Swansea seamen were known and respected around the world. In port, they were always smartly dressed, with white braid caps and golden earrings.
W.H. Jones, the Swansea historian, wrote of Swansea sailors:
“to all appearances each sailor tried to outdo the other by the smartness of his appearance. This ambition amongst sailors continued whilst in sailing vessels, but the arrival of the Steamer knocked all the exquisiteness out of him; it never survived the ordeal of ‘coaling’.”
