Down Aft Messrooms.

[Jim Brady]

When I was galleyboy and I used to see the Peggies (Deck and Down Below)coming to the galley with their kits to pick up their meals I often wondered what happened when they got the grub down aft.Who sorted it out,did you have a Bully that took more than he was entitled to,if you were last in line do you get the scraps of what was left.I can still picture the Peggie at the galley door getting the dixie of soup running aft with that then coming back for the rest of the stack up kits,meat,veg,potato's and the sweet.I often ask my mates about this,today my mate Andy said,"when we used to get a piece of fruit I used to place it on all hands bunks".I sailed as Messman on the Crystal Saphire(possibly one of the first out of Liverpool)and the crew were delighted with the situation.I used to give the deck crowd a tin of milk and tell them not to tell the engine room crowd and do the same thing with the engine room crowd,all hands had the making of a drink during the night.The way the crew ate years years ago was a disgrace and I'm glad that I was not part of it.I seen some of the stuff that was knocked up and i'm not surprised that here were delegations upto the Skipper.
Jim.B.

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Jim. Hi shipmates, The food on some ships was dreadful for the crew deck and down below but for me after my trips on the coast on a paddle steamer 6 boys in a tiny cabin and the food was very very bad for the crew {but you could buy it a shore in seaside places' so did not go with out} not like deepsea, I lost loads of weight on some of them? but some like the tankers were good feeders' , But many who were at sea before I was had it real bad salt horse, bargoo,and spuds if they were lucky fish head stew if you had no money to pay for your food in the real hard times, now thankfully long gone.

[happy daze john in oz]

I guess spending most of my time on liners I did not have to go through some of the horror stories we hear about food for the general crew. But I recall on the Pretoria Castle a number of AB's and others paying galley cooks for meals as they claimed the food in the crew mess was just that, a mess.