The “Welcome Home” Sign
You may wonder why I've given such prominence to the “Welcome Home” sign on the Timeline's home page. The real story is about a lot of behind the scenes co-operation between several on-board departments. On a number of merchant ships this was unheard of!
There was one basic problem. With nowhere to temporarily mount it provided on the ship's hull, on arrival at a port the sign needed to be lowered down the side and hung from the Boat Deck way up above. Then it would need to be strongly secured at its base so that prevailing winds could not create any pendulum motion.
A Few Variations
This made the large and heavy hand-made sign very vulnerable to damage or even loss. This especially if the wind did have its way or someone lost their grip. Losses occasionally happened, so, over the years, several versions were constructed, with on-board tradesmen like carpenters, painters and electricians all involved.
“Welcome Home” sign Durban on the 1959 Great World Cruise
On the Great World Cruise of 1959 for example, the board had tabs around the edge of its letters “O”. This indicates the letters were cut out with the tabs there to prevent the centre from falling in. That board was probably illuminated.
A Bold ‘Can Do’ Approach!
Confirmed by exchanges with a former electrician on board, its message value was not lost on the constructors. Great pride was taken in building any new sign. How elaborate any reconstruction could be was only limited by the men's skills and the materials to hand.
A Significant Reminder
As a crewman, I've only ever seen Caronia's “Welcome Home” sign as confirmation that everyone was pulling their weight in making our ship somewhere special to live. Reading various scripts from the likes of passengers’ letters, the sign was significant to them too.
If you've ploughed through several Timeline pages to get to this one, it looks like its importance is not lost on you either! I readily thank you for the compliment.
If you can contribute any information, do please get in touch…
with slide show
