Skip to main content

Thank You 500,000 readers

HISTORY - BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners

In my last essay, HISTROY - BELLE ÉPOQUE on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, I have written about the life during the BELLE ÉPOQUE on board the Tranatlantic liners of Cie. Gle. TRAMSATALNTIQUE and life ashore. Now I want to display some menu cards of the time and these liners.
by Earl of Cruise
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners
LA CHAMPAGNE, 1886 - courtsey coloured by Daryl LeBlanc
BELLE ÉPOQUE and today have its parallels ... In BELLE ÉPOQUE we had all over the world some few super rich, in their majority not caring for the lifes of the subordinates, or lower classes. Despite some who thought and and began to push for social reforms, to better the lifes of the poor.
the greatest social reformers in Germany had been from the upper classes, as it was in other European countries. In France f.e. these social reforms started with Emporer Napoléon III., but slowed down in the Third Republic. Reformers and theorists came in those days most from the upper classes, as Henri de Saint-Simon. In Germany it was Prince Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia and later of the Empire of the German, the Kaiserreich. His intention was to calm the poor masses, avoiding riots and such, but it caused internal peace in Germany, riots, labor disputes and strikes had been less than in other countries. During the Ruhr Strikes in the beginning of the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. he was not willing, despite pressed to, to shot down the riots with the Reichswehr: "My German soldiers don´t ever shoot my German pupil!" The working class got with these social laws, social security - health care, unemployment care and payments, pensions, free education ... thus creating a feeling of security and thus creating in the end more wealth for those at the lower end of the food chain, AND those at the upper end. Despite reforms and bettered lifes, it was a social must in Germany´s high society to be engaged for the poor and those who needed help.
Except for the irrational imperialism, colonialism and our country first, BELLE ÉPOQUE was an era of peace, optimism, technical, economic and cultural explosion.
And the upper classes cultivated their lifes with benefits, more elaborated, capricious, than for the lower classes, with polite manners, behaviour, table manners, etc. and luxurious products for their daily livings and food.
But displaying greed and rudeness in public, was considered as a no-go, and could cause social disgrace, as "un-classy" behaviour or manners.
Even small gatherings of the upper class turned into "state affair" like events, and diner parties turned into social events, where the host showed its best and the latest refineries.
Food became one of the "things" displaying the hosts social standing, as it was in historic times, but in BELLE ÉPOQUE combined with those manners we are lacking today.
What the upper class celebrated in private was celebrated in the Grand and Palace Hotels of BELLE ÉPOQUE, as well on board the liners, crossing the pond, especially on board the continental European liners. If they were not the supreme in technique, especially speed, but in cultured lifestyle and especially in food quality.
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners
Salle à Manger on board LA CHAMPAGNE - courtsey The Freshwater and Marine Image Bank at the University of Washington
All following menu cards are for First Class
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners
Menu Card of LA TOURAINE, November 1906, styled in ART NOUVEAU - own collection
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners
Menu Card of LA BOURGOGNE, May 1889 - courtsey collection of Richard Arebalo
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners
Menu Card of LA BRETAGNE, May 1888 - courtsey collection of Richard Arebalo
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners
Menu Card of LA CHAMPAGNE, January 1900 - own collection
BELLE ÉPOQUE menus on board COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE liners

Menu Card of LA NORMANDIE, May 1890 - courtsey collection of Richard Arebalo
The social gathering on board, especially onboard a Transatlantic liner, needed more wardrobe, steamer trunk with items from the later BELLE ÉPOQUE - picture from one of my liner books

Reading these menues I get some appetite, for tasting and cooking these by myself ... and perhaps a cooking book.

I have to thank Richard Arebalo for his menu cards from his collection.

History - FRENCH LINE - COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, a review - Part I





Ship ahoy and always a hand span water under the keel!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five...

HISTORY - For nearly 39 years skeletons from CAP ARCONA were being washed ashore

C AP ARCONA capzised burning after the RAF attact, declared a hostile target. Skeletons washed ashore for the next 39 years. The former liner was filled with ~ 4,500 concentration camp prisoners of Neuengamme and its guards of the SS. Copy from Vintage News - Jan 20, 2016 - Nick Knight editing by Earl of Cruise RAF attack; 4,500 concentration camp victims were killed by the Allies The Cap Arcona was a large German luxury ocean liner formerly of the Hamburg-South America line that was sunk with the loss of many lives when laden with prisoners from concentration camps.The 27,500 gross ton Cap Arcona was launched in 1927, it was considered one of the most beautiful of the time. It carried upper-class travelers and steerage-class emigrants, mostly to South America. In 1940, it was taken over by the Kriegsmarine, the German navy, and used in the Baltic Sea. The tragic WWII story of how the RAF attacked and the CAP ARCONA maritime tragedy, the l...

ss NORMANDIE 1935 - 1942 IX

s s / te NORMANDIE starting from cold Owners: COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE BUILDERS: PENH Ö ET, St. Nazaire, France   by Stephen Carey © , editing by Earl of Cruise   This document is almost exclusively about the engineering aspects of NORMANDIE , mainly on how to start her up from cold. If you are looking for photos of the passenger spaces, there is a plethora of them on the web, in Facebook groups - Admirers of the ss Normandie , ss Normandie photographic file , The French Ocean Liners / Les Paquebots Fran ç ais , ss Normandie , GREAT LINERS OF THE PAST & PRESENT , and others, Pinterest and in articles about NORMANDIE here in the blog, please see at the end of the article. Using "ss" for NORMANDIE is quite incorrect, as NORMANDIE was a Turbo Electric vessel and not a steamship, therefore NORMANDIE should be adressed as "te".   by Earl of Cruise te / ss NORMANDIE berthed in Le Havre, Gare Maritime May 29th, 1935 - colouring courtesy ...

