Welcome aboard the time machine we call the Titanic! Using an extract taken from a live stream we did back in July of 2023, we’re jumping into an in-depth analysis of the Titanic’s gym and the uncommon equipment used in1912. I’m joined by Jack and members of the Titanic Honor and Glory team including Matt DeWinkeleer and Kyle Hudak. We examine contraptions that look more like Rube Goldberg inventions to exercises that seem straight out of a slapstick comedy, this gym is really a blast from the past in more ways than one! Get ready to laugh, cringe, and maybe even break a sweat (from laughing too hard) as we uncover the weirdest, wackiest workout equipment ever seen on a luxury liner. It’s a journey back in time that’s guaranteed to leave your abs sore… Get it? Let’s educate ourselves on some of the bizarre exercise machines the passengers and crew used to stay in shape.
00:00 INTRO
02:14 Electric Camel
02:33 Abdomen Rubbing Machine
03:33 Back Rubbing Machine
04:37 Trunk Rotation Machine
06:46 Vibration Machine
07:58 Rowing Machine
08:05 Pulley Machine
08:12 Cycle Exercisers
08:35 Gym Rules
10:40 Missing Gym Equipment
11:51 Weight and Height
14:18 Analogue Cycle Distance Tracker
16:38 OUTRO
Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels– from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history’s most famous ocean liners and machines!
#Titanic #fitness #gymgear #1912 #strange #unconventional #workout #exercise #vintage #history #explore #shipwreck #fitnessgear #throwback #retro #sweat #fitfam #oceanliner #museum #luxuryfitness #GymEquipment #History #Strange #Unusual #Unique #Shipwreck #Fitness #Workout #Exercise #Vintage #Rare #Museum #Travel #Explore #Curious #Fascinating #Ocean #Discovery #Famous
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50 comments
Which bit of equipment surprised you the most? I know some of them are funny and just plain bizarre but I was impressed by the weight pulley machine – it wouldn't look out of place in a gym today!
The photo with Lawrence Beasley is with a woman on the bikes and she's not sitting 'side-saddle.' This was the time of the suffragette movement (First wave feminist movement) and many women actually were already rebelling against many traditions. The most daring didn't wear corsets under some of their dresses.
Ok, the vibration machine with the long rope is for males,h the larger half moon leather "Drum Straddler" is for females. Its a 19th century thigh master.
Do scientists have any ideas of how the swimming pool on E Deck on the Titanic might be in 1 piece or what is potentially happening? Obviously, a guess because it can't be seen?
4:03 well if there was electrical failure(because its was old tech) would that turn into the back sawing machine or was the tech reliable back then so this would not happen?
The term "trunk" refers to the human body between the legs and shoulders, so the machine makes the body sway to work your core muscle groups.
Fascinating video. The Zander machines seem almost like a gimmick or a glorified massage. But i kept wondering how people would walk through the space and not trip over others or ladies not catching their skirts on the rowing machines because the way the 'camera' is pointing in the simulation from Titanic Honor and Glory it just feels soooo narrow in that room!
"Like a cook with his meatballs, by Zander we are formed. Chopped, twisted and rolled, his wonders performed. We’re not here for comfort, as we meekly recline, to be pounded and prodded on the stomach and spine." – a poem dedicated to Dr. Zander at a party in 1880
https://youtu.be/U3F_jCmj7wY?t=368
Dancers usually have a strong and physically tight stomach and abs due to this type of movement. Just the process of keeping your torso stable during movement is a type of exercise.
@10:15 Yay for New Zealand! But why is Lyttelton and Dunedin labelled on the wrong side of the island ?
I remember playing Titanic: Adventure Out Of Time years ago and if I remember right in the gym the mechanical camel, the rowing machine and the punching bag (speed bag) were usable.
The Differences between the gendered bikes are infact important. The left bike is the female bike easily distinguished by the step through frame. We still make bikes this way.
Can you Do SS Admiral nakimov an former German liner in 1920s then become the Nazi cruise liner and than hospital ship and become an Soviet liner and sunk in 1980s
Can you feel your mole when you smile?
It’s a speed bag. It’s a great workout too.
The jerky, wandering cinematography gave me a headache in under 30 seconds. Very annoying, not watchable. These goofballs didn't have a clue though about what a gym should be.
That right there, is the only way you're going to get me to cycle indoors!:)
Given how “stimulating” all these vibrating machines seem to be it’s curious the early gyms weren’t continuously packed with women😆 obviously they were serious bout moral modesty but then you find out that all these medical devices by Edwardian inventors were basically just pleasure toys for all sorts of women ailments physical and mental. 👀
In the model, floor is incorrect, windows seems inappropriate fantasy.
