One hundred years ago today, the mighty ocean liner Titanic sunk to the bottom of the North Atlantic, taking 1,514 people down with her. My only knowledge of the Titanic disaster has been through the viewing of James Cameron’s Oscar winning film Titanic fifteen years ago. They have re-released Titanic in theaters (this time in 3-D) and earlier this week I went to see the film. It is such a visually stunning movie and lovely to see at the theater (although it is heart-wrentching and the ending gets me crying like a baby every time). I would review the film here, but Carl has already done so, and quite well I must say! After watching it on the big screen, I decided I wanted to find out the true facts about the doomed ship and downloaded a copy of Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats, and the Worlds They Came From
Voyagers of the Titanic is a fascinating book about the people who booked passage on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. I’m only a few chapters into the book, which has so far introduced the builders and designers of the ship and has now delved into the lives of it’s first class passengers, including the richest man on board, John Jacob Astor (who’s body was found with four thousand dollars in cash in the pocket of his jacket). It’s estimated that the over three hundred first class passengers on the Titanic were worth over five hundred million dollars, which isn’t all that surprising when you read about Charlotte Cardeza:
She traveled with fourteen steamer trunks, four suitcases, three crates, and a medicine chest. These contained, with other items, seventy dresses, ten fur coats, ninety one pairs of gloves, and twenty two hatpins, with a total value of 36,567 pounds.
The author also talks about how even first class had it’s own hierarchy on-board, with many of the Jewish-American and German-American passengers looked down upon by their same-class shipmates.
I was also surprised to learn that it wasn’t only because of aesthetic reasons (as the film mentioned) but also because of outdated regulations that there was only enough lifeboat capacity for a third of the people on board. The author also points out that a month before Titanic sailed, another liner was lost in the English Channel due to a collision with a German steel barque. 
The two hundred forty one passengers and crew on that ship were rescued, but nine drowned after their lifeboat capsized. With that recent memory, the author points out that it may have contributed to the initial reluctance of the Titanic passengers to board the lifeboats.
I am looking forward to continue reading Voyagers of the Titanic and finding out more about the people on-board (and not only the rich first class passengers either – I am sure there must be many very interesting stories about the immigrants heading to America). I may even grab a copy of Kate Alcott’s fictitious novel The Dressmaker
I read a novel in verse about the Titanic. It was fictional but the author did a lot of research. It said even second and third class quarters were opulent compared to other ships. When I was in Belfast last year they had signs up that said, “RMS Titanic: Built by the Irish; Sunk by an Englishman.” I understand that now there are signs up that say something like, “She was fine when she left here.”
Kathy – I’ve now gotten to the part of the book that talks about second class on the Titanic and you are right, it was only one slight step below first class and very nice.
I haven’t read a book about the Titanic but I’ve been tempted to get The Dressmaker. I followed @TitanicRealTime the past few days on twitter. It was an interesting ‘first hand’ retelling of the tragedy.
Mary – I sure wish I knew about the twitter feed, although that might have been too depressing. I really want to read The Dressmaker and also heard about a new book with a Titanic theme, Katherine Howe’s The House of Velvet and Glass that looks very good.
Just added the K. Howe book to my list. Thanks for the rec!
I have that book Kathy is talking about and I need to get to it BADLY. The author who wrote it is totally fascinating to listen to. See, if I would have had my act together, I could have easily done a week of Titanic stuff. EW did a feature a few weeks ago on all these books that have just come out.
Sandy – I wish I thought this through and put together a read-a-long of Titanic stuff. Oh well! I think though I’ll continue with my Titanic reading and get The Dressmaker (and also a new book I just found out about, Katherine Howe’s The House of Velvet and Glass, which has a Titanic theme too)!
I have read a lot about the Titanic recently, inevitably, and watched various documentaries, and it never ceases to be a horribly sad story. So many small wrong decisions made leading to so many lives lost. Chilling.
The Titanic was a terrible tragedy, but so darn fascinating.
I’ve been invited to a Titanic party! Not exactly sure what that means but we’re going to wear our life jackets.
Seriously, I Titanic party? It wasn’t on a boat, was it?
Ooo thank you! That Titanic book sounds really good!
Good for you reading about the Titanic! I have delved into a bit too during this 100th anniversary weekend. Your post is interesting. Check out my review of Walter Lord’s Titanic book at http://www.thecuecard.com/ cheers.
Susan – Thanks for the link! I’ll check out your review!
The “Titanic” movie is one of my most favorite movie of all times. It depicts on the value of relationships specifically in the family and in the opposite sex.