The Band Played On

Among the stories from the Titanic disaster, one the ones most people know is that the ship's band played as she sank until the end.  There is much debate about them such as what their last song was and how long they played.  But what can't be denied is the fact that they went out onto the deck and played songs to keep the passengers calm and entertained as the ship sank beneath them and the boats left in front of them.  Because of the legendary status of the band, items related to them are extremely rare, desirable, and expensive as evidenced by Wallace Hartley's violin selling at auction for 1.7 million dollars in 2012.  Below are two items I am lucky to be a caretaker of:

This is not directly related to the Titanic, but these are still a little hard to come by.  Especially this version which dates pre-Titanic.  Titanic had booklets similar to this on board with songs listed by number.  If you wanted to hear a particular piece, you would tell a steward who would then convey your wishes to the bandmaster.  The bandmaster would say the number of the song and the musicians would play any of the hundreds of songs they could choose from memory.  

This booklet used on board the RMS Oceanic is rarer than the one above.  I haven't seen any examples of this type of booklet from the Titanic, but it appears to have been used on White Star Line ships in the early 1900s.  Just like the with other booklet, it contains a list of music which passengers could browse through and request music from.  

During the Victorian/Edwardian Eras, it was not uncommon to have memorial cards made for a loved one who died so people could remember their deaths and by that time would be typically sent out to loved ones who couldn't attend their funerals.  This memorial card was for William Theodore Brailey who was the pianist on board the Titanic.  He played on several ships including the RMS Carpathia which later rescued the Titanic survivors prior to joining the Titanic in Southampton.  He played typically in the Reception Room or Dining Saloon with the quartet for the 1st class passengers.  During the sinking, it believed that since he also knew how to play the cello and clarinet, he got one of those instruments and joined the band on deck.  He didn't survive the sinking and his body was never recovered.