First Successful Steamship Laundry (1905)

Plan of Laundry Room on the SS Llanstephan Castle of the Union-Castle Line, ca 1914. GGA Image ID # 21f62110b9. Click to View Larger Image.

The Celtic Sails On An Excursion Voyage With A Fully Equipped Laundry Plant On Board.

Through the courtesy of the agent of the White Star Line, I was presented with entree credentials, carte blanche, to Mr. Palmer, the genial and courtly purser of the Celtic. Mr. Palmer chances to be a typical Britisher, ruddy of cheek, with robustness of frame, steady of speech and with just sufficient of the in evitable English rising inflection at the ending of his sentences to remind one for the moment of “Merry England”—of London and a stroll through Regent Street.

Doubtless many times has the idea been dreamed of, and most fondly and earnestly hoped for, but never before has the realization been fully materialized, of the absolute equipping and installing on board an ocean steamer a full—fledged modern American steam laundry plant. From today, the steam laundry enters upon a new epoch in its eventful history.

The rapid strides of progress from the stone age of the pounding ball to mid-ocean steam laundry work is not only startling, but a proposition and fact not quit easy for one’s imagination to digest. The laundry is located on the fourth deck, with ample space for large extension when increase of Work demands more machinery.

The plant consists of a trio of 200 shirt washers, body ironers, centrifugal wringers, fifteen-rack dry closet, shirt and collar ironing machinery and two Poland mangles. Hand irons are heated by electricity. The total number of employees required to run this plant are forty people, all of whom arrived bright and early this morning in high feather and eager for the voyage.

All the employees are skilled operators, called from the Boston laundries and selected with a view to their peculiar fitness for wide and varied range of work. Beside the fiat work department, there is a complete bundle work outfit, comparing favorably with any terra firma laundry in the country.

The Celtic will carry in her linen room 40,000 pieces of table and bed linen as reserve, hence there cannot possibly occur any necessity for hurried work. The following price list will be of interest, for as would naturally be supposed, the prices would be excessive.

On the contrary, they are exceedingly reasonable, considering the blessing to be derived by the passengers in this undreamed—of accommodation, and positive surety on the part of the management that the driver will not run away, or occasionally purloin a collar and cuff and shirt from the bundles.

The Creamer-Wing Laundry Company On Board the Steamship Celtic

• Collars : 1/2 d
• Cuffs:  1/2 d
• Shirts, plain: 7 d
• Shirts with collars:  9 d
• Shirts with collars and cuffs: 10 d
• Skirts:    1 to 4s
• Underskirts:  5 d
• Drawers: 5 d
• Handkerchiefs : 1/2 d
• Hose:  3                d
• Nightshirts: 6 d
• Pressing pants:  1 s

• The manager will be at the laundry office at 10 a. m. daily, for the settlement of accounts and business connected with the laundry.
• Linen will be collected daily at 10 a. m. from the stateroom corridors, but may be sent at any time to the laundry.
• In case of error, this list is to be returned to the manager.
• Not responsible for fastness of colors.
• Passengers going inland at either Alexandria or Jaffa may leave their linen for delivery on return.
• Passengers’ linen will be received up to two days before arrival at Naples for delivery on arrival.
• Passengers’ linen left at Naples will be ready on return from Rome.
• Passengers’ linen will be received up to two days before arrival at Liverpool for delivery on arrival.

One who has not landed at some foreign port after a long and tempestuous voyage with trunk and grips filled with linen soiled and mussed can but feebly appreciate the feeling of anxiety experienced in vainly searching on his arrival for a quick time laundry.

But behold! All things have become new. The “sun do move,” and progressive American laundrymen are at your beck and call; it matters not if you travel by “ships that pass in the night” or fly with birds in the air, the Rubicon is passed; you simply breathe the desire, and presto! Your laundry work is finished—while you slumber.

