March 2, 1900 · S.S. Westernland · Red Star Line · Dinner
The S.S. Westernland, launched 1883, was one of Red Star’s mid-fleet workhorses. By 1900 she was running the regular Antwerp–New York service. Cabin-class dinner of this period drew on Belgian and continental traditions: bouillon, river fish, roasted meats, Belgian vegetable preparations, and Trappist cheeses.
The cover painting shows Flemish countrywomen in traditional dress on a dock, waving farewell to the ship as it departs. The image is unusual for ocean-liner menus — it places the human community of the home port at the centre of the visual narrative, rather than the ship herself. This emotional framing of departure was distinctive to Red Star, whose principal trade was emigration.
Red Star Line was founded in 1871 as a joint Belgian–American operation between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine. Its principal route was Antwerp to New York and Philadelphia. Red Star carried more than two million European emigrants to America between 1873 and 1934, including the family of Albert Einstein.
Visual style: Watercolour scene of Flemish women in traditional costume waving at a departing steamer.
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.
