Among the souvenirs made of silver, I'm able to depict two sizes of cigar / cigarette boxes
made by Harman Bros., a solid-silver wine coaster and tastevin.
Silver Cigar Box
Photographing silver items seems to be notoriously difficult without appropriate lighting, so I'm
afraid that the quality of the pictures here don't in any way do justice to the beauty of these items.
Silver Cigar Box with Cedar Lining
These cedar-lined boxes were hand-made by Harman Bros. of Birmingham and have hall marked silver outer skins. The tops
have a tiny diamond cross-hatching pattern. The larger box, seen above and below has a casket shape and approx dimensions
of 6” wide, 3.5” depth and 1.5” height standing on corner feet.
Opened Silver Cigar Box
The distinctive label not only shows the maker's name, it also explains the hallmark meanings. Of course, the hallmark
dating may predate the actual delivery to the ship by as much as two years, so the box seen would probably have been
originally purchased during 1966.
Measuring 4” square with a 1” height, the matching cigarette box from Harmans is depicted below.
Silver Cigarette Box
The cross-hatching pattern of the top is just discernible in this photo. The plain centre panel has been engraved to
mark it as a memento of the 1964 Great World Cruise. This engraving would have been added after, or as part of, the purchase.
At present I cannot recollect where aboard the ship this was done, perhaps someone can provide information. I don't
believe that it was done within the on-board shop, as there would not have been space to do this.
It's quite possible that a local “trader” in somewhere like Bombay or the Far East came aboard
during Caronia's stay, equipped with his engraving machine.
Miniature Silver Loving Cup
An early style “Loving Cup”
Until decimal measures were introduced in the UK, alcoholic drinks were measured as 1/6 gill. This miniature loving
cup would contain what was known as a “double”, or 1/3 gill.
A “gill” was measured as one quarter of a (UK 20 fluid-ounce ¶) pint, so this item would contain one-twelfth
of a pint.
Again, this would be an item available in the Caronia's shop. ¶ A US pint = 16 fluid ounces
