RMS Majestic was the flagship luxury ocean liner for British shipping company White Star Line. She was originally launched in 1914 as the SS Bismarck under German owners and was the largest ship in the world at the time at 56,551 tons.

Following WW1, she was handed over by her German builders to the allies as war reparations and in 1922 was placed on the North Atlantic run from Southampton in England to New York.

She reached New York in five days, 14 hours and 45 minutes at an average speed of 22.69 knots and no pier in the US city was long enough to take her, so her stern projected into the Hudson River.

The roaring 20s was a profitable time for the Majestic which had been kitted out like a luxury hotel with luxurious cabins and lavish public rooms. There was also basic third class accommodation below decks for immigrants.

The Great Depression struck in 1929 and the number of people who could afford trips on luxury liners plummeted. This was also the Prohibition era (1920 –1933) when the sale and manufacture of alcohol in the United States was forbidden.

RMS Majestic adapted and alternated between Atlantic crossings and ‘cruises to nowhere’ – usually Halifax, Nova Scotia - lasting four or five days to allow its American passengers to imbibe alcohol out of territorial waters.

This 1932 menu depicting a glamorous lady pirate in swashbuckling boots on the cover may have come from one of these cruises. The interior details a full program of music and dance and a selection of midnight snacks. The artist was T.J. Bond who created a number of White Star menu covers.

RMS Majestic’s final crossing was in February 1936, after which she was sold for scrap.