HISTORY - ts / ss BREMEN and ts / ss EUROPA

Germany’s two luxury liners, BREMEN and EUROPA , have not only played an important part in their country’s mercantile revival, but have added also an immortal chapter to the history of transatlantic travel. Copy from Shipping Wonders of the World   From part 6 , published 17 March 1936 editing by Earl of Cruise ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: Shipping Wonders of the World/Bundespresse Archiv The PRIDE OF A NATION - the NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD quadruple-screw turbine express liner BREMEN . The keel of this ship was laid in June 1927. Her launch took place in August, 1928. In less than a year later, the Bremen made her first voyage to America, when she crossed the Atlantic from Cherbourg to New York in four days seventeen hours forty-two minutes, thus setting up a new record and gaining the coveted “Blue Riband”. During the passage the Bremen attained an average speed of 27.83 knots. ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: W ikipedia For the pop...

HISTORY - AUSTRO AMERICANA the Austro-Hungary shipping line into the new world

Not many know about the Austro-Hungary shipping line, AUSTRO AMERICANA , which sailed out of Trieste to the Americas. Austro-Hungary and shipping? You may ask ... you may have heard about Vienna Walz, coffe house culture, Hotel Sacher and its famous chocolate cake, the Prater, chateau Schönbrunn, the Fiakers - the famous horse carriages and such things. But passenger shipping lines? There has been AUSTRO AMERICANA and ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD , renamed in LLOYD TRIESTINO after 1918 and after purchased by EVERGREEN renamed in Italia Marittima. The actual company ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD is a new formed management company situated in Austria.   by Earl of Cruise KAISER FRANZ JOSEH I. the biggest liner of AUSTRO AMERICANA - own collextion Parts of my family lived for a long time in the Austro-Hungary empire, which can be qualified as a "United Nations of the Balkan". Having traces into Austria-Hungay, the realm of Hungary in special, it is a pleasure for me making thes...

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

HISTORY - HAMBURG-SÜD and the CAP express liner

The CAP express liners of HAMBURG-SÜD, CAP FINISTERRE, CAP TRAFALGAR, CAP POLONIO and CAP ARCONA, are known worldwide for their luxury, renowned service on board and grandeur. Their successors of the 60s, the CAP SAN vessels, have not been that elegant, but truly first class and were known as the "White Swans" of the Atlantic. by Earl of Cruise HAMBURG-SÜD´s SANTA TERESA in Santos - courtesy HAMBURG-SÜD Since its formation in 1871, HAMBURG-SÜDAMERIKANISCHE DAMPFSCHIFFFAHRTS-GESELLSCHAFT ( HSDG or HAMBURG-SÜD ) has evolved from a conventional freight and passenger shipping company into a global operating transport logistics organisation. Today, it ranks among the world's ten largest container shipping lines and is one of the leading providers in the North-South trades. T ill recently it was a member of the successful Oetker Group, one of the largest and best-known family enterprises in Germany. The heirs and owners sold HAMBURG-SÜD to the Danish MAERSK Group ...

HISTORY - RHEINGOLD the German luxury day express train

Between May 1928 and August 1939 the luxury day express train RHEINGOLD operated between Hoek van Holland and Basel as a FFD Pullman train of DEUTSCHE REICHSBAHN GESELLSCHAFT (DRG) and MITROPA. The name was mystic and elitarian. by Earl of Cruise   RHEINGOLD, the name of the most luxurious train ever of Germany - detail, own photo On May 15th, 1928 the luxury express train RHEINGOLD started for the first time, connecting Hoek von Holland, Netherlands, and Amsterdamn with Basel, Suisse. Name giving was the legendary treasure of the Nibelungen. This special service for most international travelers was an immidiate success. Advertisment for the RHEINGOLD created by Frank Newbould - collection Earl of Cruise For the most travelers in the RHEINGOLD meant the voyage in the luxury train more than being transported in high comfort. From their soft armchairs they could watch the pitoresque Rhine landscape, with wine villages, vine-growing slopes, forteresses and castles, and th...

Germany and HAPAG - A Journey through History

HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHEPACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT - HAPAG or HAMBURG AMERICA LINE is reflecting, as Germany, the LLOYD of Bremen, two times of rsing and two times of devasting downfall and a third rise. BORUSSIA , 1856, First Day Cover 1956 of Deutsche Bundespost - own collection Once Germany´s biggest shipping line HAPAG / HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHE PACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT-LLOYD, merged with it former old Hanseatic rival NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD in 1970, to now HAPAG-LLOYD, had its peaks and downs, but rose each time on its own to new hights, without any state subsidies. As German mail subsidiaries did never cover the costs for purchasing or mainting the vessels ordered for the specific German mail lines.   by Earl of Cruise In this article I used most German Wikipedia links, as they proved to be mostly of better research quality, and surprisinf to me, some English lines and liners have only German written articles, for the others, English Wiki links are to ...