Menu cover from the ARCADIA

Maker P&O (British, founded 1837)

Designer Strom Gould (1910 - 1992)

Datec 1962

Object number00000826

NameMenu cover

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 290 x 216 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from M L Breaden

Terms

DescriptionThis unused dinner menu cover was commissioned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O Line) for the cruise liner ARCADIA. Designed by illustrator, cartoonist and painter Charles Sidebotham Gould (also known as Strom Gould), it depicts a Christmas beetle amongst a combination of native Australian plants, including the Large Christmas Bell and Christmas Bush.HistoryARCADIA was built in 1954 by John Brown and Company in Clydebank, Scotland. After completing a series of trials, ARCADIA was chartered by P&O for her maiden voyage to Australia. After touring Australia and returning to Britain, the vessel made a series of cruises from Southampton to the Mediterranean. On her return to England, ARCADIA collided with the tug CERVIA, causing the loss of five lives. Following this incident, ARCADIA embarked on a series of voyages between Britain and Australia. By 1959, P&O had expanded the tour to include voyages to San Francisco, Alaska and various locations in South America. In 1979, ARCADIA left Sydney to tour Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore before being handed to a shipbreaker’s firm in Taiwan. Coinciding with the launch of ARCADIA and its tour to Australia, Strom Gould was commissioned to paint a series of dinner menus due to his reputation as a prominent illustrator and cartoonist. There are a large number of these colourful menus in the museum’s collection. This series of Strom Gould menus feature detailed ink paintings of native Australian plants. Gould also designed luncheon menus including a series of famous London scenes and a series of sea shanties.SignificanceAt the time Strom Gould was commissioned to design these menus, ARCADIA was being launched and trialled in preparation for a maiden voyage to Australia. Shipboard menus were the most common type of souvenir collected by passengers and these colourful examples illustrate how Australia was promoted to international visitors travelling on this luxury cruise liner.