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Dinner menu from EMPRESS OF ENGLAND

Maker Canadian Pacific Steamship Company (1891 - 1971)

Date22 July 1962

Object number00000816

NameMenu

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 266 x 210 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from M L Breaden

Terms

DescriptionThis dinner menu from the British ocean liner, EMPRESS OF ENGLAND, features a drawing of a silver nef, which was a table ornament fashioned in the shape of a ship used to hold salt or spices in the sixteenth century.HistoryEMPRESS OF ENGLAND was built for Canadian Pacific and launched in 1956 by Vickers–Armstrong Ltd, Newcastle. It served as a cruise ship for passengers sailing between England and Canada, however, by the early 1960s, passenger numbers dwindled. By 1970, after travelling from British ports to South Africa and again to Canada, EMPRESS OF ENGLAND was renamed OCEAN MONARCH and recommenced sailing to various new destinations including Australia and New Zealand. There are a large number of these menus in the museum collection. They generally feature an illustration or design reflecting the key attributes of the ship, the ports or countries visited during the journey. This menu series reveals the marketing strategies adopted by Canadian Pacific to capture their passengers’ imagination. Each illustration is accompanied by a description which would have been read by passengers as they attended their evening meal. The description accompanying this particular menu reads: 'The Silver Nef has no real bearing on the history of sailing ships. It is above all an example of the silversmith’s art. But examples of other arts – of the art of cooking, for example – are more commonly met with on Canadian Pacific ships nowadays than they were on the original of this sixteenth-century sailing vessel.'SignificanceAfter her launch in 1956, EMPRESS OF ENGLAND served as a cruise ship operating between Liverpool and Montreal. Shipboard menus were the most common type of souvenir collected by passengers. This menu illustrates how Canadian Pacific capitalised on the initial popularity of the luxury cruise liner by inserting promotional material during their dinner service.