A lot (an amazing amount!) of food.
And wine.
And other forms of alcohol.
And beautifully dressed women and handsome men.
But you WON’T find plot. Your character sheet contains some character background and only goals of the “make conversation” variety. You won’t need to try to steal the Countess’s jewels, or raid the Purser’s safe, or poison an enemy or deal with a blackmailer. You will inquire about trips to Egypt or the health of a family member or plays to see in New York or share stories of previous social events.
Depending on how well-known your character was, your character sheet may include a lot of character history, or not much at all. If there is a lot, please don’t be intimidated. Don’t think we expect you to memorize it. [We included it because there’s so much fascinating material out there. We found it interesting, and we thought you might too.] Feel free to make up shared reminiscences with other characters and add details or interests as they will enhance your own and others’ enjoyment. We do ask that you refrain from departing wildly from the basics of your character. If you claim to be a time traveling space nazi or the like, Dig or Gail is likely to pull you aside for a little “re-direction.”
What we’re trying to accomplish in this event is to create a “shared reality” of these people at this moment; we are not striving for historical verisimilitude. And for everyone to enjoy themselves with a good meal and good company, as the First Class passengers did at dinner on April 14th, 1912.
Free for Nook–such a deal! The Truth About Chickamauga
Written after Titanic’s maiden voyage, obviously (Only $.99 for Nook) The Truth About the Titanic
Author of a series of mystery novels that had earned him the nickname “the American Conan Doyle.” His popular “Thinking Machine” stories featured the brilliant amateur sleuth S. F. X. Van Dusen, first serialized in Hearst’s Boston American, where Futrelle was a staff writer. The public’s enthusiasm for the character allowed him to quit journalism and concentrate on writing mystery novels.
Full text of many of his stories at: www.futrelle.com
May is always referred to as “also a writer” in materials on the Titanic, but it took me a while to track down exactly what she had written. It was through IMDB, oddly enough, where I found a reference to a 1911 novel, The Secretary of Frivolous Affairs. It became a 1915 silent movie, and she was credited her as a writer. How I wish I could find it! [The following link purports to let you watch it online, but then tries to show you some other film: http://www.1channel.ch/watch-33447-the-secretary-of-frivolous-affairs
It turns out that this novel was on the bestseller lists for 6 years! Here’s a summary of the novel and a summary of the silent movie.
The only novel of hers I can find online is one based on a story of his: Lieutenant What’s-his-name: Elaborated from Jacques Futrelle’s The Simple Case of Susan. Also free for Nook!
John Jacob Astor IV wrote a Jules Verne-ish novel, published in 1894, called A Journey in Other Worlds. Who would have guessed?
Mrs. Helen Churchill Candee was an ardent feminist, and her first book published in 1900 was How Women May Earn a Living, which can be downloaded at google books or archive.org. The New York Times reviewed it.
Her second book, An Oklahoma Romance, (1901) had to do with settlement in the Oklahoma Territory.
In 1906, Decorative Styles and Periods was released; here are comments by an artist.
She was in Europe in early 1912 to finish her research on The Tapestry Book, to be published that fall.
A previous blog entry included an excerpt from Emily Post regarding the difficulties ladies dining can experience with gloves, fan, and napkins.
This was apparently a well-known enough quandary that Charles Dana Gibson (the creator of the “Gibson Girl” archetype) illustrated it.
So there was this James Cameron movie released in 1997 (85 years after the Big Boat Went Down, as Dig says). You know–starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio? With the song that was so ubiquitous that if you hate Celine Dion, it’s probably the direct cause? And which then hauled home a raft of Oscars?
[That Maggie went to see in the theatre four times? All, I believe, in the huge Woodfield Cinemas, now a parking lot.]
You may have heard that it’s being re-released to theatres this year, with retrofitted 3D, because of some significant milestone or other.
Dana Stevens (film critic for Slate) didn’t watch it during its original release, eschewing it for its huge box office and Oscar haul as indications of “the triumph of mediocrity”, but she now recognizes it for its “triumph of popular art.”
Ebert gives it 4 stars again (despite his view that 3D is a net negative).
At the TED conference in February 2010, James Cameron stated: “Secretly, what I wanted to do was I wanted to dive to the real wreck of ‘Titanic’. And that’s why I made the movie”.
We watched it last weekend, and if you’re a Titanic buff, it is amazing how very many accurate details it includes. Many of them that very few people (like, say, people who are watching it as part of a project requiring research on various minute points) would recognize. Stuff like including tiny speaking parts portraying Guggenheim and his mistress Mme. Aubart, the Duff Gordons, the Countess of Rothes, and the Strausses, and the amazing authenticity of the layout and fittings of the ship.
Except of course for the obligatory portrayal of Mrs. J. J. Brown as a crass hick, starting with her name.
But that’s a subject for another post. . .
Captain Edward J. Smith: (62)The commodore of the White Star fleet, commanding the world’s largest and most luxurious ship on her maiden voyage. Known as the “millionaires’ captain”, many of the social elites plan their Atlantic crossings based on his schedule.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
George Dunton Widener: (50) A member of New York’s elite Four Hundred (although not “old money” enough for Philadelphia Society), Widener is heir to one of the greatest fortunes in America. As he has taken control of his father’s street railway empire, he has become known as a man whose familial kindness is balanced with ruthless business instincts.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Eleanor Elkins Widener: (50) Nellie (as she is known to her friends) is the daughter of William Elkins–long-time business partner to Peter Widener, her husband’s father. Full of good humor and energy, she has a reputation as a gracious hostess with a subtle wit.
William Ernest Carter: (36) Son of a Philadelphia industrialist, Billy divides his time between Europe and America. An avid polo player, it’s rumored that his ponies are on board.
