Originally Posted by
subject2load
Personally I can live without the curtain.
For me, the true feeling of exclusivity comes from those white headrest covers seen in the photo. They add so much to the overall comfort & glamour of CE travel.
They're called antimacassars, in what is a lovely linguistic 'fossil.' They originated at a time when men applied macassar oil to their hair, and were created to prevent sofas and chairs from being stained by it. The use of macassar oil is long gone, but the word remains.
They are also used in former Southern Region suburban trains to distinguish first class from the otherwise exactly identical standard.