For F's sake, DON'T fill frames by repeating parts of photos or videos.
I believe i read somewhere that people were seen in the gym working out as the ship was sinking. is that true?
“A small tour of Titanic’s bizarre first-class gymnasium”
-My friend Mike Brady from Oceanliner Designs
Thomas W.McCawley was the instructor for the gym. His picture using a rowing machine was taken by Fr. Francis Browne (SJ) was taken on the third phase of the voyage. He did not survive the sinking.
Matt and Jo like pickles
I really dont think these are odd.
Mechanical horses still exist they are just expensive and largely only owned by professional equestrians and physiotherapists who specialize in athletes. Also men rode astride and women rode side saddle.. hence 2 machines.
The "rubbing" machine.. its being viewed in the context of a modern gym , which is based on muscles and weightloss not health as broad category. I would bet the rubbing machines were more about lymph massage and getting lymph, feces and blood flowing. They were and we still are super obsessed with regularity and toxins (miasma/vapors/humors) and the idea of stagnent or poor circulation being tied to poor health. You can still buy any number of heated/vibrating/weighted devices to "clear toxins, improve blood flow and tone skin". Id also lump the vibrating machine in this. Funny there is something to be said for external vibration on gout, arthritis and palsys (all of which were much more common then).
The bikes, weight machines and rowing machines are perfectly mundane. I think the competition clock is cool.
Scales and measuring stick? Thats not even weird, my gym has both just up front like its nothing.
You can make the video: what if Lusitania never sunked by u-20
I like to pretend Mike has leather shorts on which is why we don't see him below the waist.
If gym time was segregated, why is there a photo of second class passenger Lawrence Beesley riding an exercise bike with a woman on the other bike?
I ❤ him
I want u to sketch me Mike just like u did those drench girls lol u know we'd have fun in the engin room n no not like that u naughty minded people lol x
Looking good Mikey! Seeing a new vid from you my timeline always brightens the day!
Impressed but a little disappointed with the maturity displayed when arriving at the discussion of the vibration machine.
Mike can you do a story on the sewer system of titanic.
Always cool to hear Kyle's voice, without whom I never would've found Well There's Your Problem podcast.
Was always curious about the equipment.. do the Turkish bath next! Lol
A lot of folks rode horses bac then, so the ab twister thing and the corner machines were to stay in riding shape.
Fitness was different back then. They believed in a lot of vibrating and massaging, while today it's all exertion
A bike racing club near Washington DC held roller races in the off season. The two riders on the stationary rollers were connected to a dial apparatus that showed who was ahead. Heats were three minutes of anaerobic hell, as I recall. They may still do it down there. I was around the scene in 1980.
I thought the Trunk Rotating Machine was a mechanical bull.
Yes, I'm an idiot.
#NationalFilmBoardofChinada
The Trunk Rotation Machine is basically a less violent mechanical bull, it sounds like.
Wrist exerciser, vibrating chairs, rub machines. Are we sure this is an actual gym and not something else? 😂
"Men and females" is a weird phrase
Lots of missed innuendo there, Mr Brady, but an excellent video. Interesting that there seemed to be a man in charge of the gym, for both male and female sessions. Did he not survive the sinking?
I’m guessing even in the female only session the ladies would be very well covered over, probably in long skirts which I would think could get easily wrapped up in those exposed rotating wheels. A health and safety nightmare, they would say today! i imagine that in 100 years time, people would find today’s gym equipment bemusing and funny. Maybe even the whole concept of artificial exercise will seem bizarre.
It seems also a strange position for the plan of the ship and map to be, where so few people could ever see it, especially if the machines were in use.
Anyway, I’m off to exercise my wrists. Apparently it’s really important!
Me… “He’s gotta be running out of Titanic stuff”!
Him… “Hey… Want to hear about the weird stuff in Titanic’s gymnasium“?
Any idea when the next Honor and Glory stream might be? Will it cover the third class areas as planned in the previous stream (IIRC), or will we get to tour the crew and engineering spaces?
Can you do the sinking of the ss maheno
I’m so happy this video was made I was literally trying to figure out what was going on with this gym
The Titanic was such an old badly designed ship… No excuse for not not having a purpose built theatre on board
I used to box, and my reaction to the punching bag was, “No, those things are so pointless and so loud!!!!” Interesting to see that it wasn’t the only source of noise in the gym.
The gymnasium is among one of my favorite areas/rooms on the Titanic. My favorite would have to be the first class smoke room. The squash court is also one of my favorites.
Titanic's gym is more advanced than I had thought. A great video from Oceanliner Designs.
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