Almost every letter from the Titanic probably arrived coated in a fine layer of irony; however, nothing quite matches the ones where somebody describes their fine surroundings and says that everybody misses you and was so sorry you couldn’t come.
The Daily Mail (h/t the New York Post) reports that auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son will be selling off a letter in “near-mint condition,” posted when the ship stopped off in Queenstown, Ireland. Swiss banker Alfons Simonius-Blumer was having a perfectly lovely time aboard, he wrote to his wife and daughter; too bad they weren’t along for the trip!
‘Dr. Staehelin and the Frohlicher family send friendly greetings and the only regret of the latter is that you and Ella are not on the ship.’
He added: ‘Last night I slept wonderfully from half past 10 to 7 o’clock this morning and I’ve ridden the horse and camel. They have left me shaken up and this afternoon I think I will take a Turkish bath.
‘Although the wind is blowing strongly, the ship is not heeling over one bit, and I certainly think that not even you would get seasick because everywhere the air is excellent.
‘It is really as good as the best hotel.
Except for the fact that most hotels are genuinely unsinkable. (Can’t vouch for Venice.) Being a first class passenger, Mr. Simonius-Blumer made it into a life boat and survived; he died in 1920.
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
