Titanic Museum To Set Sail
On April 10, 1999, the first permanent exhibition of the ill-fated Titanic opens 87 years to the day the ship set sail on its maiden voyage. The Titanic collided with an iceberg a few days into its journey, and sank on April 15, 1912.
The new attraction has something for everyone interested in the Titanic saga, reports CBS News Field Anchor Jose Diaz-Balart.
Included in the "Titanic - Ship of Dreams" exhibit is an exact re-creation of J.P. Morgan's parlor room that was a feature of the first-class suites. Throughout the show, visitors will experience not only sights, but sounds, sensations and smells of the ship as well.
The creators of the exhibit replicated a cafe where teas, sandwiches, and dessert items were served. When visitors enter, they smell the warm scent of cinnamon buns, and hear the muffle of simulated conversations going on between the travelers of the past.
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| Plates used to serve food on the Titanic. (CBS) |
And on the "B-deck," the temperature is kept at a precise 48 degrees, all to be as true to the real-life Titanic as possible.
These and other exact re-creations such as the grand staircase, have Titanic historians giving rave reviews.
"People have in their mind's eye from the movie, but that's different. When you're standing in it and surrounded by it, it's quite thrilling," says one Titanic expert.
The meticulous project costs $7.5 million. The exhibit co-creator Michael Harris took time out to show CBS News some of the highlights.
The first room visitors see, is a shipyard where the Titanic is being built.
It took eight months of arduous detail, looking over old pictures of the ship and finding Edwardian-era artifacts, to bring the exhibit to life. Harris' goal was to make the exhibit experiential, not museum-like.
There are more than 200 Titanic artifacts on display, including a deck chair bought at auction by two men for $4,000. After determining that the chair was from the famous ship, they found out it was worth $425,000. Now they sell exact replicas to collectors of Titanic memorabilia.
A sure hit with younger fans is the outfit worn by actor Leonardo Dicaprio in the blockbuster film, Titanic. Posters from other films made over the years about the tragedy are also featured.
Other parts of the exhibit are chillingly non-fictional.
A note found on the shores of Maine two weeks after the luxury ocean liner sunk was written by a gentleman by the name of Jack Stewart.
"Our ship is lost. All hope of being saved is abandoned," it says.
But to bring home the true horror of the ship's demise, Harris decided to give the most haunting and rare artifact a room of its own: a life jackefrom the Titanic.
More than 1,500 of the 2,200 people aboard the ship died in the cold waters of the North Atlantic. Many died because of a shortage of lifeboats.