The 1900s
was a golden age for ocean liners, but travelling across the Atlantic was a lot
slower than it is today. In 1907, a liner called the Mauretania had the record
for the fastest crossing, but this still took 4.5 days. There was a lot to do
before the liner would be ready to sail. Large amounts of food and several
tonnes of coal had to be packed onto the ship. The Liners were mainly steam
powered, so the crew had to start the boilers up a couple of days before the
ship set. If you were travelling on a liner, you would either be in first,
second or third class accommodation. First class was the most expensive and
meant you could go into more places on the liner like music rooms, dining rooms
and lounges. Some first class cabins would have a bedroom, a sitting room, a
bath and a toilet.
A photograph of passengers on an Atlantic crossing in the 1900s
A photograph of a second class cabin in 1908
Skilled cooks were often employed on the liners so the food
was often very high quality. This was the dinner menu on the RMS Victorian in
1907:
Dinner
• Spring
Soup
• Boiled
Cod, Parsley Sauce
• Stewed
Rabbit
• Roast
Beef, Yorkshire Pudding
• Roast
Turkey, Cranberry Sauce
• Ox Tongue
• Boiled
Potatoes
• Cauliflowers
• Plum
Pudding, Brandy Sauce
• Apple
Tart
• Ice Cream
• Dessert
• Biscuits
Cheese
• Tea,
Coffee