MY REVIEW OF THE MOLLY BROWN HOUSE MUSEUM - DENVER, CO.

Molly Brown House Museum

1340 Pennsylvania St.
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 832-4092

First of all, if you do not know who's Ms. Brown, think of the movie "Titanic" with Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet. Then, think of Kathy Bates in the movie... ah! Bingo! That is Molly Brown... Also known as the "Unsinkable" Ms. Brown.

The first thing you learn about her even before you enter the museum...

Her actual name is Margaret Brown, not Molly Brown as Hollywood portrays her in the movies or plays. She never went by Molly... ever... it was either Margaret or Ms. Brown.So then, why the name "Molly"? It was given to her when making the musical and movies as the name "Margaret" did not rhyme well... yeap! The Hollywood machine changed someone's entire personality for the sake of movie and music making...

Without giving too much of the tour away, here is how Ms. Brown ended being one of the few survivors of Titanic:

With her children grown and separated from her husband, Ms. Brown, who knew more than 5 languages and traveled all over the world, was in Egypt when she received a message that her only grandchild was gravely ill. As fast as she could, she made it to London. The next available cruise to the United States was the Titanic. Ms. Brown bought a first class ticket and off she went... to become one of Titanic's most famous survivor.

By the way, did you know that she refused to get on a lifeboat? She was helping the crew of Titanic organize people to get in the lifeboats, passing all of her mink coats to other people to keep warm. It was two of Titanic's crew-members who literally grabbed her off her feet and, as lifeboat #6 was being lowered into the water, they threw her into the lifeboat, a few feet down, where she could not make her way back into the Titanic. She was willing to die while helping others... the kind of woman she was! If that would have happened, we would not have Ms. Brown or this museum today.

With her experience, she lobbied the US Congress and the Senate to make into law that every cruiseship must have a lifevest and a seat on a lifeboat for every single passenger onboard, regardless of class. The creation of this law is why, on your first day of a cruise, everyone must learn how to don their vests and where is the meeting point to board the lifeboats. This law also extends to airplanes and any mode of mass transportation. Wonder why you need to watch the safety video or the flight attendants showing you how to don your vest and/or how to use your seat cushion as a flotation device? Say thank you to Ms. Brown.

There is a lot more to be said about this fantastic woman who was a pioneer of women's rights, lobbied and created the bases for what we know today as the "Juvenile Court System" and fought for rights of miners and domestic workers, among many other accomplishments... but I will leave that to the Museum and tour guides.

The house, which was turned into apartments after Ms. Brown's passing, was bought by the State of Colorado for $80,000 in the early 90's. After much research, they found Ms. Brown's personal pictures of the house, which were used as the frame for what the place looks like today. In addition, researchers were able to order copies of the original carpeting designs and wallpapers. Most of the furniture, including the beds, piano, books, art and pictures among many others belonged to Ms. Brown .

When on the second floor, look at the list of items that Ms. Brown lost in the Titanic. The total loss was close to $30,000; with $20,000 of that on a necklace. Yikes!

The one-hour tour will teach you about her entire life story, accomplishments and lifestyle. The cost is $7.00. At the end, there is a movie you can watch at your leisure, interactive computer games and artifacts. The gift shop, where you will buy the tickets for the tour, is in the carriage house, located behind the main house.

One word of advise: Colorado Tourism Board needs to to a better job at adding signs to get to Molly Brown's House Museum. Even though there are plenty of signs on the 16th Street Mall leading you to the Civic Center, DAM and Capitol Square, there are no signs to guide you to the Museum. Hint, hint!!