Edith Rosenbaum
Edith Rosenbaum Russell | |
---|---|
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | |
Died | April 4, 1975 (aged 95) , UK |
Occupation(s) | Fashion journalist, stylist and buyer |
Known for | surviving the sinking of the Titanic |
Edith Louise Rosenbaum Russell (June 12, 1879 – April 4, 1975) was an American fashion buyer, stylist and correspondent for
Biography
Early life
Edith Louise Rosenbaum was born in
Career
Edith's career in fashion began in 1908, when she moved to Paris to become a saleswoman for the haute couture house of Chéruit in the Place Vendôme. Shortly thereafter, she joined the Paris office of La dernière heure à Paris, an in-house fashion journal for the Philadelphia department store Wanamaker's. She also provided fashion sketches for the Butterick Pattern Service and to a number of American clothing stores and textile suppliers.[4]
In 1910 Rosenbaum was hired as a Paris correspondent for the newly established New York garment trade publication Women's Wear Daily. In this role, she reported regularly on the seasonal collections of the leading couture salons Paquin, Lucile, Poiret, Doucet and her former employer Chéruit. At around this time, she became friends with the upcoming young couturier Jenny (Jeanne Sacerdote) and was one of her first customers, wearing her designs in a series of publicity photos for the house. In addition to covering the couture openings, Edith wrote a front page column that appeared almost daily in which she shared analyses of current trends, insider tips on new fabrics and styles, and impressions of the events and personalities of the French fashion world.[5]
Rosenbaum was involved in a serious automobile accident in 1911 in which her wealthy fiance, Ludwig Loewe, whose family owned a noted German arms manufacturing firm, was killed. She was traveling with friends to the races at Deauville when the car, driven by Loewe, crashed near Rouen. Edith suffered a concussion which caused some memory loss but no other significant injuries.[6]
By 1912, along with writing and reporting for Women's Wear Daily, Rosenbaum worked as a buyer and purchasing agent in Paris for a number of American firms.[7] She also advised several well-known entertainment personalities on their wardrobes such as Broadway actress Ina Claire and opera singer Geraldine Farrar, becoming one of the first known celebrity stylists.[8] At the same time she branched into designing, producing a clothing line called "Elrose" for the New York department store Lord & Taylor.[4] Among her Elrose clients were actresses Martha Hedman and Eleanor Painter.
Between 1914 and 1919 Edith Rosenbaum was American press attaché for the governing body of the French fashion industry, the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, now called Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture and a division of the
For about three months during the
By 1916, through connections in the garment trade, Edith launched a secondary vocation as dog fancier, specializing in the Pekingese breed.[17] A member of the Pekingese Club of America, Edith displayed her "Pekes" nationally until the mid 1920s and frequently traveled with them overseas.[18] She also bred dogs for a number of famous clients, including Maurice Chevalier.[8] Her operation was called Wee Wong Kennels and was located in Freeport, Long Island, known for its champion brood, including Edith's own award-winning "Tiny Toy."[19] The kennels' popularity with theatrical celebrities inspired a spate of newsreel coverage in 1919.[20]
By 1920, due to rampant anti-German sentiment in Paris during and just after the war, Edith Anglicized her surname to "Russell." The French fashion industry in particular was rife with discrimination; couture houses were banning journalists, and in some cases former clients, who had German names.[21]
In 1923 she was recognized by the Associated Dress Industries of America for her achievements and honored two years later by the
Titanic and later life
On April 5, 1912, Edith Rosenbaum, in her capacity as Paris correspondent for Women's Wear Daily, filed a report on the fashions worn at the Auteuil races.
The steward did return to Edith's cabin to fetch her "mascot," a small papier-mache music box in the shape of a pig, complete with black and white spotted fur. It played "The Maxixe," a then-popular song, when its tail was wound.
As Boat 11 rowed away from the sinking ship, Edith found herself surrounded by crying and fidgety children. She played her musical pig to calm and amuse them, twisting its tail to emit strains of "The Maxixe."[27] One of the children was 10-month-old Frank Aks, with whom she was reunited many years later, showing him the pig that had once entertained him.[28]
Rosenbaum later sued the White Star Line for the loss of her luggage. It was one of the largest claims filed against the shipping company in the aftermath of the disaster.[29]
Although retired from her work as a fashion buyer in Paris from about 1937, Edith Russell continued traveling extensively.
Edith lived at London's
In her later years, Edith became a regular guest on television and radio programs. Most of these aired on BBC-1 and BBC-2 channels, but she was also interviewed on television in France and Germany.[35] For her first TV interview in 1956, she brought along her trusty pig and retold the famous story of their escape from the Titanic. The pig's musical apparatus had broken by this time, however, and she was not able to play the tune.[36] In 1963, when the Titanic Historical Society was formed in the United States, Edith was made an honorary member. During these years, Edith also wrote a number of articles about her Titanic experiences for the popular press, among which were pieces appearing in Pageant (1953), Woman's Own (1962), and the Ladies Home Companion (1964).
Edith Rosenbaum Russell died at the Mary Abbott Hospital in London on April 4, 1975, at the age of 95.[37] Most of Edith's belongings were dispersed piecemeal among relatives and friends, including Walter Lord, who inherited her legendary pig. On Lord's death in 2002, the toy was bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, which also received the floral-printed boudoir slippers Edith had worn when she boarded Lifeboat 11.
