Saturday, April 14, 2012

Commemorating the Titanic

We all know bits and pieces of the Titanic tragedy.
On this 100th Anniversary,
I'd like to share an interesting true story
of one of the Titanic passengers.

On April 10, 1912
the RMS Titanic left Southampton, England
on her maiden voyage with a
final destination of New York City.


Photo from Wikipedia
RMS Titanic Departing from Southampton on April 10, 1912

Just four days into that Maiden Voyage,
the ship that was promoted as unsinkable
due to state-of-the art safety features,
struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm, Sunday, April 14, 1912.
The Titanic sunk 2 hours and 40 minutes later
the morning of April 15.

The sinking of the Titanic is considered
the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history.
Of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board,
1,514 did not survive.



To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of this event,
the Midland County Historical Society
sponsored a presentation by internationally-recognized
Titanic authority and Midland resident Floyd Andrick.
Mr. Andrick has personally interviewed
a number of Titanic survivors and his talk and slides
disclosed details about the building of the ship,
personal survivor stories of life on board the Titanic
and their memories of the tragedy.

Upon entering the lecture hall,
everyone was given a Boarding Pass with the name
of an actual Titanic passenger. 



My Boarding Pass was issued to Ms. Edith Rosenbaum.


Although Edith Rosenbaum's story was not part
of the presentation and we were able to view a roster
at the end that disclosed the fate of individual passengers,
I thought it would be fun to do a bit of internet research
afterwards to learn more about
Ms. Edith Rosenbaum.

Beginning in 1910 Edith Rosenbaum
was a foreign fashion correspondent
for "Women's Wear Daily" and dispatched weekly reports
to New York from the publication's Paris office.
By 1912, Edith was designing her own line of
retail clothing for Lord & Taylor in New York.

Women and children were ordered off the ship first
but many refused.  The evening of April 14
was bitter cold and everyone on board knew that the Titanic
had so many safety features there was no danger
of the ship sinking.  Several of the initial lifeboats
were lowered with few passengers.
Edith was one of the women who initially
elected to remain on board the Titanic. 

However, Edith was a Titanic survivor and she
credited a stuffed musical pig for saving her life.  

Edith survived a severe auto accident in Paris in 1911
that took the life of her fiance.  
Since pigs were considered good luck charms in France,
Edith's Mother brought her a musical pig
to keep her out of harms way in the future.
Edith was clutching the pig in her arms
while on the deck of the Titanic and
sailors assumed she was holding an infant.
The sailors told her that she could stay on board
the Titanic if she wished but they were going to
save the baby and passed the bundle down into the lifeboat.
Edith had no choice but to follow her lucky charm
and reluctantly jumped into the lifeboat.
Edith was one of the last to evacuate the Titanic.

Edith later served as a war correspondent
 for the "New York Harold" and after the war
continued writing fashion and society news
for several magazines. 
She was known professionally as Edith Russell. 
Edith never married. 

Edith died on April 4, 1975 at the age of 98.
And she still had her musical pig for good luck!

Photo from Dover Public Library website.
Artist Depiction of  RMS Titanic at Sunset
Artist Unknown

Until next time, live and love well.




Sharing this true story with
Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jean's Decor and More
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants


This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!


9 comments:

Bunny Jean said...

Hi Debra!

It is a wonder that more people didn't die... and those that did all had an amazing story to tell.

Thank you for sharing Edith's story with us. She certainly had good luck that day. Very sad that so many other's didn't. A lucky pig....

Thanks for sharing at my party this week!

xoxo Bunny Jean

Ivy and Elephants said...

Debra,
I really enjoyed this post! We were doing just this type of research with the children in my classroom. I plan to see the exhibit when it rolls into my town, too. All the stories are so compelling.
Thanks so much for sharing the story with us.
Hugs,
Patti

Donata @ DK's Craft Cafe said...

Thank you for this lovely story, Debra.
We had the great Titanic exhibition here in Melbourne for several months last year and for some reason I missed it. I so regret it.
(Love your dolls!)
Cheers!

Bernideen said...

What a wonderful post - I really enjoyed my visit here!

Simply Shelley said...

So very interesting...thanks for sharing....blessings

Savannah Granny said...

Such a facinating story. Thanks for sharing Edith and her story with us.

Savannah Granny said...

Debra, I meant to tell you I am a new follower. xoGinger

Maria said...

Thankyou I soo enjoyed my visit and the post was amazing to read!!We have just been to see The Titanic in 3D,my daughter and I....Happy Tuesday xx

Gina @ VictorianWannaBe said...

Hi Debra,
Thanks for bringing that post to my attention. How interesting. I work in an Elementary School library and we have a book called "Pig on the Titanic", I'll have to look at that and see if it's connected to Edith in any way.
Have a great rest of your week. Gina

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