In Spring 1819, the S.S. Savannah, which had been built in her namesake city in Georgia, became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. This was less impressive than it sounds, however, as the ship relied mainly on sails and used steam power only for about 11 percent of the trip. At less than 100 feet long, the ship was too small to carry enough coal to power the entire voyage.

Click image to download a 564-KB PDF of this menu.

Nevertheless, this was a historic trip and it would be 18 years before a ship made the entire journey under steam. Canadian Pacific commemorated the trip with this menu cover, which it used for lunches on its trans-Atlantic steamers in 1961. This particular lunch menu was for September 8 on the Empress of England and offers at least as many items as the dinner menus on that voyage.

Click image to download a 424-KB PDF of this menu.

For example, the Pont du Gard menu above was used on the same trip on September 5. The Empress had left Liverpool on that day and arrived in Montreal on September 12. The lunch menu had several egg and pasta items not found on the dinner menu, just as many desserts, and only one fewer entrées and main courses.

Click image to download a 270-KB PDF of this menu.

This breakfast menu, dated September 7, would have been used on the same voyage.