"[My mother] had a box of shredded wheat biscuits, which was quite a treat for us. And on the back of the box was an advertisement about Niagara Falls. That was my first knowledge of America. I had a dream that one day I would visit Niagara Falls." (Sara Miles)
Sara, one of ten children, grew up in England. Her house, which contained four bedrooms, had no electricity and no telephone. Sara and her siblings would hover around the fireplace in the winter time. At night, Sara, the only girl, would keep warm under her father's overcoat. Stretched for money, the children would wake up at 4:30 in the morning to pick strawberries during the summer to earn enough money to buy school shoes for the fall. At Christmas time, they did not have Christmas tree or ornaments, but they did have a "Nice piece of beef" given to them by a local farmer. During the First World War, Sara's dad sent her and her brothers down to the docks to witness first hand the wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield: it was a lesson she would never forget.
"[My mother] had a box of shredded wheat biscuits, which was quite a treat for us. And on the back of the box was an advertisement about Niagara Falls. That was my first knowledge of America. I had a dream that one day I would visit Niagara Falls." Sara wrote a letter to her two uncles who lived in Fultonville, New York asking them if they would send her money for passage to America. She promised to work until she earned enough money to pay them back. Her brother Frank agreed to accompany her to the New World.
Sara's parents borrowed a car to drive her and her brother to Southampton where they boarded the SS Olympic. The siblings travelled third class and Sara, like many of the passengers, suffered from seasickness. The first thing Sara saw upon entering New York Harbor was a giant billboard for Lipton's Tea. "Welcome to America."
In Fultonville, Sara moved in with one uncle, her brother Frank with the other. Sara was hired at a stocking and glove factory. While Frank married his childhood sweetheart and brought her to America to live. Sara married an American. She eventually lived her dream when she paid a visit to Niagara Falls.
Olympic and Berengaria at Southampton port courtesy https://www.tumblr.com/search/rms%20oceanic.
