Canada became a nation in 1867. Fifty years later it was in the midst of a world war, so it waited until the 60th anniversary to have a major celebration. We’ve previously seen more than a dozen Canadian Pacific menus commemorating this date (and particularly CP’s role in building the nation) from the Chung collection, but this wasn’t one of them.
Click image to download a 1.2-MB PDF of this menu.
CP’s first ships were three steamers built for the Great Lakes. In the winter of 1885, the Riel Rebellion took place in Manitoba, and Canada sent troops to suppress it over what would become Canadian Pacific tracks. The lakes were frozen over at the time, but the ice had broken up by the time their mission was successful, so they were able to take the steamships back east, thus making the ships CP’s first “troop ships.”
This was a breakfast menu used on the Trans-Canada Limited, CP’s summer-only all-sleeping car train. Cereal had not yet become a popular breakfast item. The menu offered four kinds of fish, buffalo or beef steak, lamb chops, spring chicken, calf’s liver, and various egg dishes. No griddle cakes but French toast was available with jelly.