Menu for SS RIVERINA on route from Queensland to West Australia in 1906.

Date16 February 1906

Object numberANMS0518[005]

NameMenu

MediumInk, paper.

DimensionsHeight: 130mm, width: 80mm.

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionMenu from SS RIVERINA with text reading 'SS RIVERINA / F Sherriff, Commander / owners / Howard Smith & Co. Limited / Agents / first trip / direct service - Queensland to / West Australia / via Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Albany / Brisbane, 16th February, 1906'. Features photos of the smoking room and dining saloon with text listing the orchestral programme and menu.HistoryThe interstate passenger steamer RIVERINA was built in 1905 and entered service with Huddart Parker along the coastal trade. In 1921 RIVERINA became the regular transport vessel between Sydney and Hobart. Along with passengers, RIVERINA also carried cargo and for many years she was the fastest ship on the Australian coastal trades. On Saturday 16 April 1927 RIVERINA left Hobart on route to Sydney, carrying 142 passengers, as well as general cargo that included a large consignment of chocolate bars from the Tasmanian Cadbury factory. The next day, in steadily worsening weather, RIVERINA ran aground off Tullaberga Island, near Gabo. After two nights on board awaiting favourable weather conditions, the vessel's passengers were brought ashore and a salvage work commenced. However after numerous attempts to refloat the ship, RIVERINA was abandonded to underwriters with the ship being broken up at the site of her grounding. During World War II the remains of RIVERINA were used by the Royal Australian Air Force for target practice. The company Huddart Parker had its roots in a small trading business working between Geelong and Melbourne in the 1850s, before becoming the firm of Huddart & Parker & Co in 1876. Huddart Parker & Co began working with the transport of coal between Newcastle and Port Phillip before expanding their services to Melbourne and Sydney and later New Zealand. The company entered the passenger trade in the 1880s, running popular services between Sydney, Adelaide, Fremantle and Tasmania. During World War I Huddart Parker & Co had five of their vessels requisitioned for use in the war, and during World War II three of their passenger liners were acquired for war service. Huddart Parker & Co ceased trading in 1961 when, bowing to economic pressures, the company sold its remaining fleet to McIlwraith McEacharn.SignificanceFor a time in the 1920s, many Australians relied on SS RIVERINA as the regular (and often lone option) for passenger transport between Sydney and Hobart. Shipboard menus such as these were often printed to be souvenirs of a journey and were collected as mementos of their travels by crew and passengers