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Titanic: The word evokes one of the most tragic moments in modern history.
On her maiden voyage 100 years ago, the world's largest ocean liner struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, sinking within two hours on April 14, 1912. The deaths of more than 1,500 passengers, paired with harrowing stories of survival, made headlines around the world.
But the Titanic also evokes a time of grandiosity and pomp, which Premier Exhibitions Inc. will display with a collection of recovered Titanic jewels for the next two months in Atlanta, Ga.
Most of the jewelry recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic goes on public display for the first time with a three-city tour. The jewelry is from a single purser's bag found during a 1987 research and recovery mission. Mark Lach, Creative Director of the Titanic Artifact Exhibition says each piece "has a story to tell."
Most of the jewels come from a single leather bag found two and half miles below the ocean's surface in 1987, during one of the earliest expeditions to the site of the wreck of the Titanic.
On that fateful night, when passengers and crew members aboard the Titanic were ordered to abandon ship, pursers placed banknotes, documents and jewels in leather bags with the intention of placing them on lifeboats and later returning them to their rightful owners. The chemicals used to tan the leather bags repelled microorganisms that would have eaten away at the contents and which allowed them to be discovered on the ocean floor 75 years later.
Since their recovery, retrieved objects have brought the story of the Titanic to life.
Mark Lach, creative director of "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" said the first-ever showcasing of these Titanic jewels provides a unique look at another era.
"We are all fascinated with the rich and famous of the world, and the Titanic had those passengers on board. When we study these pieces of jewelry there is something to learn. We're fascinated by their beauty, but they also have fascinating stories to tell from another time."
Most of the passengers aboard the Titanic were would-be European immigrants to the United States on third-class tickets, but a who's who of the world's elite also was aboard what was billed as the most luxurious ocean liner of its day, with first-class tickets starting at $57,200 in today's dollars.
Lach said one of his favorite pieces is a gold nugget necklace, thought to belong to philanthropist and socialite Margaret Brown – the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” of Broadway and film. The unrefined gold nuggets are believed to have been a gift from her husband, J.J. Brown, representing the wealth the family accumulated in the mining industry.
A pocket watch, belonging to hotelier Thomas William Solomon Brown, was returned to his surviving daughter, Edith Brown Haisman in the 1990s after it was recovered. Brown Haisman, who was also a passenger on the Titanic, bequeathed the watch to Premier Exhibitions upon her death.
One of the most curious pieces of jewelry is a charm necklace, whose owner has never been identified, with the inscription, "This be your lucky star."
Lach said we can all relate to that sad irony. "I think we all put ourselves on that ship. We think about our own families when we think about that great tragedy and we are still fascinated these many years later."
The 15-piece exhibition opens this Friday in Atlanta, and then moves to Orlando, Fla. and Las Vegas.
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Very interesting. I would love to see more pictures.
Lucky it didn't happen today.....half of the GOP be on board.....jejejejejeje
boom post two......
Whew, and I thought we could have a discussion without politics!! Hummmmmm, guess not! You, Deckie, get the Award of the day! {sarc}
Actually, I was thinking they should keep obama away from it. He'll want to tax the crap out of it and "spread the wealth"
Talk about crap, justicenonexistent, here's some toilet paper for yours.
The $50 Lesson Deckie
Recently, while I was working in the flower beds in the front yard, my neighbors stopped to chat as they returned home from walking their dog.
During our friendly conversation, I asked their little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up.
She said she wanted to be President some day.
Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her,
"If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?"
She replied...
"I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people."
Her parents beamed with pride!
"Wow...what a worthy goal!" I said.
"But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that!" I told her.
"What do you mean?" she replied.
So I told her, "You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and trim my hedge, and I'll pay you $50. Then you can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out and give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked,
"Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"
I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."
Her parents aren't speaking to me anymore.
Oh Deckie. Don't you mean the Dems, they're always looking for a party/trip on the backs of the taxpayers.
Ok the person above me with that dumb story has no idea where their tax money goes. The person above me is also jealous of people on welfare. They also have a picture painted in their head of what someone on welfare looks like. The person above me doesn't realize that the amount of money cheated from the welfare system can't compare to that of the big corporations. The person above me is a moron who stole this story from a facebook post of another moron.
The truth hurts getinhighonlife and by the way I don't have a facebook account.
What does it mean when someone calls you a moron? This is a member of Socialist Democracy Party, Family Tree of the Radical Left
What the hell are these people doing violating a grave site for thrit own personal profit????
archeology perhaps? you may have heard of it.....it been around awhile.......
Actually it hasn't been a declared Grave site but they are trying to get it claimed as one. That was what I heard better than a year ago but haven't heard anything more about it.
I have read that no human remains have ever been found there.
There have never been any remains found. The ocean fauna ate it all as it is eating the ship itself. So It isn't a grave.
It is believed that there are bones buried in the mud around the Titanic. At that depth, it would be difficult to excavate them, plus they would probably disintegrate if disturbed.
I'm sorry Tramp. I wasn't aware that there were mysteries surrounding the way people lived 100 years ago. How many of these artifacts are donated without cost to museums around the world and not on traveling "exhibits" with the sole purpose of making money? While we're at it...there are some fascinating artifacts that I'm sure would earn some real money from the USS Arizona.
@Deckie...must you politicize every article, or do you really think the Democrats in Congress are 'middle-class'?
evidently some folks snort the kool aid rather then drink it...................
Why not display this exhibit in the Midwest too in cities such as Chicago & Cincinnati? Not everything has to be shown in Vegas, Disney World area or Atlanta only!
No money in it. RMS Titanic, INC. is a for profit business. Their only interest is in turning a profit. Not in preserving history or any scientific or historical discovery.
