Was the passenger list really that special? In my opinion, there were only seven people on that ship who were truly famous: the Astors, the Duff Gordons, Mr. Guggenheim, Archie Butt, and the Countess of Rothes. Before you studied the Titanic, had you ever heard of Ryerson, Harris, and Widener? Unless you live in their hometown, probably not. Some may consider
Molly Brown to be a celeb, but that is only true of the Molly of Hollywood. The Margaret of 1912 was socially recognized in Denver and the Western US, but the East Coast knew relativly little about her.
Titanic's list was certainly one of the more star-studded of the day, but there were few international celebrities. Most of Titanic's elite were primarily socialites and not neccesarily famous. For instance, the Thayers were well known in Philidelphia, but thier fame was unknown abroad or in the West.
Granted, seven celebrities is a large number to us, but in 1912, society was a very tight-knit group. The famous travelled in packs and would usually coordinate to be on the same ship. This meant that every so often, a knot of celebrities would appear on board a given superliner. Some knots were bigger and some smaller, and Titanic had a fair sized one on that trip. What is impressive is that so many famous people were going to America instead of to Europe. Spring was usually the time that America's rich were heading abroad for summer vacations. Had she have left in the fall, there would have been many more millionaires aboard returning home.
As a final point, we should remember that most of the "celebrities" often associated with the Titanic weren't well known until the Titanic sank. The Duff Gordons' fame increased exponentially after the controversy of the 5 pounds. Ismay had the same problem.
David
