In One Ear: ‘It is a lovely boat’

Published 12:15 am Thursday, August 26, 2021

One of the few postcards mailed from the Titanic went up for auction July 18 at Warwick & Warwick Auctioneers in England, and was expected to fetch at least £20,000 (about $26,350) tinyurl.com/postTitan.

The postcard (pictured, courtesy of Warwick & Warwick) was mailed by maid Sarah Daniels to her friend, Ellen “Nell” Green. “I wish you were here, it is a lovely boat & it would do you good,” she wrote. “Am just going on deck.” Ralph “John” Wilkes, and his brother, Stephen, submitted the item for auction; Ellen Green was their grandmother’s cousin.

The card didn’t sell July 18, but a private collector bought it July 23 for £8,600 (about $11, 275), according to The Warwick Courier (http://bit.ly/sarahcard) — less than half of its original estimated value.

Incidentally, Sarah Daniels was a Titanic survivor, along with pregnant Madeline Astor, wife of John Jacob Astor IV. He was not as fortunate, and went down with the ship. (In One Ear, 8/3/2018)