THE
CHILDREN'S PLAYROOM 
Hope you can use this photo on your site. Taken in 1951 my family sailed from Southampton to New York. I'm the scared looking one third from the left (behind the baby in the chair). My sister is to my right. We were 3 and 4 at the time. I have absolutely no memories of the trip, but my Mother, who is now 87, has many. We were immigrating to Canada. I believe this picture was taken at a party on the last night of the trip, before arriving in New York.
Maureen Reid 2001
The playroom had everything needed for fun and games including dolls, rubber blocks, hobby horses, board-games and a blackboard. Hop-scotch was played on the blue inlaid rubber tiled floor. As with the rest of the ship no detail was overlooked, including a lavatory with small-sized fittings. Art and colors were used to make the rooms warm and inviting. Walls were decorated by famous American Artist. Charles Gilbert painted ' Animals of the Barnyard' against a warm white background. In the Tourist class playroom, ( One room for each class) murals included the Pied Piper, little Bo-Peep, and the other Mother Goose Characters painted by famed naval artist Thomas Skinner. The first class play area featured a screened outside play area with full size playhouse and sand-tub.
Picture courtesy of Tom Hollyman Inc ©. Among the Captains duties was a visit to the children. Captain Manning pays a visit on the ship's second voyage to Europe in January 1947.
Children's playroom Australis
In her Australis years the Tourist and Cabin class playrooms were turned into cabins. The first class area was enlarged to include a paddling pool and children's deck. One of the favorite activities, when the ship was pitching and rolling, was sitting on a pillow and sliding on the polished rubber floor from one end of the room to the other..
First Class Playroom
My recollections of the children are many and clear. Sea-sick parents shoved their bright-eyed kids, who could be anywhere from age 2 to 12, in the door, clapped hand to mouth, and fled. One trip, we put on a play for the parents--- the children's own dictated script for "The Emperor Has No Clothes", with the lead deciding to wrap himself in one of the ship's large bath towels, to indicate the lack of clothing. On another trip, I did not put in a moment in the playroom from New York to Southampton but spent every waking moment on the forward crew deck--- because we were transporting the U.S. Olympic team. When the children became obstreperous, I used the technique of telling them to make as much noise as they could for one minute by the clock--- and then discovered that their voices carried to, and alarmed, people on the tourist deck, just the other side of the portholes. Perhaps the warmest memory is of a five-year-old boy from the Bronx, named Leon, whose mother feared that he would misbehave toward the other children and who did, indeed, jump onto and kick another child's building made from the Erector set--- but who, I discovered, was a brilliant future engineer; he not only made the most complex construction in the booklet that came with the set, but went on to create several new ones of his own, and became the politest, best behaved child imaginable by the time of arrival. If, by some unimaginable coincidence, Leon, you happen be one of those who set eyes on this, please e-mail me! What I learned from you that trip was the foundation on which I built to become a (now-Emeritus) Professor with forty years of teaching.
Margaret M. Dardis
Margaret Volovinis worked as a Children's Hostess on the Australis in 1969/70. As a Hostess she was responsible for 400 children, and expected to work 12 hour days. While the work was demanding she has fond memories of great friendships, and a life at sea.
".....I do remember being issued with uniforms the night we arrived and told to alter them to fit. As this was The Sixties and skirts at an all-time high, my cabinmates and I promptly elevated the hems thigh-high! This gave the Greek officers a terrible problem.....to enforce Company regulations or to ignore them and enjoy the view! My photos from the time show that the latter course prevailed....just as well as we had actually hacked the excess off with nail scissors! In the Playroom there were two of us controlling quite a large room with two small outside areas.....a small raised tiled pool on the starboard side and a play area with various pieces of equipment (roundabout, seesaw,etc) on the port. We worked from 9 till 9 and, theoretically, followed a programme of activities, games, quizzes and so on though this was often difficult if there was only one on duty (we each had an hour for lunch and 2 half-hour breaks) and there were children in the outside areas...both of which were potential deathtraps! I did learn to call Bingo in Dutch, German and Greek as well as English and on each voyage I tried to get those children who were interested to complete a project on their ship experiences....the history of the ship, the ports, the crew, a Bridge Visit and so on. I'd love to know if any of those projects survive today!!"
Margaret Volovinis
