The quality of food served on board transatlantic ships was an important draw for passengers. For early Victorian steerage passengers, food was inedible or non-existent, and even first class passengers like Charles Dickens complained about food that was tasteless or mouldy.

By the end of the Victorian era, accommodation and catering had greatly improved on board transatlantic liners. White Star's Oceanic, Adriatic and Baltic all boasted smart first- and second-class dining saloons, along with good wholesome food for steerage passengers. New ships built for the Hamburg-Amerika line also included exclusive 'Ritz' restaurants aimed at the seriously wealthy, matching the quality of the very finest restaurants in London, Paris and New York.

First Class Dining Saloon, RMS Oceanic

Dinner and Dance-Iceberg! >Dining on the Titanic

With the new White Star liners Olympic and Titanic, White Star once again raised the bar for the competition. Ritz restaurants and French style cafés joined first, second and third class dining saloons, and White Star's president, Bruce Ismay influenced significant improvements in catering for, and in the diet of, steerage passengers.

Activities for the Classroom

Children might research:

• Food and conditions on board ship for steerage passengers in the early nineteenth century


• How perishable foods can be preserved without refrigeration.


• What difference did the introduction of steamships make to food and conditions on board ship?


• What improvements did refrigeration make?


• How healthy was the Late Victorian/Edwardian diet?

During the days of sail, crew and passengers suffered from various ailments ranging from scurvy to food poisoning, as food made to last many weeks lost its freshness and began to decay. Drying, pickling and salting were traditional ways of preserving food, and lemon and lime juice were introduced by the Navy to prevent scurvy. Perishable foods were also packed in ice.

Children could explore ways of keeping food cool without refrigeration. During the nineteenth century, transporting fresh water ice by sea from New England to Europe, and even India, became a profitable business. Children could explore methods of insulating and stacking ice so it melts less quickly

Because steamships greatly reduced the Atlantic crossing time, food did not have to last as long. Along with the introduction of refrigeration, this made a marked difference to the diets and choices offered to passengers. Olympic and Titanic had separate refrigerators for meat, fish, fruit, eggs, vegetables and dairy products, along with separate cold storage for wine, etc.

First, second and third class menus are preserved from the Titanic. These provide fascinating opportunities for children to discover what people ate during the Titanic era.

Opportunities for discussion

• Are vegetarian choices available? Why do you think this is?

First Class Menu

Dinner and Dance-The Iceberg! >First Class
Dinner and Dance-The Iceberg! >First Class Menu

Eleven separate courses were served, including dessert. The menu offered one thick soup and a clear soup, and one fish course. The fifth course was called the remove and was a roast course. This is the course children are most likely to recognise

Activities for the Classroom

Look at the first class menu.

• From the menu choose: a) a soup b) a fish course c) a sweet

• What language are the following foods written in? a) Hors d'Oevre b) Consommé c) Vinaigrette d) Ėclairs

• The meal began with hors d'oevres followed by oysters. Oysters were measured in quarts (two pints = one quart). The Titanic had 1221 quarts of oysters on board. Find out how many first class passengers were on board the Titanic, and calculate the quantity of oysters per passenger.

• Find out what a Squab is

• There are eleven course altogether. Smartly dressed waiters served each guest lots of different courses from big silver plates called platters. Do you think guests a) ate everything? b) ate just a little of everything? c) missed out some courses?

• Choose two courses you would like to eat

Second Class Menu

Dinner and Dance-The Iceberg! >Second Class

Food served in the second-class dining saloon of the Titanic and Olympic was as good if not better than first class on other transatlantic ships.

The meal begins with a savoury consommé with tapioca floating in it. If this seems strange to us, think what Edwardians might have thought of clear soup with noodles! The second-class menu might be more familiar to children as it is more like one found in a modern restaurant.
American ice cream is served instead of French ice cream. French ice cream is richer, as egg yolks are added.

Activities for the Classroom
Look at the Second Class Menu

• Choose one main dish and one dessert
• If you were having Christmas dinner, what main course and sweet might you choose from this menu?
• In the first class menu, French ice cream is served. In the second-class menu, American ice cream. Find out the difference.

Third Class Menu

Dinner and Dance-The Iceberg! >Third Class
Dinner and Dance-The Iceberg! >Third Class Menu

The third class meals for the day appeared on one menu card. Second and third class menus were postcard size, and the backs were divided with spaces for stamp, address and a short message. This was good advertising for the White Star Line.

Third class fare included cabin biscuits. These were rather like modern crackers, and were said to help with seasickness.

Activities for the Classroom
Look at the Third Class Menu

• Create menu postcards telling relatives about the food on board Titanic
• Choose three things from the breakfast menu you might like to eat
• Choose two things that seem strange to eat for breakfast
• Find out what cabin biscuits are
• What sweet also appears on the second-class menu?
• What are the healthy options on the third-class menu?
• Look again at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class menus. Which menu do you think is the least healthy?

Activities for the Classroom

Dinner on the Titanic
Every year on April 14, people remember the Titanic tragedy by preparing and sitting down to a meal based on the final dinner prepared on the ship. Children could recreate some elements of this in the classroom

a) Who will you invite? Send out handwritten invitations to your guests
b) What do you expect your guests to wear?
c) Decide what will be on the menu. How many courses will be served?
d) Make menu cards and place cards. Don't forget to include the White Star flag!
e) How will you set the tables? Decorate the tables with fruit and flowers
f) A bugler played as a signal for passengers to get ready for dinner Dinner and Dance>Roast Beef. What music will you play?
g) Will musicians play during the meal? Make a playlist for the musicians