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Dinner menu from SS MONTEREY

Maker Frank Macintosh (American, 1901 - 1985)

Date22 October 1938

Object number00018184

NameMenu

MediumInk, card

DimensionsOverall: 340 mm, 0.05 kg
Display Dimensions: 302 x 222 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from C D Mattingley

Terms

DescriptionDinner menu from SS MONTEREY designed by Frank Macintosh for the Matson Line. Titled 'Night Blooming Cereus', the menu was intended to elevate the onboard dining experience and be a souvenir for passengers from their luxury cruise. HistoryLike fashion or technology ship menus are such an accurate snapshot of the times. They took off towards the end of the 19th century as shipping lines began focusing on passenger comfort and service as much as the practicalities and speed of the journey. With long days at sea stretching out, the variety and quality of food served became paramount in attracting wealthy paying passengers. Shipping companies began to heighten the appeal of their dining experiences. In 1913 the Hamburg American Line employed master celebrity chef Georges Auguste Escoffier from the Ritz Carlton to design the dining room and menu aboard the SS IMPERATOR. This was in addition to the eight kitchens, two head chefs and 116 assistants. It was not just the food that was elevated. It was the whole dining experience. Meals began to include elaborately decorated menus that appeared at each sitting. In fact the menus were so attractive that passengers were encouraged to take them home as souvenirs of the voyage, an early form of marketing and public relations. Contemporary artists, such as Frank Macintosh, and graphic designers were hired by shipping lines to produce images evocative of ocean voyages with leisurely days at sea and 'exotic' locations in mind. It’s these different artistic styles that capture each era so perfectly. The meal choices in these menus are also a moment in history themselves. A menu from 1901 aboard the HMS Ophir offers either Pigeons a la Diable or the Bloaters Grille for breakfast. Wait a couple of decades and in 1938 you could have started your day off with such delights as Devilled Sardines or Lamb Tongues. And what self-respecting dinner from the 1960s would not offer Sweetbreads Toulouse, Waldorf Salad or Braised Venison? And in the 1970s there was no concern for on board cholesterol levels with the entrees offered in one sitting being Chicken Cream Soup, Cauliflower Cream Soup, Mushroom Cream Soup or Baked Scallops with Cream Sauce. The main course could then be the Egg Curry or Spaghetti with Ham, Mushroom and Tongue, served in a cream sauce of course.SignificanceThis menu by Frank Macintosh, titled 'Night Blooming Cereus', was commissioned by Matson Lines to capture the tropical and tranquil aura they were promoting for their Hawaiian and South Pacific destinations. The flower, commonly referred to as the 'Princess of the Night' or the 'Honolulu Queen' is renown for blooming only once, and at night. The choice of this motif reiterates again the appeal of the 'exotic' and exclusivity that Matson Lines was selling.