The person on the cover of this menu is supposed to be Champlain (1567-1635), who founded and governed the early colony of Quebec and New France in what is now Canada. In fact, he never sat for a portrait so no one knows what he really looked like. Although he spent most of his adult life exploring or administering Canada, the background of this cover shows not a scene in New France but la Rochelle, France, the port from which Champlain embarked on his trips to the New World.

Click image to download a 633-KB PDF of this menu.

This dinner menu was used on the Empress of England on September 6, 1961. It lists 17 courses or categories of food, and one of the entrées, beef stroganoff, was also featured in the center as a chef’s special. Frogs’ legs were also on the menu, while someone wanting more American-like food could get roast turkey.