A historic postcard written by a cheerful Titanic passenger before the ship sank is set to go on auction.
As per multiple outlets, on the back of the postcard, there is a handwritten note by Richard William Smith, a British businessman who tragically died in the Titanic disaster, that reads he was “leaving for the land of stars and stripes, while the front shows an image of the Titanic.
Smith’s message was postmarked in Ireland, the Titanic’s final stop before heading into the Atlantic Ocean.
Just three days after the postcard was sent, the ship struck an iceberg and sank about 400 miles from Newfoundland, claiming the lives of over 1,500 passengers.
Smith was travelling with a family friend, Emily Nicholls, who mailed the postcard on his behalf after she left the ship in Queenstown (now Cobh) while Smith stayed on the ship.
Smith further wrote on the card, “Have had a fine run around to Queenstown,” which was directed to a woman named Olive Dakin in Norwich, England.
Andrew Aldridge, managing director of the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son said in a statement, “It is an incredibly powerful and poignant message. He had no idea of what was coming over the horizon approximately 80 hours later.”
Aldridge predicts that this postcard will sell for between £6,000 and £10,000 at auction which is around $7,600 to $12,600.
