1905 Rare MENU, FRENCH VIETNAM LUXURY STEAMER

Description

1905 Rare MENU, FRENCH VIETNAM LUXURY STEAMER
1905 Rare MENU, FRENCH VIETNAM LUXURY STEAMER
Very rare handwritten lunch menu (in French), April 1905,. for the Paquebot Annam,
one of  four small luxury liners of the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes which sailed from Marseille to French colonial Vietnam and other Far Eastern destinations.
4.5 x 7”. On verso of the menu is a photograph of the Steamer’s Salle a Manger (dining room).
While limited to a length of 400 feet in order to navigate the Saigon River, the liner was elegantly appointed in the Victorian style.
The French colons who would dominate Indochina for the next half-century lived well – and, when traveling, ate well - the menu including Chicken “Sultane” and mutton chops, followed by Gruyere cheese, coffee, and, of course, Cognac.
Requisitioned by the military during World War I, the Annam was sunk by a German U-boat.