All Aboard the R.M.S. TITANIC

All Aboard!!!  All Aboard!!!  All Aboard the R.M.S. TITANIC!!!!

After spending the year experiencing the joy of learning all across the globe into every area of history since the beginning of time, we finally got to the 1900s where we got to explore the amazing and terrifying story of the sinking of the TITANIC.  To end our school year with an event that the children would forever remember, we decided to do an all out reenactment of the last dinner served on the ship.

I found the original Boarding passes and modified them.  Since the food was so expensive to buy, I invited others to dine with us that evening but they had to purchase a boarding pass.  Here is the invite I created…

I had a dress code requirement and they had to purchase their boarding passes at the door.  The tables were set by class as well because the first class passengers would not want to dine with the Second or Third Class.

 

Then we had all the tables set with fine linen cloths and put out my best china and silver from my grandmother.  Each place in first class was set with a napkin and a fancy name card.  Inside the card I typed up a story of who their real character was.  I put an emblem on each of the characters who perished with the ship but kept that a mystery.

The servants escorted the 1st Class Passengers to their seats and they were already taking their very snobbish orders.  You see, we had to play act the whole time.  With 1st class sass.

First I had to research what was on the menu…

I found this website with all the recipes and ideas The TITANIC 11 Course Meal

We worked tirelessly in my little country kitchen making the entire 11 course meal.  I had about 5 people helping.  The first thing I did was get all my meats started roasting in electric roasting pans.  I had 30 chicken thighs with beautiful seasonings on top…

We made the elegant sauces and gravies…

 

The sides were delightful.  We had the Creamed Carrots, the Vegetable Marrow Farci, the Asparagus Vinaigrette, the Potatoes Anna, and appetizers that were so incredible with every bite.

They cleansed their pallet with a homemade fruit sorbet…

Then the servers sliced the Pate, which was a meat pie I made from the original recipe only omitting the liver, wasn’t sure who liked the liver.

The desserts were Chocolate Eclairs, and this Chartruse Jelly with Peaches and a Waldorf Pudding…

It looks like one of the second class passengers was not happy with his pudding…

All original meals that were served on the last first class menu.  It was a lot of food to make but when many hand work together the work is delightful and easy.

The First Class Passengers were very happy at first…

As time went on, like filthy rich customers complain about things, some of the guests were very rich and snobby…

Serene and Pearl enjoyed playing their parts of the English upper class Aristocracy.  It was hilarious.  We were all laughing.

I was the character Molly Brown and Mark was Captain Edward Smith.

To make the night more fun, I boldly proposed to him and Pastor Allison married us on the ship (this was not a part of history, just for fun!)

I soon got up to make the pronouncements of who died and who survived that fateful night of 1912 in the freezing waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

First, I had the children pass around a 22˚F bowl of ice water that the passengers could put their hand in to feel the gravity of how awful it would have been to be fully emerged into that water.  Most people only lived 10 minutes and died from hypothermia as the boat sank to the bottom of the sea.  The room was silent.  They could tell that this would feel like a thousand knives of pain to be floating in that cold water.  Reality started to sink in.

Charlie was the richest man aboard the ship.  His name was John Jacob Aster and his wife 29 years younger was Mrs Madeline Astor.  He went down with the ship while his wife made it onto a live boat.  There were not enough life boats for everyone.

Howard was Thomas Andrews who was the designer of the TITANIC.  He and his wife went down with the ship.

Sam and Serene were the Methodist pastor and wife, Hudson Allison and his dear wife, Bess Allison.  Bess was on the ship, but one of her children went missing so she grabbed her little baby and got out of the lifeboat to find the small child.  The family was never found.  Serene was nearly crying thinking about what that must have been like since she was holding her little baby that evening.

Colin and Nancy Campbell were none other than Isidor and Ida Straus.  He was a very wealthy man who was the co-owner of Macy Department Store at that time.  His wife never left his side so when the ship was sinking, they offered her a lifeboat but not him.  She decided to go down with the ship to stay with her dear husband.  True love and devotion.  Sounds like Nancy!  Very sobering, indeed.

Last but not least, Rockland Campbell who played the part of the filthy rich man named Benjamin Guggenheim.  He was not allowed a life boat so it was said that he put his top hat on and retired to the smoking room as the ship was sinking to die in class.  The entire time, Rockland made sure to play up is upper class card and was hard on his waitress, and made sure to keep his aires the entire time.

Just as we were getting into all the stories, we had Autumn Barrett come up to share a creative story she wrote for school.  It was about a young girl who made it into the lifeboat and watched as her father stayed aboard the ship as it was sinking and all her emotions she would have had.  It was riveting.

Zadok and Saber went behind the wall clanging bells and screaming that the ship was going down as they put on life vests and started running through the dining area to add to the suspense of the evening.

Vange got up to share a very heart warming story of a man who was a Christian aboard the Titanic.  His name was John Harper. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, Harper successfully led his daughter to a lifeboat. Being a widower he may have been allowed to join her but instead forsook his own rescue, choosing to provide the masses with one more chance to know Christ. Harper ran person to person, passionately telling others about Christ. As the water began to submerge the “unsinkable” ship, Harper was heard shouting, “women, children, and the unsaved into the lifeboats.” Rebuffed by a certain man at the offer of salvation Harper gave him his own life vest, saying, “you need this more than I do.” Up until the last moment on the ship Harper pleaded with people to give their lives to Jesus.

It was then that Josh Campbell and I played the very song that was played as the ship was going down, “Nearer My God To Thee”.  He on piano and I on the cello.  The song gave everyone a somber feeling.

To end the evening, I sang the karaoke version of “My Heart Will Go On”, by Celine Dione.  It was a famous pop song that went to a very beautiful movie about the Titanic.  I would strongly suggest watching it with clear play or Vid Angel if you want to watch it.  It has a few parts that are not good for a sensitive audience.

All in all, the event was a real success.  Everyone learned a lot and had a better idea of what it was like in a society that had different classes and order, what it was like to eat an 11 course meal and treated like royalty for some while others found out what it was like to serve snobby aristocrats.

Here is a little look at one of the second class tables…

And another…

And here are some of our Third Class servers…

Molly was in charge of the kitchen and making sure all the servers were getting the right food for the correct course…

We have a new found appreciation for the R.M.S. TITANIC and this night will go down in history for all of us hilltop families as an enjoyable time.

I hope you found this fun and please do try this sometime with your school children.  It is so fun!