A rare poster promoting a journey on the Titanic’s return voyage from America has been discovered and is tipped to sell for around £80,000.
The poster advertises the journey from New York to Southampton, which never happed after the maiden voyage ended in tragedy.
It is 106 years since the luxury liner hit the iceberg in the North Atlantic, resulting in the deaths of 1,503 passengers and crew members.
The Titanic was set to sail back to the UK from New York at midday on Saturday April 20, 1912.
The posters advertising the journey could be seen all around lower Manhattan. They featured red, white and blue colouring and offered rate of £27 (£2,900 in today’s money) for third-class passengers.
It announced the ‘Queen of the Ocean’s first sailing of the latest addition of the White Star Fleet’.
The poster also featured two black and white images of a third-class cabin and the dining saloon. The main phot apparently illustrated the Titanic at sea but was actually an image of the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic.
Very few of these posters still exist today, one of which is at London’s V&A museum.
The one that has come up for auction at Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts is said to be in far better condition than the one in London.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “The poster is for the return journey that never happened. It is very poignant and incredibly rare.
“These posters would have been displayed in New York naturally because that was where Titanic was meant to have sailed from.
“As soon as the ship sank these posters were destroyed. It was a different mentality back then. It was a huge disaster and people would have wanted to forget about it whereas today there is more of a memorabilia mindset to major events and people tend to keep things relating to it.
“As a result only a handful of these posters exist. You can count them on one hand.
“The V&A have one for its Speed and Style exhibition but this one is in better condition.
“The poster called Titanic the latest, largest and finest steamer afloat. It states the first voyage from New York was meant to have been from Pier 59 at 12 noon on April 20 which was five days after she sank.”
The poster measures 22ins by 9ins and is presented in a period oak frame. It has a pre-sale estimate of between £60,000 to £100,000.
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling