Alright @YouTheReader, everybody knows My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. The main theme song to James Cameron’s blockbuster film Titanic still gets played at 2 AM at pubs and bars in ‘23. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, Celine Dion didn’t want to record this song. Everybody knows the film made Leonardo DiCaprio the star he is today. The film came out on December 19, 1997. By March 1, 1998, it became the first film to earn more than $1 billion worldwide. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 128 million tickets in the US in its initial showings in movie theatres. The world was enthralled by the movie about the unsinkable ship so much so that the movie sold over 25 million copies on VHS/VCR (Video Home System / Video Cassette Recorder for the kids) in its first 3 months, this was 9 months after it debuted on the big screen. The best-selling live-action film in the VHS era was so iconic that many @YouTheReaders will even remember it for its double VHS tape.
@YouTheReader I never got to see the film at the movie theatres, the VHS tapes were where I first saw it age the ripe age of 4. Like many 90s kids of the era, Titanic had a massive impact on me as a boy. Titanic was a movie where I witnessed non-cartoon historic drama for the first time, caught my first glimpse of bosoms (@Mom&Grandma sorry I should’ve given a warning), and heard Celine Dion belt out this tune. Obviously, the quintessential love story of the film about a tragedy’s theme song makes everybody think of Jack & Rose, but for me, I don’t necessarily think of the fictionalized couple (that were based on real people you’ll read about in Stumblin’ Along) when I hear this song.
The first thing I think of when I hear Celine Dion or My Heart Will Go On was being in a rented van (I don’t remember the car company @YouTheReader I was 4) in Ireland. I was on one of my family trips to Ireland. This one was special to me because not only did I get to hang with loads of cousins, aunts, uncles, my Grandma in Ireland, and a dog named Pal, but I specifically remember this one because I also got to spend it with my Grandma with the Brook in the Backyard & her sisters. Being in the van with this song was where I got to perform my first Bit - sing My Heart Will Go On. I karaoked this song the whole 2-week trip in a van that only took diesel packed with aunts and grandmas. My mom put me up to it and she’d probably claim I was being completely serious about the performance. That said, I’m claiming it as my first bit because I do remember being half serious and half joking.
Okay, enough about this iconic movie and song that came out 25 years ago. All of this up until now was the half-joking aspect of this bit I’m performing now. The real story of the Titanic was a real-life tragedy, with real people and that is who we’ll focus on for this Sunday’s Stumblin’ Along in the City…
Titanic The Exhibition
I got there bright & early. The first thing on display was…
The exhibit does a good job sort of humbling you. They keep it historical from the get-go. There is no massive sign with Dicaprio, Winslet, or My Heart Will Go On in the background.
Sir Arthur Rostron's words are said through the earpiece, “One thing that stands out in my mind about it all was the quietness.” Captain Rostron captained the ocean liner RMS Carpathia, the boat that rescued hundreds of survivors from the RMS Titanic after the ship sank. Carpathia was on a voyage from Liverpool to Boston and it saved 706 souls from lifeboats on the Titanic. The ship, RMS Carpathia, itself only lasted another 6 years because it was sunk by a German U-Boat during WWI when it was being used to transport Allied troops and supplies.
Bruce Ismay was the chairman and managing director for The White Star Line, the Titanic’s parent company. He was the highest-ranking White Star official to survive the sinking and thus was called to testify in front of a Senate Inquiry just a handful of days after the tragedy. Ismay was responsible for reducing the number of lifeboats on the Titanic from its potential 48 to 16, the minimum requirement set by the Board of Trade. “I assisted, as best I could, getting the boats out and putting the women and children into the boats,” Ismay testified during the American inquiry. He donated a significant sum to the pension fund for widows of the disaster, and, instead of avoiding responsibility by stepping down as chairman, helped pay out the multitude of insurance claims by the victim’s relatives. In the years following the sinking, Ismay, and the insurance companies he was involved with, paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds to victims and relatives of victims. (Source: Historic UK) Nonetheless, Ismay’s philanthropic activity could never bring back the people lost and Ismay was villanized for his decision but never faced any criminal penalty.
