June 1, 1906 · S.S. La Lorraine · Compagnie Générale Transatlantique · Dinner (Dîner)
La Lorraine, launched 1900, was a twin-funnel express liner running the Le Havre–New York service. CGT’s printed menus aboard her were entirely in French — a deliberate identity choice — and listed classical French cuisine: consommé, sole, ris de veau, asperges en branches, fromages, glaces.
The cover uses a stylised signal-flag composition along a vertical mast: each pennant represents an actual maritime code flag from the era. The CGT initials are integrated as the topmost flag, and the red banner — “Compagnie Générale Transatlantique” — recalls the company’s house colours. The design printed by Ed. Pinaud, Paris.
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique — known commercially as the “French Line” — was founded in 1855 with French government backing to operate scheduled steamer service between Le Havre and New York. By 1906 CGT was firmly established as the most refined of the Atlantic carriers, competing on French cuisine, French service, and Parisian style rather than on speed.
Visual style: Signal-flag mast composition with red “Compagnie Générale Transatlantique” banner.
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.
