The Phantom Menu
I have been lucky enough to acquire a few menu covers that were collected by Chef William Ransom. This is the 3rd of that collection that I have added to the Timeline.
As with the previous two, I have had to use best guesses in trying to work out why Chef Ransom had put these aside for his private collection. The menu is printed on card stock that only appeared in the 1960s, so that helps date its period.
The menu contents indicate that it would be for service in First Class, or possibly for cruising. On cruises there would be a deck buffet service on the Promenade Deck while Caronia was at sea. The clues for this are in the Cold Buffet selection.
However, there is another reason that I have given this menu some prominence. I often get asked why I only show “suggested menus” in my image selection. The main reason is that I'm not able to do a single scan of an open menu when its contents are spread over both pages.
Quality Concerns
The counter is that only showing the suggested menu loses the impact of just what was made available to diners every meal, being that every day there would be a whole different set of choices on offer. I agree, but, as often shows with the smaller scanned area, the printing quality is not always clever.
There are other problems like file size, bandwidth limits and the fact that more and more people are using smaller devices than computers to access the Web. All these rule out having massive images. Even then, I'm fairly certain there would be quality issues, which would lead to its own set of complaints.
The Phantom Luncheon - Enjoy!
This particular menu is undated, but it does show just what was regularly on offer for a Caronia Luncheon. With the Cunard Board of Directors looking for savings, was this a test print and a sign of things to come? I have, later in the collection, a single menu cover with both Luncheon and Dinner fare printed within.
Personally, I would date the menu no earlier than this month, and sadly, one of the negative signs that the accountants always did have the last word. The narrow style meant the smaller size menu cards could also be used without modifying the printing frame. The type was still being set by hand.
photo-strip 