More than a century has elapsed since the haunting tragedy of the Titanic in 1912, yet the mystique and allure surrounding this legendary ocean liner remain as strong as ever.
For enthusiasts of its history, an exciting opportunity awaits at an upcoming auction of Titanic memorabilia: a rare glimpse into a first-class menu from the iconic liner itself.
As the Titanic set sail from Queenstown, Ireland, bound for New York on April 11, 1912, the dinner menu of first-class passengers aboard the ship includes oysters, salmon with Hollandaise sauce, beef, squab, duck, roast chicken, green peas, parsnip purée, and Victoria pudding.
Now, this very menu from that historic night is up for auction on Saturday, November 11, at Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd in southwest England. It's easy to spot with its embossed red White Star Line flag and hints of water damage.
Andrew Aldridge, the auction house's managing director, shares that while a few Titanic menus have survived, this one is the only known copy from April 11—a mere three days before the Titanic's tragic encounter with an iceberg.
The menu is expected to sell for around £70,000, which is about $86,000.
Alongside it, the auction features a bunch of other maritime treasures, like a tartan blanket from a Titanic lifeboat and a pocket watch from a second-class passenger, a Russian immigrant who didn't make it through the tragedy.
Andrew, the auction house boss, mentioned to the New York Times that there are a few Titanic menus around. He pointed out that the ship served three meals every day from April 10, when it started its first voyage, until April 14, the day it sank, taking 1,500 lives with it.
Over the years, a few old Titanic menus have popped up at auctions, raking in big bucks.
Back in 2012, someone coughed up $120,000 for a first-class menu from the ship's final lunch. Then, three years later, another menu from the last dinner for first-class passengers sold for over $118,000.
This summer, a menu resurfaced in a 1960s photo album owned by Len Stephenson, a local historian in Dominion, Nova Scotia.
It's a touching find, especially since Halifax, where the menu was found, played a big role in the Titanic's search and recovery efforts, as detailed by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
Halifax became the final stop for some Titanic victims, with some laid to rest at sea and others buried in the city.
How Len got his hands on the menu isn't clear, but his son-in-law sent it to Andrew for a closer look.
Andrew was blown away when he opened the box, saying, "Original Titanic menus, they're super rare.
We know about most of them. So finding a totally new one like this is really exciting."
”Various Titanic artifacts periodically enter the market, such as in 2017 when a letter from a first-class passenger sold for £126,000."
Charles Haas, president of the Titanic International Society, explained: “Items on the ship, and carried off by passengers or crew, or found floating in the sea have been sold for more than 50 years by survivors, their descendants, maritime memorabilia dealers and auction houses on both sides of the Atlantic."
Harry Bennett, who teaches maritime history at the University of Plymouth, feels uneasy about items that might have been taken from the bodies of Titanic victims.
He shared: “I find it very uneasy to look at a photo of a pocket watch or a menu and think about the tragic journey that has actually gone on.
“These things are really probably better in museums than actually in private hands because it at least creates a kind of a context for it where issues of profit are rather taken away from it.”
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