Simple Comforts at Sea: RMS Celtic Breakfast Menu, 5 July 1919 – Bacon, Sausage & Saratoga Potatoes
Post World War I Third Class Breakfast Menu Card From Saturday, 5 July 1919 Onboard the RMS Celtic of the White Star Line. The Bill of Fare Offered Typical Breakfast Fare of Eggs, Saratoga Potatoes, Broiled Wiltshire Bacon, and Broiled Palethorpe Sausage With Savoury Rice. | GGA Image ID # 156f874458
🍽 Review & Summary – RMS Celtic Breakfast (5 July 1919)
This menu, served aboard the RMS Celtic of the White Star Line, reflects the post–World War I transition back to civilian travel. The bill of fare is simpler than the lavish pre-war First-Class spreads but still hearty and respectable. With cereals, eggs, fish, bacon, sausage, rice, and baked goods, passengers were offered a balanced breakfast designed to provide comfort after years of wartime rationing.
The modesty of selection suggests it was almost certainly Third Class (or Tourist Class), though it still conveys a solid sense of White Star reliability and consistency.
🍳 Featured Entrées of the Day
Broiled Wiltshire Bacon – A classic English breakfast staple, cured and smoked from Wiltshire, England. This was likely the centerpiece of the meal, served hot and savory.
Broiled Palethorpe Sausage with Savory Rice – Palethorpe’s was a well-known British sausage maker (established 1852), and pairing it with seasoned rice was a filling and somewhat unusual touch for a ship’s breakfast, suggesting it was a featured dish.
Breakfast
- Grapefruit
- Cold Stewed Prunes
- Rolled Oats
- Toasted Corn Flakes
- Fried Whiting Fillet
- Broiled Palethorpe
- Sausage
- Savory Rice
- Broiled Wiltshire Bacon
Eggs
- Fried Eggs
- Poached Eggs
- Saratoga Potatoes
- French Rolls & Graham Rolls
- Toast
- Derby Cake
- Griddle Cakes
- Preserves
- Radishes
- Tea
- Coffee
July 5th.. 1919 | RMS "CELTIC."
Handwritten Notations
Autographs on the Reverse Side of the Breakfast Menu Card From Saturday, 5 July 1919 Onboard the RMS Celtic of the White Star Line. GGA Image ID # 156fc2cec8
⭐ Special & Engaging Items
Saratoga Potatoes – Thinly sliced and fried, essentially an early version of potato chips, though served at breakfast more like crispy breakfast potatoes. This nod to American tastes was likely appreciated on a westbound voyage.
Derby Cake – A sweet English tea cake, perhaps included as a treat for weekend travel.
Griddle Cakes with Syrup – Pancakes, served with maple or golden syrup, providing a comforting and familiar option for North American passengers.
📜 Unusual or Potentially Confusing Items for Americans
Palethorpe Sausage – A British brand, widely recognized in England but likely unfamiliar to Americans of the era. Essentially a pork sausage, but branded and marketed for quality.
Savory Rice – Rice seasoned with herbs or broth, more commonly seen in British or colonial cooking than on an American breakfast table.
Saratoga Potatoes – Though invented in New York, many Americans in 1919 still associated “potato chips” as a novelty or fairground food rather than a breakfast item.
🥐 Variety & Balance
This menu balances light fare (fruit, cereals, toast) with hearty options (fish, sausage, bacon, rice, eggs, potatoes). The rolls, Derby cake, and preserves gave passengers a sweet finish, while tea and coffee anchored the meal.
While not as expansive as First-Class, the menu provided choice without excess—exactly what postwar Tourist Class travelers expected: reliable food that was filling, familiar, and decently varied.
💡 Engaging Detail
What makes this menu engaging is how it captures a historical moment in time: the world was emerging from wartime scarcity, and shipping lines were slowly returning to peacetime routines. The inclusion of branded items (Palethorpe sausages) and specialty sweets (Derby cake) shows a desire to give even Tourist passengers a touch of luxury, despite the otherwise modest bill of fare. The handwritten autographs on the reverse side also add a personal, human layer—passengers often used menus as keepsakes or autograph books, turning an ordinary breakfast list into a memento of the voyage.
Menu contributed to the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives by the Victoria University Library, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Visit their Website at library.vicu.utoronto.ca (E.J. Pratt Library)
Primary Item Archival Description
Master Filename: Images600 | Menus | Breakfast | Celtic-1919-07-05-BreakfastMenuCard-01-Front.tif
Subject: Breakfast Menu Card
Date: 5 July 1919
Menu Size: 10.54 x 15.88 CM (4.15 x 6.25 IN)
Caption: Front side of Breakfast Menu Card from the White Star Line RMS Celtic
Description: Post World War I Menu Card from the White Star Line that features many items typicaly served such as Eggs, Potatoes, Bacon, Sausage with Rice, and Toast with Preserves. Cereal included Rolled Oats and Toasted Cornflakes. White Star Line Logo appears on the Top Center.
Passenger Class: Not stated but presumed to be Third Class / Tourist
Provenance: Unknown Passenger onboard the RMS Celtic of the White Star Line on a westbound voyage that departed from Liverpool and arrived in New York on July 13, 1919. Received from the Victoria University Library, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. July 2012.
Resolution: 1200 PPI/DPI
File Format: Tiff
Compression: None
Color: RGB/8
Size: 4980 x 7502 PX
File Size: 106 MB
Scanned by: Paul K. Gjenvick, 29 July 2012 on Mustek Flatbed Scanner
Location: GGA Box SOL-A1 | Vintage Menus | Breakfast
Image Dirivatives Created:
Note: All Dirivatives are 150 DPI JPEG High Qualtiy (60%), optimized and enhanced using Photoshop
Full-Size: 615 x 930 PX, 84.1 KB, MenuCard.jpg
Variants:
- 500 x 756 PX, 58.9 KB, MenuCard-500.jpg
- 250 x 378 PX, 19.2 KB, MenuCard-250.jpg
Thumbnail: Use 250 x 378 PX