The Celtic is 700 feet long; her beam is 75 feet; depth, 49 feet; she is 20,800 tons gross and 13,650 tons net; her displacement at load draught of 36 feet and 6 inches will be 37,700 tons; dead-weight carrying capacity, 18,400 tons.  She has accommodations for 3,000 passengers, besides quarters for a crew of 350. A most complete cold storage plant, capable of holding 85 tons of fresh beef, 60 tons of potatoes, 5 tons of fresh fish, 10 tons of sugar and 80,000 fresh eggs, is of the most improved and modern pattern.

The Celtic sailed for the Mediterranean Sunday morning, February 8, at high noon, with 850 passengers, booked for the round trip, to anchor again in New York April 23, 1902.

Very Rare Photo of a Ship's Laundry Room. View of the SS Lapland Electrically Operated Laundry Facility. Public Hygiene, 1911. GGA Image ID # 21f854a9f9

"First Successful Steamship Laundry," in The Modern Laundry Guide: A Collection of the Best Articles Published in the National Laundry Journal During the Past Two Years.  Chicago: The National Laundry Journal, Part 1: The Laundry Business, Equipment, Management, Processes. 1905: P.27-30

Review and Summary of "First Successful Steamship Laundry (1905)"

The introduction of a fully operational steam laundry aboard the White Star Line’s SS Celtic in 1905 marked a groundbreaking advancement in ocean travel, reshaping the experience for passengers and crew alike. This article provides a detailed and vivid account of how the first-ever onboard laundry plant revolutionized maritime hygiene and comfort. It describes not only the logistics and machinery behind this innovation but also its impact on passenger convenience, steamship operations, and maritime sanitation.

For teachers, students, genealogists, historians, and maritime enthusiasts, this article offers a valuable glimpse into the technological evolution of ocean liners, shedding light on how steamships adapted to meet the needs of long-distance travelers in the early 20th century.

 

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Relevance to Different Fields of Study

1. For Educators & Students: A Case Study in Maritime Innovation

📌 Key Themes: Industrialization, Logistics, Innovation in Maritime Sanitation

This article serves as an excellent case study for the role of industrialization in ocean travel, demonstrating how technological advancements improved passenger experiences.

• Before onboard laundries, passengers faced long voyages with no practical way to clean their clothing.
• The installation of laundry facilities on the SS Celtic was comparable to modern innovations such as Wi-Fi on cruise ships today—a convenience that would soon become an industry standard.
• The article provides insight into the early 20th-century engineering of ocean liners, refrigeration advancements, and the evolution of passenger amenities.

🔎 Classroom Discussion Idea:

• Compare the steamship laundry plant to modern cruise ship laundry operations. How do today’s ships handle laundry differently?
• Explore how hygiene advancements on ocean liners influenced travel comfort, public health, and even immigration policies.

 

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2. For Genealogists: Understanding the Daily Lives of Passengers and Crew

📌 Key Themes: Passenger Comfort, Crew Labor, Ocean Travel Logistics

For those researching ancestors who traveled or worked on ocean liners, this article provides:

• Context on passenger experiences: Understanding the availability of laundry services helps genealogists reconstruct the conditions their ancestors faced aboard ocean liners.
• Insight into steamship crew roles: The article describes how a team of 40 skilled laundry workers, primarily from Boston, were recruited for the voyage. This could be useful for those tracing maritime workers in their family tree.

📖 Genealogy Tip:

• If your ancestor worked on a ship, they may have been employed in specialized roles such as laundress, steward, or ship’s purser.
• Crew lists from White Star Line ships during this period could reveal family connections to ocean liner labor.

 

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3. For Historians: Examining the Evolution of Maritime Hygiene and Passenger Services

📌 Key Themes: Sanitation, Industrial Advancements, Passenger Comfort

Historians can use this article to explore:

• How the White Star Line led the way in enhancing passenger accommodations, influencing competitors like Cunard and Hamburg-America Line.
• The role of sanitation in transatlantic travel and how onboard laundry plants contributed to the improved hygiene of passengers.
• The technological evolution of steamships, including cold storage, food provisioning, and mechanical advancements that made voyages more comfortable.

