The cherub that stood in front of the grand staircase is on display in front of a blown-up photograph of the staircase.

MILWAUKEE - "You can smell the ice before you get to it."

Those were lookout Archie Jewell’s words to his shipmate, George Symons, aboard the Titanic in April 1912.

The minerals in icebergs that have broken off from glaciers in Greenland give off a distinctive odor as the icebergs melt on their journey south.

Four days into its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the Titanic hit an iceberg, broke into two and sank, killing more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

Today, 96 years later, more than 270 artifacts from the wreck are on display at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

"It is and probably always will be the greatest nautical maritime story that there will ever be," said Dan Finley, president and CEO of the museum. "There is no greater story to tell than that of Titanic."

Upon entering the exhibit, visitors are drawn back in time to 1912, as each person receives a replica boarding pass of an actual passenger. Visitors then begin their chronological journey through the life of the Titanic, moving through the ship’s construction, to life on board, to the ill-fated sinking and artifact rescue efforts.

This inspection lamp, similar to flashlights of today, was probably hand-held. The top vent prevented excessive heat build-up from the light bulbs.

Visitors can inspect re-created first-and third-class cabins, view the ship’s cargo hold and press their palms against an iceberg.

Artifacts on display include porcelain dishes, paper currency and metal coins, clothing, mirrors, hairbrushes, jewelry, the bronze cherub believed to have graced the grand staircase and a 3,000-pound portion of the ship’s hull.

"These are one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable objects that hold hundreds of memories about each on board and about the ship itself," said Cheryl Mure, director of education for Premier Exhibitions Inc., the firm responsible for bringing the exhibit to Milwaukee. "I believe that each person who is touched by the story of RMS Titanic comes away with a special relationship with that lost oceanliner."

The exhibit touches on the lives of dozens of passengers and crew members, providing biographical information on the men, women and children traveling first-, second- and third-class.

"Every section of Edwardian society was represented on board the Titanic. There were captains of industry, government leaders, businessmen, families on holidays and hundreds and hundreds of passengers in third class, many of whom were escaping economic and religious oppression," Mure said. "But no matter their class or their place in society, they all met with that same fate the night 96 years ago."

Milwaukee connections

Of the 2,228 people on board, only 705 survived. The exhibit also highlights a few of the connections between Milwaukee and the ship, including the story of the Allisons.

Bess Daniels lived with her parents and two sisters at 371A 18th St., Milwaukee. In 1907, she met Hudson Joshua Creighton Allison, a wealthy Montreal businessman. They married, and she returned to Canada with him. A few years later, they had a daughter, Helen Loraine, and a son, Hudson Trevor.

On board the Titanic, the family was returning home from a long stay in England. Trevor was the only family member to survive. Bess Allison was one of only four women from first class to die, and Loraine was the only child in first- and second-class who did not survive; neither of their bodies were ever found.

This chandelier was one of several that hung in Titanic’s A La Carte Restaurant.

Hudson Allison’s body was recovered and returned to Ontario for burial.

"We think it’s important to keep this story and very important piece of history alive," Mure said of the Titanic’s legacy.

Finley agreed.

"Perhaps the single most important mission we have here (at the museum) is to take the objects, take the artifacts that we have in this collection and use them to tell stories; stories that we can learn from, stories that will inspire us, stories that will help us understand ourselves better."

In another local connection, Finley noted that Northwestern Mutual paid out $500,000 on 13 claims related to the Titanic, more than any other insurance company.

Salvage expeditions

To date, salvage teams have conducted seven research and recovery expeditions to the Titanic’s wreck site: in 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004.

"We will be making a return expedition to the Titanic to recover more objects," Mure said. "‘We do plan on another dive."

More than 5,500 items have been recovered, including a 17-ton section of the hull.

"You’ll see from video footage as you (go) through the exhibition that she (the ship) is resting on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean 12,500 feet below the surface. It’s a very, very hostile environment. And there are ore-eating microorganisms right now that are eating away at all the metal on the Titanic," Mure said. "We do know that in our lifetime, Titanic will collapse onto herself."

Premier Exhibitions has had various Titanic artifacts on display at exhibits all across the world during the past 14 years. More than 20 million people have viewed the artifacts, Mure said.

In a final nod to the local maritime industry, one of the many museum galleries is dedicated to Great Lakes shipping disasters, including the sinking of Lady Elgin in 1860 and the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975.

And as visitors prepare to leave the exhibit, they can check their boarding pass against the names on the memorial wall to find out if their passenger and traveling companions survived or perished.

Kevin Passon can be reached at kpasson@conleynet.com