Adele is travelling back to New York after holidaying in Europe. She has visited Paris and other European cities, and has been seen in the most fashionable resorts.

Adele is typical of the set of super rich Americans that the White Star and Cunard lines were keen to attract. They demanded the very best, and were prepared to pay huge sums of money for it.

The super rich included wealthy bankers and business people, all anxious to meet up and network. To facilitate this, White Star and Cunard published passenger lists, which were distributed to all first class passengers.

American heiress Daisy Spedding was typical of this exclusive Edwardian set. Along with her husband, Frederic, and six-year old son, Douglas, she travelled extensively on luxurious ocean liners, visiting the most fashionable resorts in the Caribbean, Africa, Panama and Europe.

In 1913, Daisy wrote Polar the Titanic Bear for Douglas. The previous year, the family had sailed on the Titanic, and survived the disaster. The narrator is Douglas's favourite toy, a Steiff polar bear, and the story is told with the aid of photographs and postcards of the places the family visited on holiday.

Although the Titanic figures prominently in the story, perhaps the most interesting aspect is the description of the carefree lifestyle of the very wealthy which was to end abruptly with the onset of the First World War.

Kaspar, Prince of Cats by Michael Morpurgo tells the story of Kaspar, an aristocratic cat, and Johnny Trott, the bellboy of the Savoy hotel. The pair meet up with Lizziebeth Stanton, a spirited young American heiress staying with her family at the Savoy, and after a series of adventures end up returning with them to the USA on the ill-fated Titanic.....

Activities for the Classroom

• Design a brochure to attract first class passengers to travel on the Titanic. Research the first class facilities on board Titanic. These included electric lifts, telephones, swimming pool, Turkish baths, etc.
• Find out about fashionable Edwardian resorts. These might include the seaside resorts of Deauville and Cannes
• Imagine you are a wealthy American tourist. Send postcards back home to friends and family. Perhaps younger children might send them from Polar the Bear?
• Edwardians made up scrapbooks as souvenirs of their holidays. Make up a scrapbook of your European holiday
• Crossing the Atlantic took between five and seven days. Keep a diary of your time on board ship.