📖 Historical Research Tip:

• Cross-reference this with early maritime regulations regarding hygiene and passenger care.
• Compare the laundry facilities on the SS Celtic to those available on the RMS Titanic (1912), which had an even more advanced laundry system for first-class passengers.

 

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Most Interesting and Unique Content in the Article

1. The First Fully Equipped Laundry on an Ocean Liner

🛳 Why It’s Interesting:

• The SS Celtic was the first steamship to feature a full-scale American-style steam laundry.
• The article highlights the extent of laundry equipment on board, including shirt washers, body ironers, centrifugal wringers, dry closets, and hand irons heated by electricity.
• This advancement eliminated the need for passengers to arrive at foreign ports with dirty clothing, a major inconvenience in the early 1900s.

📖 Why It’s Useful:

• Demonstrates the modernization of ocean liners and the increasing focus on passenger experience.
• Shows how steamships functioned as self-sustaining environments, with laundry, food preservation, and accommodations rivaling those on land.

 

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2. Laundry Service Pricing on a Steamship

🛳 Why It’s Interesting:

• The article provides a full price list for laundry services, showing that the cost of cleaning shirts, skirts, and other garments was affordable despite the exclusivity of the service.
• Prices were kept low to encourage passengers to use the service, showing that White Star Line saw this as a passenger amenity rather than a profit-driven enterprise.
• The pricing model reflects early consumer expectations of luxury travel, making this useful for historians studying social class distinctions in maritime travel.

📖 Why It’s Useful:

• Offers a first-hand look at early 20th-century pricing structures aboard steamships.
• Provides insight into how ocean liners balanced profit with passenger satisfaction.

 

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3. Steamship Crew and Laundry Operations

🛳 Why It’s Interesting:

• The 40-person laundry team was recruited from Boston and specifically selected based on their experience with high-quality laundry operations.
• These workers were part of the ship’s broader service economy, contributing to the massive operation needed to run a luxury liner.
• This reveals how ocean liners created new job opportunities, particularly for service industry workers and skilled laborers.

📖 Why It’s Useful:

• Shows how the steamship industry provided employment opportunities beyond traditional maritime roles (e.g., sailors, engineers).
• Can help genealogists trace ancestors who worked in steamship hospitality services.

 

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4. The Celtic’s Advanced Cold Storage Facilities

🛳 Why It’s Interesting:

• The SS Celtic had a cold storage plant capable of holding 85 tons of fresh beef, 60 tons of potatoes, 5 tons of fresh fish, 10 tons of sugar, and 80,000 fresh eggs.
• This highlights the massive provisioning efforts required to sustain thousands of passengers on long voyages.
• It also illustrates how steamship lines invested in modern food preservation technologies to ensure high-quality dining experiences at sea.

📖 Why It’s Useful:

• Offers insight into the early development of shipboard refrigeration, which was a critical factor in ocean liner success.
• Provides an understanding of transatlantic supply chain logistics, essential for historians studying food transport and preservation.

 

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Final Thoughts: A Landmark Moment in Steamship Sanitation and Comfort

The introduction of a steam-powered laundry plant on the SS Celtic in 1905 marked a major leap forward in maritime sanitation and passenger convenience. This article not only showcases the evolution of ocean liner amenities but also highlights the growing sophistication of early 20th-century transatlantic travel.

✔ For educators, it serves as an excellent example of technological progress in maritime history.
✔ For genealogists, it provides valuable context about steamship workforces and passenger experiences.
✔ For historians, it offers insights into sanitation, industrial advancements, and the commercial strategies of ocean liner companies.
✔ For maritime enthusiasts, it presents a detailed look at one of the earliest conveniences that made long sea voyages more comfortable.

Ultimately, the SS Celtic’s steam laundry represented the dawn of a new era, one where luxury, hygiene, and innovation converged to set new standards for ocean travel.