S S Europa 1932 German/English Menu Nord Deutscher Line Blue Riband Winner

This menu is for August 19th, 1932,  90 years ago. It is in very good condition for it's age. Some of the gold is cracked due to the fold. This likely happened when the initial crease was made, but through the years the crease has  rubbed against it's box. The front appears to be a copy of a painting. There is the signature R. Schmidt HBG and an inginia on the lower right I cannot make out. It is not the original work, but appears to be a print of one.

The menu inside is printed in both German on the left and English on the right as her passengers were generally German and American for the transatlantic voyages. When folded as shown, the menu measures approximately 6" x 10". when opened it is 10" x 12".

The SS Europa was an amazing ship. Here is a little of her history found at Wiki (more there with pics);

SS Europa, later SS Liberté,, was a German ocean liner built for the Nord Deutscher line (NDL) to work the transatlantic sea route. She and her sister ship, SS Bremen, were the two most advanced, high-speed steam turbine ocean vessels in their day, with both earning the Blue Riband. (Blue Ribbon).


After World War II French line Compagnie Generale Transatlantique  was awarded the Europa as a war prize to replace the destroyed SS Normandie, which had caught fire and capsized at her moorings while interned by the United States in New York City. Europa was refitted at Le Havre and rechristened the Liberté, serving until the arrival of the SS France in 1961 as the premier liner in the Compagnie's fleet. She was laid up in 1962 and scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, in 1963.


Europa was built in 1929 with her sister ship SS Bremen to be the second 50,000–gross ton North German Lloyd liner. They both were powered with advanced high-speed steam turbine engines and were built with a bulbous bow entry and a low streamlined profile.


Europa and her slightly larger sister ship were designed to have a cruising speed of 27.5 knots,, allowing an Atlantic crossing time of 5 days. This enabled Norddeutsche Lloyd to run regular weekly crossings with two ships, an operation that previously required three.


The launching of Europa took place at Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg, on Wednesday, August 15, 1928. Europa was intended to be completed in spring 1929. However, on the morning of 26 March 1929, a fire broke out while still at the equipment dock. The fire raged all day long and it was not until the evening when the fire was under control. The ship's turbines were damaged heavily and also the remainder of the ship had been significantly damaged. After long discussions between builder and shipping company, it was decided to repair the ship. Within eleven months the ship was finished and completed on February 22, 1930. The cause of the fire has never been clearly identified.


Blue Riband

Europa made her maiden voyage to New York on 19 March 1930 taking the westbound Blue Riband from SS Bremen with the average speed of 27.91 knots and a crossing time of 4 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes. During the voyage many of her passengers were disturbed by the soot coming out of Europa's low funnels. The problem was corrected by raising the funnels by 15 feet, though decreasing her low profile. After they were raised, there were no more complaints. She held the Riband until Bremen recaptured it in June 1933.


Aircraft

Like Bremen, Europa had a small seaplane launched from a catapult on her upper deck between the funnels. The airplane flew from the ship to a landing at the seaplane port in Blexen. 

The catapult was removed from both Bremen and Europa after a few years of service.


Although this is light enough to be sent First Class, I am shipping in a flat rate envelope Priority Mail. This is due to a few factors. 1) Priority Mail seems to be treated better. I have marked DO NOT BEND on items shipped First Class but they do wind up bent sometimes. I have not had that problem with Priority. 2) Priority also carries insurance should something happen to it in transport. It will still be marked DO NOT BEND.