Second Class dinner menu from the last night afloat of the ill-fated RMS Titanic, 14 April, 1912. (National Maritime Museum)
The last night at sea for the ill-fated luxury liner Titanic must have been a glittering affair among the wealthy first-class passengers, but even in the second-class dining room there would certainly have been no spectre of shipwreck tragedy to detract from the typically generous and varied White Star Line menu.
On that last carefree night before the ship hit an iceberg and sank, with 1503 lives lost, the second-class passengers on the “unsinkable” Titanic were served a traditional full Edwardian meal.
It was quite plain British cooking by the standards of other cuisines and other decades, perhaps, and much less elaborate than the first-class fare — but still, notable enough for the number and variety of dishes:
Triple Screw Steamer “Titanic”
2nd ClassApril 14, 1912Dinner
Consommé Tapioca
Baked Haddock, Sharp Sauce
Curried Chicken & Rice
Spring Lamb, Mint Sauce
Roast Turkey, Cranberry Sauce
Green Peas Purée Turnips
Boiled Rice
Boiled & Roast Potatoes
Plum Pudding
Wine Jelly Cocoanut Sandwich
American Ice Cream
Nuts Assorted
Fresh Fruit
Cheese Biscuits
Coffee
The second-class dinner menu card was saved by passenger Mrs J. Bertha Marshall (née Watt). She later gave it to Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember
The menu is printed in postcard format, allowing passengers to post the menu to friends in order to boast about the luxury and variety of meals served on board the Titanic. The owners of the Titanic, the White Star Line, wanted the ship to become the only way to cross the Atlantic in style and a wide-ranging advertising campaign of postcards, brochures and pamphlets was launched to promote the ship. Following the disaster, replica menu postcards were produced and sold to raise money for the Titanic Disaster Relief Fund.
The menu card now forms part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory at Greenwich, UK. A printed replica of the Titanic menu card, along with other Titanic memorabilia, is available through the museum shop.