Legacy
In his 2001 expedition to the wreck of the Titanic, filmmaker James Cameron and his team discovered Edith's cabin with its dressing table mirror still upright and intact. Photos of the room and an account of its exploration were published in the 2003 book Ghosts of the Abyss by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall. Edith was also portrayed in the accompanying documentary, released by Walt Disney Pictures.[38]
Pig on the Titanic by
During the 2012 centennial commemoration of the sinking of the Titanic, Edith's story resurfaced in newspaper and magazine articles as well as in museum exhibitions, notably at the National Maritime Museum, where her pig and slippers were displayed. The museum has since restored the mechanism within the music box which has allowed its tune to be heard for the first time in over 60 years. The song the toy played was confirmed to be that of "The Maxixe," otherwise known as "La Sorella march," a Brazilian tango ditty, originally written by Charles Borel-Clerc and Louis Gallini.[39]
Edith's story was extensively revisited that year in two well-received books about the Titanic: Hugh Brewster's Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage and Andrew Wilson's Shadow of the Titanic. She was also featured in a further 2012 title, The Osborne Titanic Sticker Book, geared to children.
In 2014 an illustrated biographical account of Edith was included in the digital book that accompanied Titanic by Sean Callery, part of Scholastic's "Discover More" children's series.
Notes
- ^ Cincinnati Enquirer, June 16, 1890 and June 13, 1895
- ^ New York Times, August 20, 1927
- ^ Cincinnati Enquirer, June 9, 1895 and September 19, 1895; Kentucky Post, December 9, 1896
- ^ a b "Edith Louise Rosenbaum Russell (1879-1975)". 28 August 2003. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, May 25–26, July 25, August 22, September 6–8 and September 13, 1911 and February 8, March 5, March 7, April 10 and April 13, 1912.
- ^ Le Figaro, August 22, 1911; Women's Wear Daily, August 23, 1911; New York Times, August 22, 1911.
- ^ New York Herald, April 16, 1912.
- ^ a b The National Examiner, August 27, 1973
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, May 15, 1915; Crawford, M.D.C., The Ways of Fashion (1948), pp. 121-122.
- ^ American Cloak & Suit Review, March 1914, p. 167.
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, June 30, 1915.
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, March 27, 1916
- ^ American Cloak & Suit Review, March 1916, p. 184a.
- ^ Library of Congress Catalogue of Copyright Entries, No. 4, V. 11-12 (1916-1917), p. 7325.
- ^ New York Herald, July 22, 1917; Kansas City Star, September 12, 1917.
- ^ New York Herald, July 22, 1917.
- ^ New York Herald, April 2, 1916; New York Times, January 17, 1922.
- ^ American Kennel Gazette & Stud Book, September 30, 1922, p. 843; Freeport Daily Review, December 20, 1924.
- ^ Nassau Daily Review, July 1, 1926.
- ^ South Side Observer & Nassau Post, March 14, 1919.
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, December 22, 1915.
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, April 16, 1912.
- ^ Ladies Home Companion, May 1964, p. 90.
- ^ "BBC - Archive - Survivors of the Titanic - Line Up - Edith Russell". Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ BBC History Magazine (Titanic supplement), April 2012, p. 8.
- ^ New York Times, April 23, 1912.
- ^ "Listen to eerie music from Titanic sinking, 101 years on". Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Life Magazine, May 18, 1953, p. 91.
- ^ New York Herald, February 12, 1913.
- ^ CinecittaLuce (17 June 2012). "Arrivi e partenze. Napoli. Palermo. Roma". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2017 – via YouTube.
- ^ Brewster, Hugh, Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage (2012), p. 287; Lawford, Lady, Bitch: The Autobiography of Lady Lawford (1986), pp. 103-107.
- ^ Life Magazine, May 18, 1953, p. 96.
- ^ Lord, Walter, A Night to Remember (1955), pp. 44, 123, 187.
- ^ MacQuitty, William, A Life to Remember (1994), p. 326.
- ^ Observer, May 10, 1970; 1963 French TV interview with Edith Russell Archived 2014-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 1956 BBC-TV interview with Edith Russell Archived 2014-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ New York Times, April 5, 1975; The Guardian, April 5, 1975.
- ^ Lynch, Don and Marschall, Ken, Ghosts of the Abyss (2003), pp. 32, 106-107.
- ^ Bennett-Smith, Meredith (23 August 2013). "Musical Toy Pig Rescued From Titanic Repaired, Once Again Plays Eerie Tune That Soothed Survivors". Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017 – via Huff Post.
General references
- Edith Louise Rosenbaum at Encyclopedia Titanica
- Brewster, Hugh (2013). RMS Titanic : Gilded Lives on a Fatal Voyage (1st ed.). Toronto: ISBN 978-1443405317.
Further reading
- Butler, Daniel Allen (1998). Unsinkable : The Full Story of the RMS Titanic (1st ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: ISBN 978-0-8117-1814-1.
- Eaton, John P.; John Maxtone-Graham; Charles A. Hass (1995). Titanic : Triumph and Tragedy (2nd ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-85260-493-6.
External links
- "National Maritime Museum receives historic Titanic archive: the Lord-Macquitty Collection". National Maritime Museum Press Office. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2014. — Includes story of her 'lucky pig', an addition to the collection