French Transatlantique Lunch Menu: Imprimerie Transatlantique, 1959

Title: Au Clair De La Lune Author: Imprimerie Transatlantique Date: Sunday October 11, 1959 Condition: Excellent - some age related toing, all else fine Inches: 9 1/2 x 13 3/8 [Paper] Centimeters: 24.13 x 33.97 [Paper] Product ID: 308744 An attractive large-format French Line luncheon menu from the SS Liberté, dated Sunday, 11 October 1959, titled Au Clair de la Lune and printed by Imprimerie Transatlantique in Paris, with a delightful Jean A. Mercier cover illustration of a masked Pierrot or harlequin holding a candlestick at a blue-shuttered window, peering toward a pale figure inside, all set against a moonlit façade and framed within the line’s characteristic double green border. Opening to a fully bilingual French–English layout, the sheet presents an extensive midday bill of fare—hors-d’oeuvre, soups, eggs, fish, entrées, vegetables, pastas, grillades, cold buffet, salads, cheeses, entremets, compote, fresh fruits, beverages and wines—elegantly arranged around the "Paquebot “Liberté” crest beneath scripted “Déjeuner / Luncheon” headings. The verso continues the chanson theme with a printed musical score and complete French lyrics for the traditional song Au Clair de la Lune, accompanied at the foot by a vignette of quill and candlestick, exemplifying CGT’s mid-century practice of pairing beloved popular songs and Mercier’s whimsical artwork with its first-class dining ephemera. Background on the Compagnie Générale Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, commonly known as the French Line, was a major French shipping company founded in 1855 by brothers Émile and Isaac Pereire under the name Compagnie Générale Maritime, originally chartered by the French government to carry mail, passengers, and cargo across the Atlantic. Renamed Compagnie Générale Transatlantique in 1861, the line developed a prestigious fleet of steamships and later great ocean liners—culminating in famous vessels such as France and Normandie—that symbolized French technological ambition and Art Deco elegance on the North Atlantic route between Le Havre and New York. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries CGT expanded rapidly, operating dozens of passenger and freight ships and becoming an important instrument of French commercial and cultural presence abroad. By the postwar era, when your 1959 Liberté menu was issued, the company was firmly identified with refined onboard service, distinctive red-and-black funnels, and richly designed printed ephemera that helped make transatlantic travel an extension of French hospitality and style.