02 May 2024

Titanic memorabilia

Noted businessman John Jacob Astor (1864-1912), who made his for­t­une in the fur trade, was 47 when the Titanic sank in April 1912. Acc­or­d­ing to survivor accounts, Astor didn’t believe the ship was in any kind of immed­iate danger. He helped his young wife Mad­eleine (1893-1940) board Lifeboat#4 and was last seen smoking and talk­ing with another passenger. Tragically 1,500+ victims drown­ed. 

John Jacob Astor
14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch
BBC
 
Astor was not only the richest passenger on the Titanic, but was one of the richest in the world, with a net worth of c$87 million. His body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean 7 days later, with his valuable 14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch engraved with his initials. After its recovery, the watch was passed from Astor's son Vincent to the son of his father's ex­ec­utive secretary William Dob­byn. Recently this gold watch was sold at auction by Henry Ald­ridge & Son in Devizes UK for a record £1.175 mill, the highest am­ount ever paid for Titanic memorab­il­ia. 

bandmaster Wallace Hart­ley's violin & case
L.A Times

A violin was also part of Titanic memorabilia. The auct­ion house announced they’d authenticated the inst­rum­ent from an engraving: For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement from Ma­ria. And in the catalogue: As the Tit­anic sank, bandmaster Wallace Hart­ley (1878–1912) and his or­ch­es­tra stay­ed on deck and playing Near­­er My God to Thee. Played by Hart­ley in the ship’s fin­al mom­ents, he placed his violin in a leather case and famous­ly stayed aboard as the ship sank in the icy Northern waters.

Hartley's body and violin case were found by a ship that respond­ed to the disaster. The violin was also sold by Henry Aldridge & Son in the UK and fetched £360,000. The rotten instrument, totally unplay­ab­le, was sold for c3 times more than the suggested. The violin was given to Hartley's fiancé, Maria Robinson. It passed through some other hands before being rediscovered in 2006. The auctioneer said the price was $1.45 mill. But when the auction­eer's fee was added, the price paid by the buyer was $1.6 mill.

A rare menu from the Titanic’s first-class restaurant showed what the most well-to-do passengers ate for dinner on April 11, 1912; it sold for £84,0000 ($103,00) at Henry Aldridge & Son auction house. The dinner menu, which off­ered oysters, beef and mal­lard duck was sold, was decorated with a red White Star Line bur­­gee but the orig­inal gilt lettering is no longer visible. Clear­ly the menu had been subjected to the icy North Atlantic waters, having been re­c­overed in the clothes of one of those drowned. The menu was found in a ph­oto alb­um of  late Canadian amateur historian Len Stephenson.

One night's dinner menu
from the Titanic’s first-class restaurant
BBC

Memorabilia reflected 1] only the importance of the artefacts them­selves and their rarity and 2] they also show the enduring fas­cin­at­ion with the Titanic story. After its recovery, the gold watch was passed from Astor’s son Vincent to the son of his father’s ex­ec­ut­ive secretary William Dobbyn. 112 years later, people were still talking about the ship, passengers and cr­ew. So while the Titanic was effectively a large ship that hit an ice­berg with a tragic loss of life, more importantly there were still at least 2,200 items of memorabilia to tell the stories now.

I agree. All items related to the sinking of the Tit­­­anic should indeed go to the victims’ children or grandchildren. But auct­ioning them off to strangers at any high price destroys potential col­lect­ions of Titanic mem­or­ab­ilia, and doesn’t preserve them. So families who no longer want to main­tain their grand­par­ents’ treas­ures should give them to an off­icial Tit­anic Museum, with a donor’s plaque.

Sited beside the Titanic Slip­ways, the pl­ace where Titanic was des­igned, built and launched, Tit­­anic Belf­ast Museum tells the story of Tit­anic of her de­sign, cons­t­ruct­ion, launch, voyage and catastrophe. The Belfast Museum contains many other orig­inal artef­acts, along with other fascinating items of cultural and historical interest. In the US, Tit­an­ic Mu­seums are located in Branson Missouri and in Pigeon Forge TN. Owned by John Joslyn, the two U.S museums hold a great coll­ection of arte­facts in many galleries.

Titanic Belfast Museum
cabin furniture
NBC News





20 comments:

  1. Family treasures should stay inside the family circles. Pity that generations would sell whatever they have to make a quick buck

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  2. The Titanic still has the power to move people and involve them. The prices paid for the memorabilia are quite extraordinary, though. Humans are so acquisitive.

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  3. Awesome post Hels. Indeed, the Titanic still fascinates us for several reasons.
    A gold watch whose owner was lost in this accident, a violin or a catalog..
    Thanks for the info, another interesting post!

