Irving Davis, 1911 World Traveler.

As a follow-up to this weekend of Titanic history, I wanted to share one last Titanic relic held in the Davis-Rattner family. As I shared earlier, Irving Davis (Lori's Great Grandfather) traveled the world in 1911 with the John Philip Sousa Band. On that journey he experienced 2nd Class travel on the White Star Line, even traveling the same route as Titanic. In this case he was headed to Liverpool on the S.S. Baltic and for his family's sake made the trip safely. (Pictured below) He even took part in a lifeboat drill in what appears to be the same period wooden lifeboats as Titanic.

Traveling out of Pier 60 in New York, December 1910 he managed to hold onto an original advertisement for the launching of R.M.S. Titanic and R.M.S. Olympic.  At that point she was still under construction in Belfast and wouldn't be launched until that next spring of 1911(Image below). From us in 2012, Thanks for holding onto the Titanic history, Irving!

Irving Davis, Personal Collections, 1911

S.S. Baltic Departing New YorkIrving's Journal Map 1911 - New York to Liverpool

Original 1910 Advertisement for the Titanic and Olympic building in Belfast.

 Olympic and Titanic under construction in Belfast 1910

North Atlantic 1910-11 crossing on the S.S. Baltic and S.S. Tainui.

As noted earlier, Irving experienced cross Atlantic travel in the day of the luxury steamliner. From his extensive collection of photography we know he even participated in this life boat drill (Below) on the steamer S.S. Tainui traveling south on Atlantic to Capetown.

Lifeboat Drill on S.S. Tainui 1911. The Irving Davis CollectionOut at Sea, S.S Baltic and S.S. Tainui 1910 and 1911. The Irving Davis Collection

White Star Line branded tea cups, 1910. 

A Day for 1912 Fashion.

Beers for Titanic

Beers for Titanic; Guinness for the Irish who built her, and Paulaner that was served at the final 1st Class Dinner.

Traces of the Titanic's lasting memories in New York City.

While little of Titanic's story made it all the out to New York in 1912, some elements have survived the passage of time. Chelsea Piers was a landmark point of entry to Manhattan; architecturally they were impactful structures. The Carpathia brought in the survivors, first to Titanic's scheduled destination, Pier 59 to unload the lifeboats, Then returned to Pier 54. Pier 54's entrance structure remains to this day. Titanic's survivors would walked through this exact space. Below is what remains, including the Memorial downtown at the South Street Seaport and White Star Line's Office on Lower Broadway.

The Skylines of Manhattan, 1912 and 2012.

Chelsea Piers, New York Past and Present

Carpathia docking at Pier 59 unloading Titanic's Survivors and Lifeboats.

Top, White Star/Cunard Lines Pier 59, Below; Pier 54 Today, Photo Credit, Mikon Vienna

Left; Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, 2012 Right, Titanic Memorial Lighthouse 1913. Inset; Original Location, Seamen's Church Institute of New York.

Memorial Plaque Detail © Raisch Studios

White Star Line Publications, S.S. Baltic 1911; © Irving Davis Personal Collections

Left; White Star Line Offices, 9 Broadway. Right; Radio Shack in 2012; Crowds gather to hear news on the Titanic.Top; Getting Titanic News, Bottom; 9 Broadway in 2012.

Titanic's wealthiest passenger, John Jacob Astor IV lies to rest in Uptown Manhattan.

Being the richest person on Titanic couldn't spare his life from the inevitable end. Astor was one of the 1,500 that lost their lives in the North Atlantic that night. He is buried at the top of Manahattan in Trinity Church's Cemetery and Mausoleum, including the huge wad of cash found in his pockets after the fact. Also to note, the autopsy findings theorize that Astor himself was crushed by Titanic's number one funnel, suffering a traumatic injury to his brain. Note, this is slightly different to the 1997 film depiction of Astor in the Grand Staircase room 'end of the log flume ride' scene. Wikipedia has more on his biography. 

Top; John Jacob Astor VI in 1909. Bottom; Eric Braeden in Titanic, 1997.

Left; Astor's Family Burial Plot. Right; Trinity Church Cemetery, 770 Riverside Drive, New York

The faces of a tragedy, BBC compiles hundreds of crew's photos to mark the 100th Anniversary.

BBC News

Before we had texting, We had wireless telegrams, and Jack Phillips would send them for you. He also gave his life trying to save the Titanic.

This weekend in honor of Jack Philips, Titanic's Wireless Officer. Change your incoming texts alert to Telegraph for the iPhone. He gave his life sending out Titanic's final distress calls. He was 25 at the time.

The BBC has a great piece posted on Jack's narrative, Also check out this BBC Program on the wireless transmissions on the night of Titanic's sinking.

The BBC offers the best Titanic history overview yet, Powerful story telling through minimal information design.

Titanic Memorial Cruises all steaming towards the last coordinates, Including 'period' dressed passengers.

 

Photo: Richard Drew / AP

The actual 1912 Newsreel of the Titanic disaster.

Stunning new CGI on Titanic's end.

Traveling with the White Star Line, in 1911.

Looking back a year before Titanic, while under construction in the Harland and Wolff yards up in Belfast. My wife's family can make claim to part of Titanic's greater legacy, the White Star Line. Irving Davis, a clarientist with John Philip Sousa's Band traveled 2nd Class on the steamer S.S. Baltic in late December 1910.

 Below are some of the other White Star Line ships, the Baltic encounted on it's 1910/11 Atlanic crossing.

S.S. Balitc, White Star Line Postcard, The Irving Davis Collection

S.S Baltic docked at Manhattan's West Side. 1905

R.M.S. Oceanic, Exchanged signal rockets, Dec 26th 1910

Steamer R.M.S. Cedric, Received Marconi Wireless transmissions, Dec. 27th 1910

It's 1997 all over again, James Cameron tweaks final Titanic film.

White Star Line offices in Lower Manhattan, Located in 2012

Turns out the White Star Line offices have been taken over by a Radio Shack. I don't think they'd ever guess that Radio Shack will be there a 100 years later. They merged with their chief rival the Cunard Line in 1934. That building is easy to spot on Broadway given the logos remain on the structure today.

As mentioned before, my wife, Lori's Great-Grandfather, Irving Davis was fortunte to travel the world with the John Philip Sousa Band in 1911. Fortunte for us, he keep many mementos from his trip. One of which was his Passenger Information Booklet at the start of the journey from New York aboard the S.S. Baltic. I'll be posting more on Irving's experiences with the White Star Line later, as it represents cross-Atlantic steamship travel in the time of Titanic.

Note the Titanic history tie-in detail. 'Ismay Imrie & Co.' was a reference to Bruce J. Ismay, the Managing Director of White Star Line at the time of the Titanic sinking. He was infamous for managing to jump on one of the few lifeboats and survived the sinking. 

Irving Davis Personal Collections; Left, 1910 - White Star Line Passenger Information Cover - SS. Baltic. Top Right, Irving in 1909, Bottom Right, S.S. Baltic Postcard

Library of Congress, Left, Crowds gathering awaiting news on the Titanic, Right, Raisch Studios, Radio Shack at 9 Broadway1912 and 2012 together through time. Raisch Studios and Library of Congress