The disaster that befell the ill-fated RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage in April 1912 has captivated the world for more than a century. But for Hawkes Crystal’s Master Cutter Aidan J. Scully, the tragedy is personal in nature.
A native of County Cork, Ireland, Scully grew up amid the tales that harkened back to the day the great ocean liner dropped anchor at Cork Harbor, just a stone’s throw from his home.
“The Titanic was docked about 800 yards from where I grew up,” Scully says. His boyhood home was built on the cliffs at the entrance to Cork Harbor, overlooking the cove where the Titanic was anchored. “If I had been born then, I would have seen the Titanic right out my front door.”
On that day in 1912, the last of the ship’s passengers had congregated in the town of Cobh (then known as Queenstown), a few miles inland from Scully’s village. Queenstown served as the Titanic’s last port of call before it embarked on its journey to New York.
To commemorate the 107th anniversary of the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage, Scully has created a pair of vintage crystal goblets replicating the stemware that graced the first class dining room. It is Scully’s way of sharing his hometown’s heritage with Tiffin and the country he now calls home. Hawkes Crystal will present Scully’s Titanic goblets to one lucky in-store or online customer on April 15. Each goblet is highlighted by a hand cut flag that was synonymous with the White Star Line.
The Hawkes Master Cutter is quick to point out the Titanic’s Irish connection.
The massive ocean liner was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and began its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912. At 6:30 that evening it docked at Cherbourg, France, where American socialites John Jacob Astor and his 19-year-old bride boarded, as did Margaret “Molly” Brown, mining magnet Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress. In all, seven millionaires had settled in for the journey, along with the bulk of the second class and steerage passengers.
At 11:30 a.m. on April 11 the Titanic dropped anchor at the entrance to Cork Harbor. It was there to pick up the remaining 123 souls who were waiting at the White Star Ticket Office in Cobh (pronounced “Cove”). Prior to boarding, the group was the subject of a photo in front of the building. For 79 of them, that picture would be their last. It took about two hours for the passengers to make their way down the White Star pier and board the tenders (ferry boats) that transported them to the Titanic.
Scully says the pier is still standing, as is the White Star Ticket Office that now houses the Titanic Experience Cobh museum.
Everything about the voyage was bathed in pure opulence. The wealthiest passengers dined on 10-course meals that included oysters, roast duckling, squab, and Waldorf pudding, washed down by a seemingly endless sea of champagne. Every evening before dinner, the Titanic’s stringed quintet provided a musical backdrop in the first class dining room’s reception area, performing melodies such as Destiny and The Merry Widow’s Waltz.
In the ensuing days, the titles of those tunes would become tragically apropos.
All that splendor was destined to come to an abrupt halt in the wee morning hours of April 15 when the great ocean liner sunk after colliding with an iceberg. Of the approximately 2,240 passengers and crew, 1,517 perished.
Scully hopes his creations will help pay homage to both the victims and survivors. Besides the vintage stemware, he also is cutting a bowl in a pattern identical to an original Titanic crystal bowl that was salvaged from the ocean floor.
Anyone purchasing at least $40 of merchandise from Hawkes Crystal’s showroom at 207 S. Washington St., Tiffin, or from the online store at hawkescrystal.com from now until April 14 is automatically entered to win the pair of champagne saucers. For more information, contact Hawkes Crystal at 419-448-4286 or email us at hawkescrystalusa@gmail.com. The goblets are currently on display in the Hawkes Crystal store window.