The First Class Main Lounge


The main lounge was the social center of first class life on the Queen Mary. Located amidships on promenade deck, the room was open from morning through late evening. Concerts, teas, films, dancing and other entertainments were provided here. On Sunday the Captain presided over divine services in the main lounge. Passengers from all three classes were invited to participate in this service in the first class lounge.

Click here to play "Somewhere at sea" which was written for the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary by Henry Hall and performed during it. Other decor was originally planned for the Queen Mary's main lounge, designed by Duncan Grant, but it was rejected by Cunard. Follow this link to see what it would have looked like. The link also appears at the end of this article.


An impression of the First Class Lounge by H. Davis Richter

The main lounge was the social center of first class life on the Queen Mary. Located amidships on promenade deck, the room was open from morning through late evening. Concerts, teas, films, dancing and other entertainments were provided here. On Sunday the Captain presided over divine services in the main lounge. Passengers from all three classes were invited to participate in this service in the first class lounge.


Pre-war

Pre-war configuration of the area


Pre-war1lounxsm.jpg (16048 bytes)

Pre-war appearance


Per the Shipbuilder:

"This magnificent salon extends in height through three 'tween decks, giving a height over the central part of over 30 ft., while the 'plan' dimensions are 96 ft. by 70 ft.

The general treatment is severe and simple in outline, a colour scheme of golden autumnal tints produced by a combination of maple burr wall decorations with dados of makore.

A large and fully equipped stage, with a proscenium 26 ft. wide by 22 ft. high, is one of the outstanding features of the room. Over the proscenium is a striking group modeled in gilt, which has been specially designed by Mr. Maurice Lambert and the same sculptor has been responsible for some beautiful ornaments over the forward and after entrance doors.

The piano in this apartment is a Steinway concert grand and.... carried out in an exquisite makore veneer, the work within the case being in cello gilt. Burr maple has been employed for the understructure, the fittings being of gilt metal.

Dance Floor  Dance Floor

The Steinway piano (left) and the parquet dance-floor exposed (right)

The apartment may be used as a cinema, and the most up-to-date sound-film apparatus is installed. When employed in this capacity, the seating accommodation is over 400. Special arrangements have been made to ensure that the acoustic properties will be perfect.

Alternately, the lounge can be used as a ballroom. the beautiful parquet floor, covering the full length of the room is in an oak panel design, strapped with massive bands of mahogany and edged with broad lines of rich deep-toned Indian laurel... The floor, when not being used for dancing , is covered with a specially designed heavy-grade Wilton carpet and rugs in a leaf design, carried out in shades of green and grey.

The general distinction of the decoration is enhanced by the use of rich gold finish to all metal-work, and the large mantle pieces over the electric fires are carried out in gold and onyx. There is a magnificent sweep of 32 windows, which overlook the promenade deck. Each window is 13 ft in height and 2 ft. 6 in. wide, the outboard windows having been designed to form what is virtually one continuous window.

Passing from the lounge at the port side, access to the long gallery is obtained via vestibules interposed between these apartments, and a similar arrangement at the starboard side gives access to the starboard gallery, of smaller size, but of no less charm.

The decoration and furnishing of the main lounge have been carried out by the Bath Cabinet-makers Co., Ltd., of Bath.


History of Use


1936 - 1939 - The main lounge served the purposes described in this period. Many celebrities including comedian Bob Hope and opera singer Lily Pons entertained their fellow passenger from its stage.

1940 - 1947 - During World War II the ship was converted as a troop carrier. The main lounge served as a sick bay.


Pre-war

Postwar appearance of the room.

1947 - 1967 - In the postwar refit of the Queen Mary, this room was restored to her pre-war decor. A new custom designed central carpet with side rugs were woven for this room. To minimize the labor and damage caused by the need to constantly set up chairs and rearrange furniture for cinema presentations, films were no longer shown in the main lounge. A special built cinema was created out of the starboard gallery and part of the pre-war ballroom.

Over the years the lounge chairs were reupholstered and sometimes slip covered. But when the Queen Mary sailed into Long Beach Harbor on December 9, 1967, her original compliment of furniture was still in place in this room. The original gold velvet stage drapes and window drapes (circa 1936) still hung in the room.


1968 - present

Currents

Current configuration (1998)


The Diners Club initial plan was to use this room as a grand restaurant. Tables and chairs from the first class dining room on R deck were to be used here. The original lounge furnishings were removed. Fortunately, examples of the major furnishings remain on the ship, albeit scattered and unrecognized. The custom designed carpets were removed for cleaning. The story told is that they were left rolled up on the wharf for days after the cleaning process. As a result of a down pour they were soaked with rain. Apparently they were not properly dried out, became mildewed and rotted and were subsequently destroyed. Other changes include:


Potential for future restoration and re-use of the First Class Lounge


Future?

Possible future arrangement


Future?

The above recommended approach showing the center of the lounge cleared for dancing.



1louny.jpg (31033 bytes)An illustration of the main lounge with the prewar upholstery scheme and the more dramatic custom designed carpet installed after World War II. This illustration suggests the carpet was designed in 1936 but not completed in time for the maiden voyage and not installed until the postwar refit. We see this "hybrid" design scheme as the appropriate one for a fully restored main lounge.

John Brown, the naval architect who played such an important role in designing the Queen Mary was disheartened when he saw what has become of the main lounge in 1993. "In its current state", he commented, "without its luxurious furnishings, the room simply does not convey the elegance and the luxury that were the hallmarks of the Queen Mary and other great liners."

As we have already pointed out in other sections, there is ample space for seating 2,000 people in one seating in four dining rooms on R deck. The decision to do banqueting in original lounges on the upper decks was the snap decision of an operator in 1971 who has long since left the Queen Mary.

If an enlightened operator wished to recover the elegance an luxury of the main lounge, how might this be accomplished, and how might it be used?


Other decor was originally planned for the Queen Mary's main lounge, designed by Duncan Grant, but it was rejected by Cunard. Follow this link to see what it would have looked like.


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