Why is Titanic's Astor asking if Jack is from the Boston Dawsons?

Question

Titanic is on the box, Film 4, and I've always wondered (albeit this is the first time I have followed through with a Google) why such an exchange of dialogue happens between them.

Rose introduces Jack:

J.J, Madeleine, this is Jack Dawson

Astor:

Hello Jack, are you of the Boston Dawsons?

Who are the Boston Dawsons, and why is this even important? I'm figuring, initially of course (as Google, hasn't been helpful actually) that this is just a way of possibly 'getting to know someone', but what difference does it make where he is from?

Jack's reply:

No, the Chippewa Falls Dawsons...

Only now, have I discovered (through IMDB) that Astor's reply was marked (by IMDB) as 'confused':

Oh yes...

Is this an age, or more of an era issue? We don't still, or the upper classes don't still say this do they?

EDIT (22/12)

Only now (on watching it again) have I noticed that Jack also says:

I grew up near Chippewa Falls

As Rose is hanging off the back of the ship.

Answer 1

Since the sinking of the RMS Titanic was an actual event, there are people depicted in the film who were genuinely on board the ship.

John Jacob Astor and his wife, Madeleine were both real people who held first class tickets on Titanic. Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater were fictional characters created for dramatic effect.

John Jacob Astor's family was one of the wealthiest families in America at the time Titanic sank. Astor was worth an estimated $87 million U.S. Dollars when he died on Titanic. So, it is only natural that he would know many of the prominent families in America during his lifetime. Astor would have also been familiar with more of the prominent families on the east coast of the United States, since he lived in New York.

Jack Dawson was a fictional character created for dramatic purposes only. The "Boston Dawsons" that Astor refers to in this conversation are purely fictional as were the "Chippewa Falls Dawsons". Astor was simply trying to make polite conversation by asking Jack if he was a member of the family from Boston. Jack's reply of being a member of the Chippewa Falls Dawsons was purely meant for comic relief since Astor would obviously not know any family in Chippewa Falls, let alone the Dawson family.

There was not much of a middle class in 1912. The upper and lower classes were separated by a considerable gap. The upper class rarely intermingled with the lower class. So, for Astor to ask another member of (what he thought to be) of upper class society if he belonged to a family in which Astor was acquainted was not at all abnormal.

In today's society, we have more of an established middle class. More of the classes intermingle with each other. With social media and other forms of media coverage, one can already know which billionaire is related to whom. There is really no point in asking a person this anymore when it is so readily available through several outlets.

Whether or not a conversation takes place at a billionaires dinner party...I really do not know what kind of conversations would take place at a party like that ;)

Answer 2

Google won't help you a lot, as the specifics are made up even though, as we all know, the sinking of the Titanic actually happened (and certain passengers were known to be on board). For instance, John Jacob Astor IV was a known victim, but there is no record of a Jack Dawson having been on board.

In this hypothetical "universe", there is a very well-off family in Boston with the surname "Dawson". They would have traveled in the same social circles as the wealthy people with whom Jack was dining. Astor was asking, in effect, if Jack was related to these Boston socialites. If so, then he was "a member of the club" so to speak, and Jack would have felt included in the circle with familiar contacts.

Jack's answer was honest; his family was from Chippewa Falls. When Jack submitted his answer, Astor's response was a combination of feigned recognition and outright confusion. He clearly didn't know any Dawsons living in Chippewa Falls.

Answer 3

It's a joke. It's meant to be funny. "Are you related to so and so?" was a way that wealthy people socialized. It was small-talk on Astor's part. There might be "Boston Dawsons" and there might be "New York Dawsons" and there might be "Philadelphia Dawsons." Astor was asking if Jack belonged to a wealthy family with which he, Astor, was familiar, as a means of making a small social connection to Jack.

Jack's response indicated that he wasn't from ANY wealthy family, but Astor didn't understand that, not being familiar with "non-wealth."

Answer 4

I am going to focus on

Is this an age, or more of an era issue? We don't still, or the upper classes don't still say this do they?

It never was a social class thing. And yes it is still done today.

First thing to realize is that the US population in 1912 was about 95 million. Today that's about the size of three states(Texas, Florida, and California).

Second is that, with everyone so spread out, it was not uncommon to have one or two family lines dominating an area. This had nothing to do with income or wealth. It's just a fact. As A Husband and wife settled in Backwater Arkansas, they had kids, their kinds had kids, and so on, till a large part of the population of Backwater was a single family. That family didn't have to be rich, just prolific.

Third, when people left their family lands and moved elsewhere they looked for people they recognized. It was not uncommon, to run into someone from your home town, that was part of one of the larger families. Hey, John Smith, from Backwater, Your not related to the Backwater Smiths are you? Oh your Jane's second cousin on her Dad's uncles side? Oh yeah, I think we shopped at the same grocery store that one time, lets be friends in this big scary city where we don't know anyone.

Finally, back then, but even now, travel was a big deal. You couldn't catch a flight to so an so. So if your blimp was leaving out of Backwater Arkansas, then a lot of the people on board would be from backwater and the srounding area. People would travel for a few days or a week or two to get something big like the Titanic, but that still limited the area to basically New England. Remember if you traveled to New York, you were probably there for something else, the Titanic was likely just a fresh new way to get to where you needed to go. It would be unlikely to travel from California, to New York, just for the sole purpose of taking this one boat. Maybe you timed your trip around it, but you probably didn't travel there the same way we travel across country to take a cruise ship now.

So today, this still happens. I get this all the time. When someone finds out my Family name and that my family was from Hastings Michigan, I get a question very much to that effect.

You would be surprised how many people you run into that know some cousin that you barely know by name only, that one time you tried to look something up on ancestery.com.

Keep in mind that not everyone has their eyes glued to their cellphone screen and facebook at el. Some people actually do talk to strangers. And this will come up frequently, if your in an area with a lot of people that travel from other areas.