Images(2)

Dinner menu for the SS CANBERRA

Designer Edward Burrett

Artist Asgeir Scott

Maker P&O (British, founded 1837)

Date1962

Object number00015998

NameMenu

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 255 x 178 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Don McCulloch

Terms

DescriptionA dinner menu for the SS CANBERRA designed by Edward Burrett and painted by Scott Asgeir. The front cover features a coloured detail illustration of a bunch of mangoes and on the reverse is a brief history of the fruit. The menu opens to reveal printed dinner menu and wine list for SS CANBERRA on Thursday 19th April, 1962.HistoryThere is no separating food and travel. Whether it is for enjoyment or basic necessity, where the next meal is coming from and what it will be can become all-consuming. Nowhere on the travel scene is this more evident than on cruise ships. Like 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 emphasize 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 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 1960’s would not offer Sweetbreads Toulouse, Waldorf Salad or Braised Venison? And in 1970’s 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. By the 21st century ship menus continued to reflect the changing tastes and lives of passengers. In addition to elaborate meals there were now stir fry, pizza and vegetarian options available. Diners could eat by the pool, in their room, buffet style, café style or even at midnight. Yet despite this burgeoning foodscape, the menu covers from this time onwards never seem quite as creative or as evocative as those from the 1930s to 1970s. Even covers from those earlier times that appear more amusing than appealing to us today, still so accurately embody the spirit of holiday dreams that they are completely endearing. SignificanceShip menus were a tangible part of the ship board experience. Not just as mementos of elaborate meals shared but also as a piece of the journey that passengers could take with them evoking times at sea and foreign ports.