Hanover exhibit links to Titanic sinking anniversary and Warehime-Myers Mansion birthday
Karin J. Bohleke is director of Shippensburg University’s Fashion Archives and Museum. She transferred her skills 50 miles west, where she curated an exhibit for the Hanover Area Historical Society. The exhibit, ‘Titanic Fashions: High Style in the 1910s,’ is available to the public through April 29 at HAHS’s Warehime-Myers Mansion. (See additional photograph below.) Also of interest: York native star witness in court case after Titanic sinking.
York County has at least three links to the Titanic.
That number is sure to increase as researchers dig into files with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the gigantic ocean liner coming on April 14, 1912.
Well, here’s a fourth link right now.
The Warehime-Myers Mansion is featuring an exhibit of fashion at the era of the Titanic – the 1910s.
A York Daily Record/Sunday News story about the exhibit opens with a little history about that era:
“The Edwardian era lasted less than a generation.
“England’s Queen Victoria died in 1901, signaling the end of the nearly six decade-long Victorian Era. Even though her son King Edward VII, for which the Edwardian period is named, died in 1910, the era extended through the beginning of World War I in 1914.
“But its style remains iconic. No detail was spared as modernity melded with elegance.
“Clothing was often hand-embroidered, even if it was ordered from a catalog. Homes were built in classical styles and outfitted with electric lights and telephones. Passengers paid a premium to travel on White Star Line ships such as the Titanic, which boasted luxurious amenities, including mahogany carvings, brocade curtains and fine cutlery.”
And a little history about the mansion itself:
“The three-story brick structure, at Baltimore and Hanover streets, was completed in 1912 — the same year the Titanic sank in the icy North Atlantic.
” ‘In the mansion, visitors are transported back 100 years,’ ” (HAHS spokesman Mikele) Stillman said.
” ‘It’s like walking into another time,’ ” she added.
“It was a time when the shoe business was booming in Hanover. Clinton N. Myers, a partner and founder of the Hanover Shoe Factory, used his wealth to build a mansion.”
The Myers family moved into the mansion 100 years ago – in 1912.
Members of the public not only has an opportunity to view 39 mannequins showings fashion of the day.
They have an opportunity to wish happy birthday to an ornate mansion in pristine condition.
To see the YDR story, by Erin McCracken, with several photographs of the mansion’s interior, visit: “Fashion from the Titanic era.”
Also of interest:
– Academy Award-winning costume designer Ann Roth’s sketches were exhibited in Hanover.
– Two ornate mansions that Hanover Shoe built
This hatbox, complete with White Star Line sticker, was not on the Titanic, but it is on display in Hanover as the type of luggage used in 1912.
