Alexandra Klingelhoffer, Vice President of Collections for Premier Exhibitions, joins 13 Action News to show us five rare Titanic artifacts with direct ties to Clark County.
The items are on display for a limited-time engagement at Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition inside Luxor hotel-casino.
These artifacts, which includes gambling chips that has never before been on public display, were installed on April 12 in recognition of the 105th anniversary of the ship’s sinking on April 15.
The artifacts belonged to first-class passengers Virginia Estelle McDowell Clark and Walter Miller Clark, who boarded the “Ship of Dreams” as a belated honeymoon trip but Virginia returned home as a widow.
Clark and his brother, U.S. Senator William Andrews Clark, built the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad to facilitate shipments between Los Angeles and Salt Lake. The midway point of the route was in Nevada, creating Las Vegas and later resulting in the naming of Clark County.
The display includes:
· Gambling Chips: Never before been on public display, these gaming chips were recovered from inside a suitcase and appear to be made of horn.
· 18-Carat Gold Locket Engraved with the Initials “VC”: The initials on this locket match those of first-class passenger Virginia Clark, who survived the sinking. The charm was found with other jewelry and toiletry items in the remnants of a small travel bag recovered in 1994.
· Cuff Link Made of Ottoman Turkish Coins: This cuff link is comprised of two gold Turkish coins held together by a chain on the back. They are both 50 Kurush coins, which feature the image of the “tugra” or royal monogram of Sultan Abd al-Hamid (1842-1918).
· Gold-Plated Toiletry Item: The insignia “SM,” possibly the initials of a Titanic passenger, is still visible on the lid of this little canister.
· Brass Shaving Stick Canister: This stick canister still contains its original shaving soap inside.
