CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

When Adolph Saalfeld, a German-born Jew, boarded the Titanic he had big hopes of striking it rich in New York in the perfume business. Adolphe Saalfeld, a perfume maker from Manchester, England. At the age of 47, Saalfeld boarded Titanic as a first-class passenger. He carried this leather satchel filled with his perfume samples onboard the Ship. At the time Titanic sailed, the American perfume business was booming: Saalfeld may have intended to his fragrances to fashion boutiques and department stores in New York, or in other major cities.

But in his hurry to get off the doomed, sinking ship, Saalfeld left samples of his scents behind, where they stayed for nearly 89 years.

Recovered in the 2000 Expedition, this remarkable case contained 62 perfume vials (sample size) with their labels and outer protective metal cases. Some of the vials had broken and no longer contained any perfume.

Some of the perfume labels are legible and identify scents to be mixed into perfume: Carnation, Musk, Lily of the Valley, and Cashmere Bouquet, to name a few.

Dik Barton is a salvage expert working with RMS Titanic Inc. — the company that holds the rights to the ship's wreckage. He and a diving crew were on a mission last summer to recover personal effects for an exhibition when they came across a small leather pouch.

"We didn't know what we discovered until we hit the surface," says Barton. "But we knew this was special immediately when we took the pouch from the collection basket [of artifacts] and brought it to the laboratory on the ship. A partial metal case for a perfume vial is still visible on top row, second leather loop

"A scent filled the entire lab with Edwardian perfume."

Barton describes the fragrance as flowery, reminiscent of lavender and roses.

Upon closer inspection, researchers from Eastern Michigan University found three separate satchels marked with Saalfeld's name, containing more than 20 vials of oils, some of which were broken — which was why they smelled.

Research and Development

The oils have been transferred to Quest International — a UK-based company whose primary business is the development of perfume, food and cosmetics.

Experts there have, so far, broken down the perfume into its component chemicals to recreate the scent. Now, they are creating a DNA profile of the oil so it could be easily and efficiently recreated.

Once all the details are gathered and the analysis is complete, RMS Titanic and Quest can decide what to do with the discovery, and which perfume houses could be potential manufacturers for the recovered fragrance.

The companies have not yet decided on a name or a marketing campaign for the new Titanic product. But Barton says, "I hope to reproduce and replicate the Edwardian scents of 1912, while developing and producing a proprietary brand by next April," the 90th anniversary of the sinking.

On the night of April 14, 1912, the liner collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic, then sank.

As to Saalfeld, he survived the disaster.

Mr Adolphe Saalfeld was born in Germany in 1865. A self-made businessman, he was chairman of the chemists and distillers Sparks, White, and Co. Ltd. In 1912 he was married to Gertrude and living in Manchester, they were and would remain childless.

Saalfeld boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a first class passenger (ticket no.19988, £30 10) and occupied cabin C-106.

He wrote to his wife from the Titanic:

"I just had an hour's roaming about on this wonderful boat. I like my cabin very much — it's like a bed-sitting room and rather large. They are still busy to finish the last things on board."

According to a later statement Saalfeld claimed that he had been in the smoking room at the time of the collision, he saw the iceberg and after the collision went down to his cabin. Among the items Saalfeld left behind were a collection of concentrated perfume oils which he hoped to market in America. In a recent dive to the wrecksite the oils were recovered intact, there are plans to recreate the fragrances.

"I saw a few men and women go into a boat and I followed and when lowered, pushed off and rowed some distance, fearing...Titanic sinking,,,As we drifted away gradually, saw Titanic sink lower and lower and finally her lights went out, and others in my boat said they saw her disappear. Our boat was nearly two miles away but pitiful cries could be plainly heard. No one in our boat knew how many lifeboats were on Titanic but...there was ample time for saving every soul on board had there been sufficient boats."

Mr Saalfeld was rescued in lifeboat 3.

"The Captain and Officers of the Carpathia did all that was possible to make us comfortable and to those that were sick or injured, they gave their tenderest care. The icebergs were huge and the weather extremely rough on the voyage to New York."

Adolphe Saalfeld passed away at Kew Gardens in Surrey on 5 June 1926. He was still chairman of his firm which would continue in business until 1954. When his estate was settled on 16 July 1926 his assets were reportedly worth £46,902.