RMS Caronia Timeline

Introduction

Keeping everyone informed about what was going on aboard a very busy and efficient cruise ship was an industry all of its own. In common with most ships this centred around the printers shop which was equipped with two linotype printing presses. It was manned by printers and compositors using traditional and time-honoured manual processes. No computer graphics or Desk Top Publishing in those days!

Indeed, for many years the only printing colour used was black. Colour printing was not introduced until the mid 1960's and even then it was very limited. However, even for such a small print shop, the range of pre-printed card and paper stock was huge, with almost every conceivable event having its dedicated stock.

1965 Calendar

These pages bring together just a selection of items from this vast range. One thing that is very noticeable is that despite the traditional pressures of a requirement for everything to be ready “yesterday”, I have found very few instances where typographic errors were made. This clearly demonstrates the extraordinary skill of this small team who worked in the print shop.

Other Ephemeral Items

Among other ephemeral items that I have featured in this folio are things that were printed ashore, like cruise rate schedules, passenger lists and postal stationery. I have also covered part of the range of Caronia paintings and souvenirs. The latter has required quite considerable research, because not all items that carry either an engraving or image of Caronia were actually sold on board the ship, as is often claimed.

The final section covers the development of the Cunard logo during the Caronia's time. It's interesting to note that there were several designs used over the 20 year career of the “Green Goddess”, but the final one has been in use, almost unaltered, for well over 40 years!

The News Run

Once all these items were printed there was a need to get them distributed around the ship as quickly and efficiently as possible. As a Commis Waiter the very first job of any day was to collect a heavy bundle of items from the printers shop for this distribution.

Two of us, one from each restaurant, would be assigned with this task at our muster with the Chief Steward on the port side of “A” Deck forward square. Unless an earlier breakfast was required, this would be at 7am sharp!

This task would mean a very long walk and lots of stair-climbing, visiting the stateroom stewards' pantries on each deck and depositing an alloted amount of Ocean Times, Daily Programmes and Quiz Sheets. You would then make your way back to the printer's shop and collect the breakfast menus and distribute these to all the dumb-waiters within your restaurant.

No time could be lost on this task because you had to be ready for your next inspection, this time by either the Restaurant Manager or one of his Head Waiters, ready for breakfast service. This meant that discipline was everything, even at that hour of the day. The policy from those in charge being that if anything was found out of place, we all suffered the consequences!