More ‘Titanic’ memorabilia surface in online auction

Three years after the centenary of its sinking, Titanic memorabilia continues to surface at auction. Lion Heart Autographs in the US is offering an interesting selection in an online auction on September 30th. The "ship of dreams" was fitted with the equivalent of a modern luxury cruise ship's beauty spa, and among the lots for sale is "one of only four known tickets from the Titanic's unusual weighing chair located in its opulent Turkish Baths" (estimate $7,500- $10,000). The weighing chair device was custom-made for the Titanic's Turkish baths' cooling room by English company Henry Pooley & Son.

Weighing chair

If the ship had survived there’s no doubt the chair might have become a popular attraction, as passengers (just like those on cruise ships today) were fed gargantuan meals. A menu from the last lunch served aboard

Titanic

– estimated at $50,000- $70,000 – was taken from the ship by first-class passenger

Abraham Lincoln Salomon

, a New York stationer, who survived and carried this menu on board the infamous lifeboat number one. What he consumed for his last on-board lunch is not recorded, but the selection on offer included: “consommé fermier; cockie leekie soup; fillets of brill; egg a l’Argenteuil; chicken a la Maryland; corned beef; vegetables; dumplings; grilled mutton chops; mashed, fried, and baked jacket potatoes; custard pudding; apple meringue; pastry; a buffet of salmon mayonnaise; potted shrimps; Norwegian anchovies; soused herrings; plain and smoked sardines; roast beef; round or spiced beef; veal and ham pie; Virginia and Cumberland ham; Bologna sausage; brawn; galantine of chicken; corned ox tongue; lettuce; beetroot; tomatoes; a selection of cheshire, stilton, gorgonzola, edam, camembert, roquefort, st ivel, and cheddar cheese; and, for an extra threepence or sixpence per tankard, “iced draught Munich lager beer!” Is it any wonder the ship capsized?

A letter on Plaza Hotel [New York] stationery, and with the original envelope, was written by Laura Mabel Francatelli and dated October 12th, 1912 – six months after the sinking. She also survived by getting on to lifeboat number one and the letter was sent to the aforementioned Salomon.

Francatelli wrote: “I am afraid our nerves are still bad, as we had such trouble & anxiety added to our already awful experience by the very unjust inquiry when we arrived in London.” According to the auctioneers, Francatelli worked for fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon who, along with her husband, wealthy Scottish aristocrat, Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon. also managed to escape in the same lifeboat – later sarcastically dubbed “the money boat” and “the millionaires’ boat” by the tabloids.

In a fascinating catalogue note, the auctioneers said: "From the lifeboat, the small party watched in shock as, at around 2am, the Titanic cracked in half and plunged out of sight into the black water."

Ms Francatelli “settled for a time in Manhattan and took several subsequent voyages across the Atlantic, including one in 1954 when she returned to her native England for good”. She died in 1967. The letter has an estimate of $4,000-$6,000.

Bidders can access the auction online via the eBay platform.

By coincidence, another major 20th century maritime disaster with an Irish connection is recalled in a separate auction in England today. Auctioneers Lockdales in Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, is offering "the ill-fated Lusitania captain's medals" estimated at £25,000-£35,000.

Commander William Turner, OBE, stayed on the passenger liner as it sank under him, having been torpedoed by a German U-boat off the south coast of Ireland in May 1915. A total of 1,197 people perished, out of 2,100 passengers and crew. Turner was among those rescued – he was saved by clinging to a floating oar.

Anniversary

James Sadler, the Lockdales’ auction manager, said: “For an auctioneer, this is a situation that sends a shiver down the spine, especially as this is the anniversary year of the disaster. Although inquiries exonerated Commander Turner, the sinking of the

Lusitania

cast a shadow over the rest of his life. But he deservedly got full medal entitlement and was, without doubt, an honourable man.”

William Thomas Turner died in 1933, aged 58. The medals include "a silver hallmarked 1917 OBE, a transport medal with South Africa clasp 1899- 1902, a "star trio" of first World War medals and a Liverpool Humane Society medal.