Lord Williams Pirrie was at the head of Harland and Wolff, the largest ship-construction firm in the world, and the builder of the passenger liner Titanic. Despite the Titanic sinking, very little adverse impact was had on Harland and Wolff. The Titanic was constructed in County Belfast, Ireland by Harland and Wolff. It took over 14,000 workers to complete but the vast majority was done by 3,000 workers in particular from Ireland who did so in 2 years. (Just for the record, the Irish built the boat and the British were too cheap to include enough lifeboats. Glad we’ve Noted that out of the way.) 27,000 tons of steel was put into the Titanic. The propellers alone weighed 38 tons.
@YouTheReader did you know that JP Morgan was heavily involved in the Titanic? He bought White Star Line in 1902 and actually spent $7.5 million ($25 million today) on the Titanic. JP Morgon agreed to terms with Bruce Ismay that Ismay would continue to serve as the Titanic’s chairman and managing director. Morgon was actually supposed to be on the ship and actually decided to back out of the voyage only a few hours before it set sail towards New York City on April 10, 1912.
At the time, the Titanic was thought to be unsinkable because it had an extremely innovative system of watertight doors. It was in fact the safest boat ever built for its time. The ship had a steam engine towering 65 feet high. It also had Captain Edward Smith at the helm. Captain Smith was the most experienced captain, prior to the Titanic he had 35 years of experience at sea without any accidents. He was known as the “millionaires captain.” Thomas Andrews was the engineer behind the Titanic and he knew once the damage was done - the ship was going to ship in 2 hours. Both men tried their best but ultimately passed away on that fateful Titanic night in real life as they did in the movie.
Eva Hart was only 7 years old when she and her parents boarded the Titanic as 2nd class passengers. She remembers her mother having a bad feeling about how the Titanic was known for being unsinkable. “It flew in the face of God.” Eva and her mother survived the sinking, but her father never made it because of the lack of lifeboats. Eva Hart lived until the age of 91. She was one of the last remaining survivors and was one of the most outspoken about the lack of sufficient lifeboats.
William McMaster Murdoch was in charge of administering the lifeboats on the Titanic. He was the 1st officer at the helm, was in charge of activating the watertight doors, and oversaw the efforts of getting the women & children on lifeboats. In the Titanic, Murdoch was portrayed shooting passengers and himself during the sinking; this was based on several eyewitness testimonies of a shooting/suicide by an officer during the launching of the last lifeboat. It is possible that Murdoch was that officer. There has been no evidence that proves that William Murdoch was the officer seen committing suicide, but there's no evidence he wasn't either. A lot was going on.
The first-class lounge of the Titanic was boujee AF. Only married couples could travel alone and together. Fun fact the 4th funnel of the Titanic was a “dummy funnel.” It was not real and was only included because it gave the ship an even more imposing look. A good way to tell if the photo of the Titanic is real or not is to see if all 4 funnels have smoke coming from them. There should only be smoke coming out of 3.
The Titanic was 500 miles away or 2 more days at sea away from landing in New York. Other ships passing by gave the Titanic congratulations and warnings of ice via Morse code the night of the sinking. I found this part interesting because you never really know how close they really are in the movie. Most of the immigrants on the ship knew they were never going to see Europe again. Here are some of them…
Carl Robert Carlsson was from Sweden. In order to get on the Titanic he had to falsify documents. When he got through, he sent a card with a picture of Titanic and wrote: "...if I had known that it would go so smooth then Anna may have come with me. Good-by!" Anna was his sister, the youngest of the siblings. He was on his way from Gothenburg to relatives in Huntley, Illinois. Edward Larson was in the 3rd class. The 3rd class of the Titanic was not comprised entirely of the poor. Most people had to spend 3 to 5 years worth of savings to immigrate to the US. Mauritz Adahl was on board because of a coal strike going on back in the US. All 3 men would be lost at sea.
This notebook has where Adahl worked on Canal Street in the City. Adahl’s notebook is very similar in size to the one I use for the Notes and I work only 10 or so blocks away from where the Fine Clothing used to be. Random happenstance but kinda cool in a morbid way. Anyway, this is where we’re going to leave off. This is less than half of the Notes I took while Stubmlin’ Along to the Titanic Exhibit, next time we revisit the rest of the Titanic I promise to lead off with the real Jack & Rose story sometime during my Sophomore Slump.
Alright @YouTheReader, I got to drink some Pints in Brooklyn. Stumblin’ Along to the Museum of Failure was cool. Random happenstance that they had the Titanic in one of their displays. Cheers!