It is said that during the disaster Mr. Astor cut open a lifebelt to show his wife what was inside to assure her that they were safe and would keep a person afloat. He made sure Madeleine wore her lifebelt and got into a lifeboat. The next morning when she was rescued, Carpathia crewmember Gottlieb Rencher took her to the ship’s hospital where she took off her lifebelt and left it. Rencher resigned from sea duty in December 1912, settled in New York and became a chiropractor. He kept the lifebelt in his possession and had it in his office for many years. In 1978 Rencher’s son was listening to a WCBS radio interview with the President of the Titanic Historical Society, William Harris Tantum IV.  Rencher Jr. wrote to the Society explaining that he wanted to donate the historic artifact to an organization where it would be displayed and appreciated. Ed Kamuda, founder of the group, replied that they would be honored to receive this important artifact.

Later, as a fundraiser for the Society, very small fragments of its cork which had crumbled off were sold as tiny souvenirs.

Above, Madeleine Astor's lifebelt as photographed by Paul Burns.

 Titanic Historical Society / Pigeon Forge / Branson Titanic Museum Attractions.

Faded Fosbery maker’s mark

As can be seen on the photographs above, at first glance the Astor lifebelt appears to be a ‘clean’ but worn lifebelt with no Fosbery maker's mark which some of the other lifebelts have exhibited.

After closely examining numerous photographs taken during several Titanic exhibitions, Günter Bäbler noticed in one, dated 1992, that the Astor lifebelt did in fact show a very faint Fosbery maker's stamp.

Possibly due to handling, cleaning and/or displaying the lifebelt, under unfavorable conditions, the stamp has faded over the years and is now almost completely invisible to the naked eye. This shows that the stamps, done in a purple or dark blue ink, are vulnerable to fading very easily, when being exposed to daylight (ultraviolet light) or fluorescent light for long periods. Perhaps other lifebelts also had these stamps once, but they do not seem to appear in period photographs or film footage.