While my own "good luck"piece doesn't look like that one, it works about the same......dont think i would bring it along on a cruise.....
Wow, they should make a movie about this ! They could include the part about the jewels, the rich people with expensive tickets and cabins, the poor people in steerage. I'll bet it would be a big hit ! They could even add music !
Ever watch Public Television? They have a show about the Titantic every year or so, usually about the time of the catastrafy. I've seen these item on it.
i would watch it, well....the second half anyway......hope they put it in a book as well...
They should have Celine Dion sing the theme song
Actually, I kind of like the idea of a cruise ship-themed weekly series where we get to know the crew and every week there are three or four personal stories of passengers who have some kind of issue that the crew could help resolve within the hour-long show, and Charo could be a regular guest.
I love Charo.
Coochie coochie coo!
Catastrafy? REALLY? Try "catastrophe". Jeez!!!
Spell-check...priceless.
Spelling NA_I Really??? Try getting a life!
Check out "A Night To Remember" circa 1958.
Not a bad choice George. Personally I've always been partial to "S.O.S. Titanic" from the late 70's.
When will the World decide to allow those in Deep Sleep to Lie in Peace?
jonjojon, something tells me they aren't disturbing their sleep.
Heres the only story it tells... "look out for that iceberg".. BLAM ...glug, glug, glug, the end
If it happened today, there would be very little gallantry. No woman, children and elderly first. It would be pure chaos and every man for himself.
And some idiots would be looting the possessions of others before trying to escape.
Actually fares for the TITANIC didn't "start" at the equivalent of $57,000.00 in todays money. That's what it would have cost to travel in one of the two "Parlour Suites" which came complete with sitting room, two bedrooms, private bathroom and private promenade deck. Fares would have started at around $35.00, or $800.00 in todays money, for a third class ticket.
My great-grandparents sailed on the TITANIC (both survived) and I remember my great grandmother telling me about the trip before she died in 1968. She still had their ticket receipts from the trip, and the cost for both of them was around $300.00 for an inside first class cabin on C Deck, which equates to about $7,000.00 today.
Pagan Moon, please tell me she wrote down her memories of that fateful night! What a legacy that would be for your family to have. How was your great-grandfather allowed onto a lifeboat? Was it full or one of the half-empty boats? So many insights could be had.
Cracks me up when you told us both of your grandparents survived. Otherwise, I guess your post would have come from "beyond". ;)
Really interesting. I've been fascinated by all things Titanic since I first saw the 1958 movie "A Night to Remember". Everything about the Titanic, from start to tragic finish, speaks to who we are as people - the good, the bad and the ugly.
May the souls of those lost continue to rest in peace.
Artifacts?????? This is plunder from a grave site!! Would you take your metal detector to the site of a plane crash, take personal belongings of those who died and parade them around for profit so clueless people could come pay to see the plunder? Absolutely disgusting!
Yes I would since they aren't going to use it and could care less if I had it.
Well hell, GK, they've done it to the royal tombs in Egypt, parading the treasurers around the globe.
SpyBear, that does NOT make it right.
SPOILER ALERT: The ship sinks.
These comments pretty much say all that there is to say about today's society - you have your left wing trying to politicize everything and your right wing trying to 'churchify' everything with little common sense demonstrated by either!
It all has to do with values....or a lack of values. Nothing to do with politics because there are no values there.
John Ballard was Stupid when he didn't make a claim on the Titanic himself. After all he was the one who discovered it and put a Plague on it to honor the ship and it's passengers. But along come these other guy's who recognized Ballards mistake and saw that Big Money could be made and then THEY put a claim on the Titanic. BIG Mistake by Ballard. BIGGEST Mistake of his Career. Nice guys really do finish last.
I have often thought the same thing. As I understand it, Ballard didn't claim the wreck (per salvage law) since he thought it was a grave site, and that no fair-minded person would ever attempt to profit off of the wreck. Of course, he assumed that the world was populated with fair-minded people. His assumptions were proven wrong. Of note, he only found the Titanic as part of deal he made with the U.S. Navy to take detailed photographs the wrecks of the submarines USS Scorpion and USS Thresher.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080602-titanic-secret.html
Also, Ballard didn't put a "plague" on the ship, although that would have been kinda cool in a voodoo or biblical sense. I think you meant "plaque." ;)
I think you mean Robert Ballard. And he didn't put a claim on the ship because it would have required him to bring an artifact up himself (which he was opposed to doing) and go back to the wreck every few years or else it would revert to "lost" status by maritime law.
Any chance of returning the pieces to their rightful owners??? where possible, obviously??
The survivors and families of those that were rich enough to own objects such as these had insurance and filed claims, which would nullify descendants claiming the items now. Those that were too poor for that, their descendants would have a hard time in court proving that a specific artifact brought up from the wreck was their ancestor's to legally claim it. Plus, RMS Titanic Inc. has "salvor-in-possession" rights, and it would cost more that these artifacts would be worth to fight that in court.
Electing Obama is like backing up the Titanic and hitting the iceberg again. Electing Romney is like steering the Titanic for a different iceberg.
Sorry, couldn't resist posting a little related political humor.
Tarzan, Robert D. Ballard is the oceanographer who came upon the Titanic while searching for two sunken submarines, not John Ballard. He put a plaque, not a plague on the ship. A plague is a dread disease. He was an oceanographer, not a treasure hunter and originally planned to keep the exact location a secret to prevent anyone from claiming prizes from the wreck. He considered the site a cemetery, and refused to desecrate it by removing artifacts from the wreck. He isn't stupid, Tarzan, he's one hell of a man.
Did they find that big diamond I saw in the movie?