June 20, 1901 · S.S. Friedrich der Grosse · Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen · Lunch
Lunch aboard NDL Far East liners around 1901 included items reflecting the route — Mediterranean produce loaded at Genoa or Naples, Egyptian fruit from Port Said, and East Asian specialities prepared by Asian galley staff. The cover’s sailing vessel — likely a passing local craft — gives the menu a distinct flavour.
The watercolour depicts a tall sailing ship under full sail against a calm sea and pale sky. “Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen” appears at the top in distinctive red script lettering. The contrast between the modern steamship NDL and the romantic sailing image on the menu is part of the period’s marketing nostalgia.
The S.S. Friedrich der Grosse, launched 1896, was an NDL liner running the Bremen–Yokohama Far East mail route. Smaller and slower than the four-funnel North Atlantic express liners, she served on the Imperial German mail service to East Asia until taken over by Italian authorities in 1917.
Visual style: Watercolour sailing-vessel scene with the company script in red lettering.
What you receive
- Three print sizes: 8×10, 11×14, 16×20 inches (300 DPI, ready for any home printer or framing shop).
- Two versions of each size: a pure print (no added text) and a museum print (with a small caption: restaurant or ship, year, and source).
- A 1–2 page PDF with the menu’s historical context.
- One ZIP file, instantly downloadable after checkout.
About the source
This menu is preserved in the Buttolph Collection of Menus at The New York Public Library and is in the public domain in the United States. The Menu Press has curated, digitally restored, and reformatted the work for modern printing.
