Titanic's Third-Class

 Despite the glaring differences between classes, the White Star Line offered their third-class travelers a luxurious ride relative to what people of the day were used to. The RMS Titanic's third-class experience intentionally rivaled a second-class experience on most ships of the day.

The RMS Titanic offered patrons of their third-class wash basins, electric lighting, and heated decks, none of which were standard at the time.

The White Star Line's press material boasted that "The accommodation for third class passengers in these steamers is also of a very superior character, the public rooms being large, airy apartments, suitably furnished, and in excellent positions, and the same applies to the third-class staterooms and berths.”

While this sounds like standard marketing material, here is where the story gets odd: the ship boasted five grand pianos, mechanical elevators, and an indoor pool filled with tepid sea water. Despite these opulent expenses, the third-class only held two bathtubs. There was one bathtub for men and another for women and children — that's two tubs for over 700 passengers. Strangely, The White Star Line didn't have a problem with the expense of extra tubs for the third-class: it was passengers who had the problem. The less-educated poor at the time didn't want to bathe because they believed frequent bathing caused lung disease. 

Read more about Titanic on our Stories From The Titanic blog...