Pride in Your Domain!
As you might expect in a restaurant full of male waiters, there was not a little rivalry between the guardians of each
station. Whether it was the shine on the glasses, or the silver, presentation of your own station was an absolute
statement of intent!
The most noticeable difference twixt the two restaurants was in the colour of the chair coverings. They were red in the
Sandringham and blue in the Balmoral. What they were actually made of is moot. Could they be real animal hide,
or rexine, a very hard-wearing PVC coating over a cloth, made to imitate the finest leather?
The constant drying effect of the air-conditioning during the ship's use, then being plunged into rather dank conditions
whilst in lay-ups, placed a need for some judicious maintenance to keep the seats supple and feeling welcoming to any
posterior.
Dubbin - A Secret Weapon
Remember that elsewhere we polished the ship half to death, so the dining chairs were not going to be left out. The
wooden frames were cleaned after every use so their feel was always reassuring. Often, it would be head-waiters or the
Maître d' who would handle them for lady diners, so you'd not want any disapproving looks!
With all the effort of making an attractive table, the last thing you needed was for the seats to look jaded.
At our disposal however, was a secret weapon, a colourless, oily and waxy potion called “Dubbin”.
Ashore, it was used in stables for maintaining tack.
It was also excellent at protecting our shoes from the horrendous effects of salt-water used during wipe-downs of
the galley after luncheon and dinner. Like shoe-polish, obtaining a tin of this before leaving the UK was a necessary
evil, although the “
Boots
” on
board may have been an alternative source.
Less is More!
There was however, a knack to using this “wonder-wax”. Unlike with applying shoe-polish, you needed to be
as parsimonious as you could be with its application. It then needed much patience as you slowly and meticulously
worked it in. It was the embodiment of the “less is more” principle.
If you over-applied it, then you had the devil's-only job of getting the desired finish. Your goal was to nourish the
coverings and maintain both their colour and suppleness. What you didn't want was a complaint of soiling any expensive
evening garments or of inducing shiny tuxedo trouser seats.
The treatment may only have happened once a month or so, but it was so time-consuming that you could only do the chairs
of one table at a time. A good opportunity was after Luncheon at sea, before the afternoon tea service.
Whenever you placed an untreated chair beside one you had just finished, the joy was in the sheer pride of seeing,
and feeling, the difference. A big ship it might be, but your small area of it wasn't going to be letting the side down!
If you can contribute any information, do please get in touch…
photo-strip 