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  4. Boa tarde de quinta-feira, aproveito para desejar um excelente mês de maio, com muita paz e saúde. Nossa, nunca ouvi essa história antes. Obrigado por dividir conosco suas maravilha, de explicações.

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  5. Just reading the title made me think of my brother who has a big interest in the Titanic and I found the post interesting.

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  6. I so agree about a Titanic Museum for the relics people no longer want.
    Possibly some who sell them need the money, but others might just want the money.

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  7. jabblog

    agreed. There have been many tragedies on earth when thousands of civilians died eg bushfires, earthquakes, wars, atomic bombs dropped on cities, epidemics etc. But nobody knows much about the citizens killed in these tragedies - their careers, incomes or possessions. But here is a fascination about Titanic, because this was a luxury cruise ship taking many well known people on a pleasurable trip. (Plus others less known travellers).

    Mind you, that does not excuse collectors spending the national budget of a small Pacific nation on a watch, clock, chair or small musical instrument. Who even gets to admire these important historical items?

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  8. Katerina

    I knew about the off­icial Tit­anic Museums and their collections, but I had no idea about the recent auctions of Titanic memorabilia... until I saw the sales catalogues. What happened to any other Titanic-related objects that were located and sold in the decades before 2023?

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  9. Luiz

    enjoy the articles "7 Valuable Titanic Artifacts & Their Fascinating Stories" and "6 Fascinating Recovered Titanic Artifacts & the Stories They Tell" in _Love To Know_ by Kate Miller-Wilson.

    https://www.lovetoknow.com/home/antiques-collectibles/most-valuable-artifacts-that-sank-titanic#:~:text=1.,%243%20Million%20in%20Today's%20Money&text=The%20most%20valuable%20artifact%20from,by%20artist%20Merry%2DJoseph%20Blondel.

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  10. Jo-Anne

    Please tell your brother that he has a particular historical interest that I admire :)

    I am now beginning to think that blog-post titles should be more carefully added. Thank you.

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  11. River

    I understand why people might want to get rid of the objects in their homes. I saw a burnt pair of white cotton gloves with one finger missing, "their human-sized familiarity bringing us closer to understanding a significant chapter in marine history". But if the object-owner thought the gloves were disgusting, selling them in a Titanic auction for a fortune is immoral imho.

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  12. roentare

    agreed... most people would love to keep and protect their grandparents' objects. But if those objects are dirty, unusable, falling apart or cluttering up the home, then I can understand why they need to clean the objects out.

    My objection is ONLY to selling the objects off for a unthinkable fortune to a total stranger who doesn't give a toss about sharing them in a public museum.

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  13. Hello Hels, I'm not sure if Titanic relics should indeed go to survivors, as I understand that there are now none left. Besides, some of the relics were retained by survivors, grandchildren, etc.--these were the ones who sold them. The story of the watch going to Astor's Manager's son seems odd, especially in light of the interesting Vincent Astor and his odd marriages. I am against further mining of the Titanic for relics, but if there are new ones found (and it seems likely despite the recent submarine tragedy), I am sure that international law would dictate their disposition. In the mean time memorabilia that were not on the ship, such as photographs, a rediscovered prospectus, or unused tickets, are fair game for researchers or collectors.
    --Jim

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  14. Interesting Hels, most people as still fascinated with that ship.
    I agree with you about the items remaining with the families and if they don't wish to have them donate to museums dealing with the Titanic.
    I don't totally understand why people would spend so much money on such memorabilia apart from making more money when they sell that item in their future.

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  15. Parnassus

    I am sure there are many pieces left, probably not floating in the sea but more likely tucked away in peoples'/organisations' cupboards. But you are right that items that were not on the ship eg photographs, advertising material or unused tickets are fair game for researchers.

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  16. Margaret

    I can understand why commercial auction houses see vast moneys flashing before their eyes. But wouldn't it be good if the auctioneers could suggest to the sellers to take the objects to public galleries?

    That will probably never happen however, when $1 or $2 million are on offer per handbag.

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  17. I don't know what it is but there is still a fascination surrounding the Titanic. Even my young grandchildren are asking if I will take them to Belfast to the museum. Dream on!

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  18. I would definitely taken them to Belfast, but they need to discuss the big issues before they leave home. Why were some passengers given royal treatment in First Class while others were treated rather poorly? Why weren't there enough lifeboats for all the passengers? Did every passenger receive a life vest? If you have to get into a lifeboat, what would you take with you etc?

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  19. We were outside the Titanic Museum in Belfast but lacking in time to see inside. I believe the recent exhibition here of memorabilia was very good. By the time we decided to see it, it was booked out.

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  20. Andrew

    read about The Artefact Exhibition in "Titanic and Liverpool Titanic":
    https://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2010/05/titanic-and-liverpool.html
    The exhibition in Melbourne was excellent.

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