The Last Dinner on RMS Titanic - April 14, 1912
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100th Anniversary of Titanic - Recreating the Last Dinner of the Gilded Age
One hundred years ago, on her maiden voyage, the "unsinkable" Titanic struck an iceberg and went down in the North Atlantic, just after midnight on April 15, 1912.
A few short hours later, some 1500 people lost their lives - the exact number may never be known.
Image: Sinking of the Titanic at Allposters.com
Just a few short hours earlier, on the evening of April 14th, 1912, those Titanic passengers - and crew, including the legendary musicians who played on through the darkness and went down with the ship - had been enjoying their "last supper" on earth...
Contents at a Glance
- Last Dinner On the Titanic
- The Sinking of the Unsinkable Titanic
- First Class Dinner Menu for 14 April 191...
- Photograph of the First Class Dining Roo...
- Putting on the Ritz
- Second Class Dinner Menu for 14 April, 1...
- Cooking Pot from the Second-Class Galley
- Third Class Menu for 14 April 1912
- Ceramic Bowl and Other Debris from Titan...
Last Dinner On the Titanic
Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner
Originally published for the 85th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic, Rick Archbold and chef Dana McCauley's sumptuous Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner is one part social history, one part recipe book, and one part guide to recreating one of the most famous - and most elegant - dinner parties in recent history."A cookbook designed to recreate the atmosphere of dining on the famous, doomed luxury liner serves up such recipes as Lobster Thermidor, Quail's Eggs in Aspic with Caviar, and Poached Salmon with Dilled Mousseline Sauce and Cucumber."
The Sinking of the Unsinkable Titanic
Titanic Newspaper 24 in. x 36 in.
Buy this at Allposters.com
In the words of Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember: "Reproducing the Titanic's marvelous food is surely one of the best ways to experience a bygone age of luxury and leisure." After all, we are so much the food we choose to consume, and the rituals of dining that we follow, there is surely no more effective way to travel back in time than to engage our senses along with our imagination; literally, to savour the experience of a world that will never return through one of the most famous "last suppers" of the 20th century.
First Class Dinner Menu for 14 April 1912
RMS Titanic
A bugler played to summon the diners to a full ten-course dinner in the opulent dining saloon, where fresh flowers decked every table beneath an elaborate vaulted ceiling.
Image: RMS Titanic
First-class dinner menu
for 14 April 1912
via Amazon.com
A different wine accompanied each course - of course!
After the tenth (dessert) course, fresh fruits and cheeses were served, followed by coffee in the reception room next door, where the Titanic's own band played a selection of light music. The gentlemen would round out their meal with cigars and port, and perhaps a glass of spirits. It was a leisurely meal.
First Class Dinner Menu
Hors D'Oeuvres Variés
Oysters
Consommé Olga
Cream of Barley
Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce, Cucumbers
Filet Mignons Lili
Saute of Chicken, Lyonnaise
Vegetable Marrow Farci
Lamb, Mint Sauce
Roast Duckling, Apple Sauce
Sirloin of Beef, Chateau Potatoes
Green Pea
Creamed Carrots
Boiled Rice
Parmentier & Boiled New Potatoes
Punch Romaine
Roast Squab & Cress
Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette
Pate de Foie Gras
Celery
Waldorf Pudding
Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly
Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs
French Ice Cream
Photograph of the First Class Dining Room
You'll often see this public domain photograph labelled as the first-class dining room of RMS Titanic, but in fact it is a photograph of the first-class dining room of her sister ship, RMS Olympic. The two luxury liners were very much alike, however - so much so that the two were often used almost interchangeably in the White Star Line advertising materials and posters - and the dining saloons of the two ships were next to identical.
Putting on the Ritz
in the Titanic's own a la carte restaurant
In addition to the Titanic first-class dining saloon, first class passengers had the option to dine at the ship's elegant à la carte restaurant, the Ritz-Carlton Restaurant, which was run as a concession under the French-born Executive Chef Pierre Rousseau, one of the victims of the sinking. The restaurant had its own staff of nearly 80, for the most part Italian, rather than being served by members of the ship's regular crew.
One first-class passenger, Mrs. Walter Douglas, described the Ritz restaurant on the fateful night, April 14, 1912, as "the last word in luxury":
"The tables were gay with pink roses and white daisies, the women in their beautiful shimmering gowns of satin and silk, the men immaculate and well-groomed, the stringed orchestra playing music from Puccini and Tchaikovsky. The food was superb: caviar, lobster, quail from Egypt, plover's eggs, and hothouse grapes and fresh peaches. The night was cold and clear, the sea like glass."
