This month, our Librarian Peter Harley has chosen a Patriotic Dinner menu as his Item of the Month.
This folded card is printed in red, blue, and gold, and has two Union flags on the front alongside ‘God Save The Queen!’. The Queen in question, given the date of the dinner is 12th June 1900, is of course Queen Victoria.
The dinner is of course honorific, as HM Queen Victoria was not sitting down to dinner in Littleport’s Public Hall in person.
What’s for dinner, Ma’am?
Opening the card, you find a sumptuous feast was laid on for attendees consisting of many courses including a choice of roast sirloin beef, haunch mutton, hind quarter of lamb or Spring chickens, with new potatoes, asparagus and cauliflower. That’s followed by a choice of gooseberry tart, jellies, or blancmange.
Claret, cheese, bottled ales and other desserts were available.
There was a toast list, with toasts in hierarchical order of HM The Queen, the Army and Navy, Littleport town and trade, and visitors.
Would Queen Victoria have been ‘amused’ with this menu? The 80 year old Queen would go on to reign until her death 7 months later.
This card was printed by Littleport’s Printer and Publisher William Charles Barber of Victoria Street.
Latest acquisitions
Amongst our latest acquisitions, we have also received:
- Photograph of Heygates shop assistants (Ref: LS-1992)
- Photograph of the war memorial clock at The Oddfellows Hall, Littleport (Ref: LS-1927)
- Wicker carpet beater (Ref: LS2026.0069)
- Littleport Spitfire Fund rug from 1940s
- Bridal Trousseau (Ref: LS2026.0143)
