Ship Steward's Handbook

Ship Steward's Handbook by Trayner, J J. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781844860562.

This charming little handbook was first published in the 1950s as an aid for stewards entering the Merchant Navy. It contained notes on the necessary etiquette and skills required to serve passengers on the great ocean liners of the day, whether in first class or the emerging tourist class. Packed with all sorts of fascinating facts, tips and hints and supported by diagrammatic drawings of table settings from breakfast to dinner, this will appeal not only to former ship stewards reminiscing on days gone by, but also to anyone who is part of the burgeoning cruise industry, where people can still enjoy this level of service. Cookery historians will also find much of interest in the menus of the time that are listed together with the handy glossary of French terms at the back of the book. Finally, this is also the book for anyone who ever wondered how to get a drinking glass clean and smudge free: Glasses should be washed in warm water, rinsed in cold, dried with a linen cloth (linen does not leave fluff on the glass in the same way as cotton). or correctly uncork and serve a bottle of champagne. Its nostalgic impact is further reinforced by the inclusion of the adverts that appeared in the first edition, from Sun-Pat peanuts to Old Charlie Rum.