Second Class Dinner Menu for 14 April, 1912
RMS Titanic
Second Class Dinner Menu
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
Cheese
Biscuits
Coffee
Source: Royal Museums Greenwich by way of HistoryBuffet.com
Testimony to the popularity of postcards at that time, and to the pride the White Star Line took in its magnificent cuisine, the menus were printed up in postcard format so passengers could mail them to their friends back home - word of mouth advertising, in more than one sense of the term!
After the sinking, replica menu postcards were produced and sold to raise money for the Titanic Disaster Relief Fund.
Cooking Pot from the Second-Class Galley
Underwater Shipwreck Photograph
Cooking Pot from the Second-Class Galley and Twisted Metal Wreckage of the RMS Titanic
Emory Kristof Photographic Print at Allposters.com
Third Class Menu for 14 April 1912
RMS Titanic
At first it looks rather like a Dickensian treatment of the working poor, doesn't it? Porridge, cold meat, cabin biscuits, gruel...
But, in fact, the food aboard the White Star liner was better and more plentiful than many of the those in steerage had been used to getting at home. Titanic was one of the first ships to supply meals to steerage passengers rather than expecting them to pack enough food of their own to last them for the whole voyage across the Atlantic.
Image: White Star Line, Titanic and Olympic
Poster 24" x 36" at Amazon.com
Third Class Menu
Breakfast:
Oatmeal, porridge and milk, smoked herrings, jacket potatoes, ham and eggs, fresh bread & butter, marmalade, Swedish bread, tea and coffee.
Dinner:
Rice soup, fresh bread, cabin biscuits, roast beef and brown gravy, sweet corn, boiled potatoes, plum pudding, sweet sauce and fruit.
Tea:
Cold meat, cheese and pickles, fresh bread and butter, stewed figs and rice, and tea.
Supper:
Gruel, cabin biscuits and cheese.
For the working class, such as those travelling in steerage on Titanic, "dinner" was a hearty mid-day meal intended to fuel the second half of a hard day's labour. "Tea" referred to the British tradition of a meal in early evening - high tea - and "supper," here, a lighter meal in later evening, a short time before retiring for the night.
Ceramic Bowl and Other Debris from Titanic
Underwater Shipwreck Photograph
Ceramic Bowl and Other Debris from the R.M.S. Titanic"
Emory Kristof Photographic Print at Allposters.com
Poll: Best Titanic Dinner Menu
First class, Second class, or Third class?
Titanic Recipes
- Recipes from the Titanic
- Recipes from Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner
(Archbold/McCauley): Cabin biscuits, Ragout of Beef with Potatoes and Pickles, Currant Buns, Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
- Titanic Dessert: Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly
- Recipe developed by Mrs. Beeton (1836 - 1865)
- Titanic Recipes for Your Home Menu
- Heirloom recipes updated by Chef Stephen Proctor and Chef Greg Ziegenfuss for the home kitchen: Canapés A L'Amiral, Shrimp Butter, Chicken Fricassee, Haddock Veronique, and, courtesy of the Campbell House Museum, Roman Punch (Punch Romaine)
RMS Titanic: Dining in Miniature
Titanic Memories
More Than 1500 Lives Lost in the Sinking of RMS Titanic
Only 711 survived.
Stories from the Titanic Disaster
Postcard of Titanic in Dock at Southampton
Before the Fatal Maiden Voyage
Postcard: RMS Titanic in Dock at Southampton
Prior to Fatal Maiden Voyage
Photographic Print at Allposters.com
Authentic ephemera can be a challenge for even a experienced collector to identify, especially as many dubious items entered the market after 1997, when the James Cameron Titanic film re-ignited public interest.
1912 items of Titanic memorabilia may be out of reach of the average Titanic buff, but some of the replicas - such as those sold through museums like the UK's National Maritime Museum - are of high quality in their own right, and, while not antique, are now very collectible.
Music on the Titanic
Titanic Serenade : Music from an Age of Elegance
According to accounts by survivors of the Titanic disaster, the musical selections brought together in Titanic Serenade : Music from an Age of Elegance
are the same popular music of the Edwardian era played for passengers by the band of the ill-fated cruise liner.All members of the band on board the Titanic went down with the ship.
Photo: Titanic lifeboat by passenger of the Carpathia, the ship that received the Titanic's distress signal and came to rescue the survivors. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
And the Band Played On...
RMS Titanic: The Centenary
100th Anniversary Titanic News
- Halifax: the Titanic's undertaker
- The city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, will mark the centenary of its role in retrieving and burying the ship's passengers... More than 200 bodies were brought ashore at Halifax harbour. [January 11, 2012]
- 100th Anniversary Titanic Memorial Cruise
- On the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, two elegant modern cruise ships make a commemorative voyage...
