French Line CGT SS Île de France Luncheon Menu du Mercredi 21 Avril 1937

Description

French Line CGT SS Île de France Luncheon Menu du Mercredi 21 Avril 1937
Rare find from a legendary ship.
Fabulous menu from the SS Ile de France dated Wednesday April 21, 1937. A few age spots and wear to be expected for an antique piece of card stock. A bit of damage at top and bottom of fold. See scans and photos.
It will be sent in an archival envelope with archival mat board backing. The mat board is 11 x 14, the only size I have. If you would like a matching mat that displays a single page of the menu, please ask. Considering the menu has a lovely front, back and insides, you may prefer to have it professionally framed so both sides can be viewed. My 11 x 14 cut mat will not work for that.
The
SS Île de France
was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. The ship was the first major ocean liner built after the conclusion of World War I, and was the first liner ever to be decorated entirely with designs associated with the Art Deco style. She was neither the largest ship nor the fastest, but was considered the most beautifully decorated built by CGT.
Her fitting-out period followed the opening of the Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes of 1925, which in turn gave birth to the term “Art Deco” and greatly inspired the Ile de France’s décor. Jean Dunand, Rodier, Jules, Leleu, Le Bucheron, Dupin, Janniot and Pierre Patou were just a few of an army of French artisans who were commissioned to decorate her magnificent interiors.
On June 22, 1927 the
Île de France
traveled from Le Havre for its maiden voyage to
New York.
Upon its arrival in New York it received great attention from the American media and thousands of people crowded the docks just to see the new ship.
She had a devoted following with a passenger list read like a Who’s Who of European aristocracy, of politics, business, sports and the Hollywood set. Among its passengers of note: Lena Horne, Rita Hayworth, Cary Grant, Maurice Chevalier and Prince Rainer of Monaco.
A few of her other amenities included a chapel, executed in a Gothic style with fourteen pillars and a seating capacity of 100; a shooting gallery, a sixty car garage, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley, childrens merry-go-round, a 350 seat film theater, as well as a state of the art gymnasium.
While in New York in September of 1939 war broke out and the Ile de France was laid up in Staten Island. The following September 1940 she was put on loan to the British Admiralty, stripped of her beautiful interiors and refitted with 9,706 berths, she ready for wartime duty as a troop carrier. She was loaded with 12,000 tons of water materials, submarine oil, tanks, shells and several uncrated bombers which were stowed on the open aft decks.
Five years later in 1945, War over, the Ile de France reverted to French control, but now under Cunard management. She served another year as a troop and repatriation ship before being returned to the French Line in February 1946. She was sent back to Saint Nazire for a two-year overhaul, begun in 1947. The most noticeable change was in her exterior appearance. Her Three original funnels were replaced by two new streamlined versions. Her cabin configuration was also designed and modernized though out. The Ile de France was practically a new ship. In 1949, she resumed her original service from Le Havre-New York, proving to be just as popular as before the war. In 1956, one of the most exciting highlights of her career came seven years later with her participation of the rescue of 753 passengers from the ill fated Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria in a six-hour rescue operation.
By the fall of 1958 jet travel, old age and economics finally caught up with the Ile de France. She had served on the Atlantic run for thirty-one years. The French Line quietly sold her to a Japanese scrapping company on February 16,1959.
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