Chair of the Day: SS United States
When misterarthur was a wee laddie, he got to cross the ocean on the SS United States Рa ship designed in concert between the United States Navy and a private firm, the United States Lines.  The involvement of the United States Navy helped fund her construction; with the caveat that she be turned over in case of war to the Navy for use as a troop transport or hospital ship.
To meet the Navy’s strict fireproofing requirements, no wood was used in her construction. All furniture and fabrics were custom made of aluminum and spun glass fiber. The clothes hangers in the first class cabin were even made of aluminum. The only wood fixtures on board were the cutting blocks in the galleys.
Here’s a photo of a first-class sitting room chair with coffee table (note its aluminum base) :
The general style of the furniture aboard ship has been called “Mid-Century Ocean Liner” – it its attempt to marry passengers’ expected Ocean liner “style” with the materials needed to meet the Navy’s needs.
While not as romantic as some other ships, the SS United States smashed the transatlantic speed record on her maiden voyage in 1952, crossing the North Atlantic at an average speed of 40.96 mph.
6 Responses to “Chair of the Day: SS United States”
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Posted by Jennifer on August 6th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Great find! Thanks!
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Posted by Mark Perry on August 6th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Hello, just wanted to clarify a couple of things: the most famous use of wood aboard the SS United States other than the butcher’s blocks in the galleys were the eleven fire-proofed Steinway pianos aboard. Also, the chair in the photograph is a First Class Ballroom chair, not a sitting room chair. Of further interest, the ship’s 1952 era interiors were designed by an all female team headed by Dorothy Markwald. Nice to see these interiors getting some recognition. The ship is now gutted in Philadelphia, awaiting an uncertain future.
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Posted by misterarthur on August 6th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Thanks for the clarification(s), Mark. It’s sad that she’s sitting, gutted, awaiting who knows what. Do you know how they fireproofed the Steinways? I seem to remember that one of the Zepplins had an aluminum piano – but I could be wrong on that, too.
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Posted by Mark Perry on August 6th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I’m not sure how the Steinways were fireproofed, but W.F. Gibbs who designed the SS United States was obsessed with fire safety, and insisted that Steinway build aluminum pianos for the SS United States. The story I heard is that Steinway balked, and it wasn’t until they turned a blow torch onto a fire-proofed model to prove it wouldn’t ignite that WFG accepted the wooden pianos aboard. The ship is featured in the Smithsonian’s current “On the Water” exhibit, including furniture and some of her mid-century artworks. She was an amazing ship both technologically and aesthetically!
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Posted by Carl Weber on August 12th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Hi Mark, et al,
I believe the chair is actually a First Class suite sitting room chair – possibly from the famous Duck Suite (the color is far too light to be a ballroom chair).
Besides the butcher’s block and the Steinway pianos, there were baby cribs and high chairs aboard the United States made of wood not to mention various other items that were aboard quietly. The famous Gibbs mantra of secrecy has kept the myth alive about there only being the butcher’s blocks and pianos made of wood.
There was an aluminum piano aboard one of the Zepplins – I read something about that recently.
Anyone interested in further information about the history of the United States and to see the largest online collection of images and photographs to be found are invited to join The SS United States Group on Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheSSUnitedStatesGroup/
Cheers,
Carl-
Hi Jennifer! Saw this today and thought of you :)
http://chairwhore.blogspot.com/