- Books, TV series and movie re-release planned to mark Titanic centenary
- A new book promises a fresh look at the lost liner: a social history of those who worked and travelled on the ship. [January 16, 2012]
- Titanic Centennial: Salvage and Memories
- Artifacts related to the Titanic are emerging on the market in droves in anticipation of next year's centennial of that ship's sinking. [October 6, 2011]
- Titanic centenary marked in Belfast - its real port of origin
- Ship was launched from Northern Ireland before heading to Southampton for ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. [May 31, 2011]
RMS Titanic Memorabilia and Collectibles
White Star Line Cutlery & Tableware
I find this photograph rather moving, for some reason - almost as much so as the underwater photographs of the debris from the sunken Titanic. This display of the original White Star Line cutlery was photographed by Ben Sutherland during a visit to the National Shipwreck Museum (Charlestown Shipwreck & Heritage Centre) in Cornwall, UK.
100th Anniversary Commemorative Tableware
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Titanic's launch, Arthur Price & Co., one of the original suppliers of flatware to the luxury dining sections on board the ships in the White Star Line, have recreated the Panel Reed Sterling Silver cutlery used onboard the Titanic - each knife bearing the logo of the ill-fated cruise line, as did the originals.
Similarly, Royal Crown Derby has re-issued their top-of-the-line Titanic tableware - see "Royal Crown Derby Reproduces Exclusive Titanic China For The First Time In 100 Years" on the company blog - but with just the tea cup and saucer
going for more than $120, I may look for a less luxurious memento of the Titanic centenary.
Relics of the Wreck
This video comes from Titanic Stories ("Official website of the Titanic and its home in Belfast, N. Ireland"): Titanic was built in a Belfast shipyard.
You may also enjoy...
100th Anniversary Titanic Memorial Cruise
On the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, two elegant modern cruise ships make a commemorative voyage on a Titantic memorial cruise - one sailing from...
Guestbook
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Netbug
May 22, 2012 @ 8:44 am | delete
- Fantastic lens! I can't pick which class' food I like more to be honest; part of me is a huge gourmand who is jealous of the first class, but the third class gets some great comfort food and a tea break! Meanwhile, second class gets ice cream, which is enough for me to consider them.
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SheilaSchnauzies
May 21, 2012 @ 7:04 am | delete
- What a fascinating lens, and from a most unusual perspective. Very nice work!
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OhMe May 20, 2012 @ 6:14 am | delete
- This is so interesting and I learned so much more about the Titanic. Thank you.
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domjohnson
May 18, 2012 @ 9:00 am | delete
- Brilliant, I love reading about the Titanic and this was something a bit different from most of the other stuff. Great job! :)
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kimark421
May 10, 2012 @ 7:44 am | delete
- What an unusual subject on the Titanic. Now I know a little more about that night. Thanks!
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MSchindel May 6, 2012 @ 12:00 am | delete
- In this lens you've taken us on an extraordinary trip! It's almost like being there. Fantastic and thank you!
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Aquablocks
May 4, 2012 @ 3:42 pm | delete
- This is akin to reliving the moment after the accident. Its touching and sad. Thanks for the collection and more so, the real pictures.
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Upon-Request May 3, 2012 @ 12:12 am | delete
- I thought I knew a lot about the Titanic but I've learned even more now. *Blessed*
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jbcastillon
Apr 30, 2012 @ 1:51 am | delete
- Can't help but me moved by the accounts you have in this lens.
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Oneshotvariety
Apr 29, 2012 @ 1:19 pm | delete
- What a great lens! Very fascinating and informative! Great pictures!
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About Me
Table of Contents
- Last Dinner On the Titanic
- The Sinking of the Unsinkable Titanic
- First Class Dinner Menu for 14 April 1912
- Photograph of the First Class Dining Room
- Putting on the Ritz
- Second Class Dinner Menu for 14 April, 1912
- Cooking Pot from the Second-Class Galley
- Third Class Menu for 14 April 1912
- Ceramic Bowl and Other Debris from Titanic
- Poll: Best Titanic Dinner Menu
- Titanic Recipes
- RMS Titanic: Dining in Miniature
- Titanic Memories
- Stories from the Titanic Disaster
- Postcard of Titanic in Dock at Southampton
- Music on the Titanic
- And the Band Played On...
- RMS Titanic: The Centenary
- RMS Titanic Memorabilia and Collectibles
- White Star Line Cutlery & Tableware
- Relics of the Wreck
- You may also enjoy...
- Guestbook
- About Me
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The North Atlantic ocean is an object of love, fear, respect, and endless fascination; as are the shipwrecks, like the sinking of Titanic, that have shaped... more »
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Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner
Amazon Price: $225.00 (as of 06/02/2012)
Titanic: An Illustrated History
Amazon Price: $124.98 (as of 06/02/2012)
The Titanic Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book)
Amazon Price: $0.97 (as of 06/02/2012)