Lucille Polk Carter: (36) Known for her vivacity and style, Mrs. Carter is not afraid to shock her peers with the “most bizarre modes of the moment.” She was the first woman in Philadelphia to wear a harem skirt, and created a sensation at Newport when she appeared at a costume ball in the guise of a fairy, with filmy costume and gauzy wings. It is only to be expected that tonight she will be wearing one of her many purchases in Paris.
Henry Burkhardt Harris: (45) Harris is one of the most successful American theatrical producers, even owning a popular Broadway theatre. He is returning to New York with a British play which he hopes will be a hit in the States.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
René Harris: (35) A woman of tremendous spunk, just an hour ago she slipped on the grand staircase and broke her arm. But she had it set and, despite her discomfort, is appearing at dinner anyway–in a sleeveless gown.
Dorothy Gibson: (22) A proper young woman traveling with her mother, some passengers may have recognized her from Eclair Motion Pictures publicity.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mrs. Pauline Gibson: She and her daughter are returning from a lovely vacation together, touring England, the Continent, and Egypt.
Lucy Noël Martha, Countess of Rothes: (33) Traveling to New York to join her husband, the Earl of Rothes on a trip to Vancouver, since her marriage in 1900 she has been the chatelaine of Leslie House, an ancient Scottish seat on a ten-thousand acre estate near Fife, Scotland.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Colonel Archibald Gracie IV: (53) Gregarious, well-bred and of military bearing, Colonel Gracie is returning from a tour of Europe following the completion of his Civil War history, The Truth About Chickamauga.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mrs. Helen Churchill Candee: (52) A woman of a certain age but no uncertain charm, she is known as a woman of good breeding and impeccable social standing. She has two books to her credit, including a volume called How Women May Earn a Living.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Colonel John Jacob Astor IV: The richest man on board, as well as one of the leaders of New York Society, Mark Twain describes Astor as “the world’s greatest monument to unearned increment.”
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mrs. Madeleine Talmage Force Astor: Barely nineteen and visibly pregnant after a winter in Egypt and on the Continent, Madeleine is Astor’s young second wife.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mr. Benjamin Guggenheim: (46) Having resigned from his family’s business in 1901 to live on his investment income, Ben has been able to concentrate on his own interests: travel, art collecting, and philandering.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mme. Léontine Pauline Aubart: (24) Although listed in the passenger list as “Mrs. N. Aubert”, some have recognized her as a caberet singer known as Ninette, said to have attracted the eye of Benjamin Guggenheim.
Jacques Futrelle: (37) Journalist and author, his brilliantly analytical sleuth, Professor S.F.X. Van Dusen, is known as “the American Sherlock Holmes.” Due to the success of his stories, Futrelle is a household name and can well afford to travel in style.
www.futrelle.com; Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mrs. Lily May Futrelle: (35) Jacques’ wife and an author herself, May has been immensely enjoying her voyage on the Titanic–the luxurious accommodations, lavish meals, and the opportunity to show off the latest fashions she acquired in Paris.
Mrs. Emma Eliza Bucknell: Widow of the benefactor of Bucknell University in Philadelphia, Mrs. Bucknell frequents the same social circles—whether in Philadelphia, New York, Paris or Rome—that many of the other American First Class passengers do. At Cherbourg on board the tender Nomadic, waiting to transfer to the Titanic, she was pleasantly surprised to find her long-time friend, Mrs. Margaret Brown.
Mrs. Margaret Tobin Brown: (44) Wife of a western mining magnate, Margaret is returning from a tour of Europe and Egypt. She has a practical outlook on life and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Lucile Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon: (48)The first British designer to achieve international renown, “Lucy” was a widely-acknowledged innovator in couture styles: liberating slit skirts and low necklines, less restrictive corsets, and alluring, pared-down lingerie. Last year, she opened a branch of her London house, Lucile Ltd, in Paris and is travelling to finalize arrangements for a new and larger location for the New York house, opened in 1910.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Sir Cosmo Edmund, Lord Duff-Gordon: (49) Originally merely an investor in Lucy’s fledgling fashion business, this reserved Scottish baronet was drawn to her energy and competence. They married in May 1900. They booked their crossing under the name of “Morgan” in the hopes of having a quiet journey.
Mr. Thomas Andrews, Jr.: (39) A managing director (and universally popular) at Harland and Wolff, shipbuilders for the White Star Line, Andrews’s custom is to travel on maiden voyages to observe a new liner in service and recommend improvements. He seems to know every detail of every deck.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Mr. William T. Stead: At sixty-two, Stead has lost some of the fire that made him one of the most powerful opinion-makers of the late-Victorian era. But he is still a captivating conversationalist with strong views and a trunkful of fascinating anecdotes from his long career as a pioneering, crusading journalist and spiritualist.
Wikipedia entry;
Encyclopedia Titanica entry
Miss Edith Louise Rosenbaum: (34) Paris correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily, Edith came from Cincinnati in 1908 to work in the fashion world. She has drawn sketches for the Butterick Pattern Service, and even designed a line of clothing for Lord & Taylor. This is her first trip to New York as a fashion buyer, and she is accompanied by many trunks of dresses for celebrities like the Broadway actress Ina Claire and the opera singer Geraldine Farrar.
Mrs. Dr. Alice Leader: (49) Having spent six years practicing medicine with her husband in a pediatric and general medicine practice in Lewiston, Maine, she moved to New York after his death four years ago. She has been traveling through Europe with friends.
Mrs. Marian Longstreth Morris Thayer: (39) A proper Philadelphia lady, Mrs. Thayer is returning from a European tour.
Major Archibald Butt: (46) Returning to America after a diplomatic mission to the Vatican, Major Butt is an invaluable aide to President Taft. Legendary for his acumen at official functions, he is accustomed to moving in the highest circles of power and society.
