Titanic Branson Selected as Sole Exhibitor of Unsinkable Molly Brown’s Privately Held Artifact Collection

Legendary Margaret Tobin Brown’s Great-granddaughter to Dedicate Molly Brown Gallery Thursday, March 22, 2012

Branson, Mo., November, 2011 - Her real name was Margaret “Maggie” Tobin Brown, but the world knew her best as the irascible, indestructible Unsinkable “Molly” Brown. “Beginning January 2012, hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, Missouri, will explore the myth, lore and legacy of this larger-than-life Titanic heroine,” announces John Joslyn, owner of the Titanic Museum Attractions and leader of the first private expedition’s dive to the wreck site.

According to Brown’s great-granddaughter, Helen Benziger, “My great-grandmother was born in 1867 in Hannibal, Missouri. She made a name for herself in Denver, Colorado, and around the world, with an indomitable spirit that charmed European society and helped her survive the Titanic disaster.

“I was about 13 years old, sitting in a darkened movie theater watching Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, when my mother finally told me that the fictional Molly Brown on screen was, in reality, based on the life of my great-grandmother, Margaret Tobin Brown. Since that unbelievable moment, I have devoted much of my life to keeping her legacy alive.

“Now, I’m thrilled and excited to know that the extensive Molly Brown Artifact Collection will have a new home at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, Missouri, not too far from where my great-grandmother was born,” Benziger adds.

Featured pieces in the collection include furniture, crystal glassware from Ireland, artwork, photographs, Titanic memorabilia and many other treasures gathered from around the world to grace the Denver mansion Maggie shared with her millionaire mining husband, J.J. Brown.

And for the first time anywhere…

Museum attraction guests will see original costumes worn by Debbie Reynolds in the movie The Unsinkable Molly Brown, including the pale-green, elaborately beaded silk gown she wore while celebrating her birthday abroad in Paris.

“Helen Benziger was in Branson to help us launch the museum attraction in 2006. She inspired us all,” says Joslyn, “and we’re honored to welcome her back Thursday, March 22, 2012, to dedicate our new gallery, entirely devoted to her great-grandmother.

The Titanic Museum Attractions in Branson, Mo. open daily at 9 a.m. Reservations are strongly suggested, as many dates sell out entirely.

Cedar Bay Entertainment owns and operates Titanic Museum Attractions in Branson, Mo., and Pigeon Forge, Tenn. A privately owned-and-operated entertainment and development company, Cedar Bay is headquartered in Branson, site of its first Titanic Museum Attraction. Titanic Branson has welcomed aboard more than four million guests, while Titanic Pigeon Forge boards approximately 100,000 “passengers” a month.

Please call to confirm day and time.