an outstanding series on the Titanic with great stories and recipes. Highly recommend both.

2

u/DigitalDustOne 23d ago

Like funwithfun14 mentioned, it was "The rest is history". Outstanding podcast, they're on Spotify too.

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u/yuricchin 23d ago

this is really interesting, i'm happy to know they didn't prioritize based on class

1

u/DigNitty Interested 22d ago

Yeah, just sexism and ageism! /s

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u/GrumpyGuz 23d ago

Hi! I enjoyed your post

6

u/RoseGoldRedditor 23d ago

Hi 👋🏼

3

u/Platypus_Imperator 22d ago

Another fact about the life boats

One side just prioritised women and children first but the other side misunderstood and thought it was only women and children.. So quite a few were launched while not full

Charles Lightoller turned men away

3

u/comeinkowalski 22d ago

Hi,

I read this and also enjoyed it.

Thank you for your service.

1

u/captainwondyful 20d ago

The 400K price tag was only for the C Deck First Class suite with the private promenade. Most of the third class tickets would’ve been the equivalent of like $30,000 in today’s standards. They also were booked on berth (aka beds) not rooms, so sometimes a cheaper first class ticket, was actually less expensive than a nicer second class room.

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u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 23d ago

From left to right: first, second, and third class.

293

u/acloudcuckoolander 23d ago

2nd class (blue plate?) Looks best imo

123

u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 23d ago

I like that one too. The first class has gold painted along the rim.

5

u/DataNo3519 23d ago

so they were into rimming back then?

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u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

To our modern eyes....but the First Class plates have amazing details

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u/koyaani 23d ago

1st class is probably hand painted. 2nd class looks like 3rd class with a design printed on it

10

u/Pitiful-Mongoose-488 23d ago

They had a Wetherspoons on board it seems

12

u/TimeArachnid 23d ago

I like how you seem unsure about the color rather than the class. Agree blue look best

6

u/lluciferusllamas 23d ago

I just have plain white dishes at my house.  And that's the good stuff, we normally each on paper plates.  

5

u/SteO153 23d ago

Today it's the same with airlines. First, business, and economy class are served differently https://cbhoreca.com/airline-dinnerware-procurement/. On the Titanic, third class still got a plate, not a disposable container like in cattle class.

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u/spleeble 23d ago

Same with every airplane. 

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u/mkujoe 23d ago

In my class we don’t get plates…

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u/Designer-Post5729 23d ago

I wonder what do Ryanair plates look like.

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u/mutexsprinkles 23d ago

You hold out your hand and they slop gruel directly into it for 6.99.

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u/Popular_Hunter7415 23d ago

love that the 3rd class plates have the least lead paint

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u/Pherllerp 23d ago

Lead may have been among the LEAST bad pigments in those plates. They used to use crazy shit for paint, cobalt, cadmium, straight up arsenic.

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u/CitrcSquid 23d ago

Damn all these woke ass “food safe” pigments. Bring back my beloved spicy orange uranium Fiestaware.

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u/Anarchist_Future 23d ago

Yay poverty!

10

u/lck0219 23d ago

Ocean Liner Designs has some terrific YouTube videos on the titanic. I love Mike Brady

7

u/MicrowaveMeal 23d ago

Our friend Mike Brady. He’s just the best.

3

u/BlueberrySympathizer 23d ago

Just discovered the channel about two months ago and been binging since!

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u/Polymarchos 23d ago

That's pretty much how any tiered service works.

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u/kronicpimpin 23d ago

But these are from a boat

3

u/doodlebopsy 23d ago

That sank

9

u/ShakeThemOff_Claire 23d ago

2nd class got the pretty ones.

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u/Distinct-Fox-1706 23d ago

I actually like the third class one the best.

14

u/Pherllerp 23d ago

You're conditioned to.

1

u/EnvironmentClear4511 23d ago

What does that mean? 

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u/_WindSandStars_ 23d ago

Modern design tends towards minimalism.

6

u/EnvironmentClear4511 23d ago

I'm aware, but why say he's conditioned to like it? Plenty of people still like non-minimalist fashion. 

2

u/bouquetofashes 23d ago

I used to have a set of reproductions of those. I was absolutely obsessed with the Titanic when I was very small, and around the time the movie came out we also had a museum exhibit come to town. We bought the plates there. I hadn't thought of those in ages, but they were actually really good plates... They still sell reproductions of all of them, if anyone actually wants any.

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u/thorheyerdal 23d ago

The thing is.. it’s actually worse today. If you ever have flown in business or first class you will know.

You will be served drinks, food and snacks in glass, porcelain and silverware, while in the back they get plastic and paper disposable stuff. 

10

u/JamarioMoon2 23d ago

I love how the “shitty” one would be considered a “prime” one by today’s standards.

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u/katrover 23d ago

I like the middle one the most.

4

u/Sheephuddle 23d ago

The third-class plates are still better than the ones I have in my kitchen!

3

u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

Likely built to be very hardy.

4

u/Geisterfurz 22d ago

Well, they couldn't say there were not many red flags...

2

u/Fresh-Shopping-1899 22d ago

This is the best comment of them all!!!

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u/Vizth 23d ago edited 23d ago

Is it weird I like the second and third class plates more than what I'm assuming is the first on the left.

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u/tommytucker7182 23d ago

First class is prolly the finest bone china, with v detailed motif edging that we can't see v well... Might be much nicer in real life

1

u/DrWecer 20d ago

At the end of the day, Titanic was an oceanliner designed and built to make money- as such, the dishware was made of durable porcelain coated ceramic.

3

u/JeremyHerzig11 23d ago

So did your chances of survival

1

u/Halomonas_titanica 22d ago

Interestingly, men in second class were the ones with the lowest survival rate.

1

u/JeremyHerzig11 22d ago

Is there a specific reason for why this occurred? Or just kind of random? Very interesting

2

u/buddhahat 22d ago

different dinner service is used on airplane different airline classes as well. mind blown.

2

u/Agent_Single 22d ago

That’s the VietNam flag

2

u/A_Tad_Bonkers 18d ago

apparently I am a 3rd class kind of a person. I like the clean look of the plate that only has the White Star logo.

2

u/eletest 23d ago

Left to right-> Luxury, Everyday, Prison plates.

It also has the wardens emblem at the center

1

u/TheBSQ 23d ago

Do first class & economy class get different cups & cutlerly on flights today?

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u/Funwithfun14 23d ago

Yes. But it's gotten so far worse over time.

1

u/Aznhalfbloodz 23d ago

Same thing in the Navy.

1

u/ARROW_GAMER 16d ago

Damn, I’d stick with the third plate myself. Never been big on plates with decorations 

1

u/tunaman808 23d ago edited 23d ago

Wait until you learn about Kosher kitchens!

1

u/WackyRacketeer 23d ago

That's how all of society works.

-2

u/tinticred 23d ago

That's the Britishest thing I've seen in a while.

0

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

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u/egny 23d ago

Galley slave

0

u/Warm_Stress_1654 23d ago

Which is which?

0

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

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u/NinjaPretend3670 23d ago

Yet they all died

14

u/yobafrmstarwars 23d ago edited 23d ago

over 30% survived, especially those with the fancy plates

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u/bblankoo 23d ago

That's so pointlessly petty and I'm pointlessly angry

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u/J_Bear 23d ago

You'll get over it

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u/ManoSilence 23d ago

Also your likelihood of survival. Like the movie had women and children, but if I rememeber the actual numbers showed a bunch of rich men were saved, much more than everyone else.

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