This dining car menu features the second ship to go by the name Empress of Canada. The first was built in 1920 and sunk during World War II by an Italian submarine when it was carrying, among others, hundreds of Italian prisoners of war.
Click image to download a 1.2-MB PDF of this menu.
The ship pictured on the cover of this menu was built in 1928 and originally named Duchess of Richmond but renamed after the war. It was destroyed in a fire when in port in 1953 and replaced by a ship of the same name in 1960, which turned out to be the last ship launched in the Canadian Pacific fleet.
Used on the Mountaineer, this dinner menu is undated, but its prices are identical to menus from 1948 and 1949. The back of the menu brags the Empress of Canada was “notable for the spaciousness of her accommodation” with “very high percentage of bedrooms with bath or shower.”
A 1948 Canadian Pacific timetable from the Chung collection shows the Empress of Canada and Empress of France making alternating voyages between Liverpool and Canada (Montreal/Quebec City in summer, St. John/Halifax in winter). Over the course of a year, each ship made about 14 or 15 round trips, allowing for departures about every two weeks.