Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 88.5 WHYC Swan Quarter 89.9 W210CF Greenville

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

History Here

Can Christmas go on? Holiday toys lost in shipwreck off NC coast

By Ryan Shaffer

Published June 23, 2023 at 12:37 PM EDT

These ornate rubber baby rattles depict joyful scenes of childhood, but after a century on the ocean floor, the wear and tear give it a more eerie feel.

The ship was headed from New York to Galveston, Texas, carrying rubber rattles, dolls and other children's toys when it sunk off Frying Pan Shoals near Wilmington.

Michelle Crepeau is a conservator at the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources - North Carolina Maritime Museums, and she carefully restores these items. Crepeau describes the ornate rubber baby rattles that depict joyful scenes of childhood as "eerie" after spending a century on the ocean floor.

History Here

Ryan Shaffer

Ryan is an Arkansas native and podcast junkie. He was first introduced to public radio during an internship with his hometown NPR station, KUAF. Ryan is a graduate of Tufts University in Somerville, Mass., where he studied political science and led the Tufts Daily, the nation’s smallest independent daily college newspaper. In his spare time, Ryan likes to embroider, attend musicals, and spend time with his fiancée.

See stories by Ryan Shaffer