In days of yore QE & QM had two sets of smoking room chairs/furniture, one onboard and one ashore being repaired and renovated.
When QE was sold her 2nd set were sold off from the Cunard Furniture store to a 'Gentlemen's club' in S'ton, where they remained for many years until said 'Gentlemens''s Club was itself sold. Then the furniture, or what was left of it, sold off and a 'dealer' purchased on of the chairs for an American collector. At the time it was thought that there were only 2 or 3 of these chairs left in existance, so a very valuble items.
One S'ton turnaround, prior to a Trannie, i was to take delivery of said chair for safe passage to NY, where it would be collected by the new owner. It arrived all neatly wrapped, but visable through the clear plastic cover, and i placed it in the Security store on 5 Deck shell door Stbd.
A day or so into the Trannie i had a 'visitor' to my office who had heard about the chair and wanted to view it, no names no pack drill!
I duly obliged and, after stroking it through the plastic cover, he went away very happy to have actually seen and 'touched' one of the original QE Smoking Rm chairs.
