Question: Could you tell us
what were your responsibilities as a
bellboy?
What was it you were expected to do?Well, they had several
jobs. I mean there was a travel bureau where you had
two boys that done with people's hotels when it got to New York and
things like that, bookings, Waldorf Astoria. You delivered
brochures to them, you delivered tickets if they're going from here
to Canada or whatever it might be, that was the travel
bureau. Then you had the purser’s office that dealt
with everything, communication from the Captain, radiograms coming
in and things like that, and then you had the radio office,
radiograms where you … one boy sat up there. Then you had the doors
where you open the doors to the dining room and let the passengers
in and out. And a Chief steward’s boy, and that was
about it actually.
Question: So you were assigned
sort of like as messenger boy...whatever was needed?
Messengers boys all over, yeah. Take the morning papers
around, you know The Ocean Times used to get printed you know and
you used to deliver them. Mostly you just had to take
them to the pantries and put them in, and the BR would put them
underneath the doors of the passengers. But I remember
one trip we had, Lord Beaverbrook and Lady Astor and they both had
to get their paper at exactly the same time, apparently for some
reason Lady Astor had got her paper early and something in there
was interesting and so she phoned Beaverbrook and told him and he
hadn't had his paper so there was a big noise made about it, so,
that trip I was in the Purser’s office and we were both detailed
that we had to go out, the assistant Purser would say, ‘right’,
give us a paper each. And one went to Lord
Beaverbrook’s and put in under the door at exactly the same time as
I would be putting it under Lady Astor's door. Things
like that.
Question: What would your
typical day be like then?
Up in the morning, we used to do gym, go up in the gym and you know
do a few exercises. Then we'd come down, get changed,
go and have breakfast first, and then get on our uniform, muster at
8 o'clock or half past 7 in the morning for inspection, where
they'd inspect your fingernails and things. Make sure your uniform
was clean and tidy, shoes polished, hair cut, you know to go on
duty that day. And then you'd go all through the day
whatever job you was on, and … some of you have to walk
dogs. I mean if we were in the Purser’s office or the
second steward would send for you and say, ‘go up to the dog
kennels’ and it might be Jennifer Jones' dog or somebody...I
remember who it was time because they came across to do the command
performance and you used to have get detailed to go up to the
kennels and pick up these dogs. And we used to get some
terrible little dogs too sometimes, know what I mean?
Fighting each other. And you'd have to drag them around
the deck for about half an hour, take them to see their owners on
the promenade deck and then take them back to the kennels and ...
then at night you'd go for a swim in the first class pool, 7
o'clock. That was more exercise that you were obliged
to do. Of course we used to enjoy it. In
fact Johnny Weismuller come across on one trip, and in the Queen
Mary you'd come down and you had an elevator and there was a back
door opens the elevator and it comes into the swimming pool. So he
come down dressed in his trunks, and it’s in the winter and of
course the ship's rolling. I mean one minute there’s no
water at all and the next minute it’s ... and he just dived right
off the balcony. Of course all us kids...’that's Tarzan
you know’, so we all jumped on him and he's throwing us all over
the place and picking us up. But great fun.
Marvellous man. And he used to come there every night
religiously then like and have a swim with us.
Question: So what time did
you have to be in bed?
No time. I mean if they caught you running around the
ship, well actually we never because what we used to do, when the
first class dining room finished, we used to go up to the kitchen
when they come out of the dining into the kitchen they'd be
bringing all the fruit bowls out and all that, and we used to be up
there and as the fruit bowl come out, with the waiters bringing
them out, take them back to the fruit room, we were up there
nicking all the grapes and oranges and peaches whatever it
was.
Question: What kind of
meals did you have then?
Nothing great for us because we would have to eat at say half past
five at night and you'd go up...one man was the cook, whoever was
on that afternoon, it was always an afternoon cook on watch, it was
his job to serve you, you know. I mean it was always
roast beef, prime ribs of beef and things like that, but they made
us have these dinners. I mean we used to like get a big
plate of Saratoga chips as they called them, which was crisps to
us, and that would do us, and a bottle of lemonade. But
they made you eat the main course whatever it was, you know.
Question: What about
the Pig and Whistle at night, were you allowed in there?
No. I mean you could, you could walk through it, but I
mean...well, you could go up and get a bottle of lemonade or bottle
of Coke in the pub but...
Question: So
what did the boys tend to do in the evening for entertainment
then?
Play cards. Or read comics, all mad for Yankee comics
you know. Mind you, you'd had a hard day so most times
you'd be in your bunk anyway, have a shower and get in your bunk
and read a comic, write letters home to Mum, you was only away a
week but you still wrote to Mum, you know.
