This is not exactly a photo but rather the photo of a sepia poster that I saw in the Ballinstadt Museum in Hamburg.
At the turn of the 20th century, transporting immigrants to the New World had become a very lucrative business and competition was fierce between the different European ports. Therefore each company advertized its service to lure potential customers. This poster is part of a campaign by the Hamburg America Line to attract Jewish travelers.
In fact this company was the only one to offer kosher meals to the Jewish passengers both before they set off (as pictured here) and on board. It probably helped that the general director of the company, Albert Ballin, was Jewish.The food was supervized by a local rabbi and 3,000 meals could be served within one hour. However the plates and dishes were not put on a tablecloth but directly on the table. The tablecloth here seems to have been used solely for the purpose of the advert.
For sepia shots from all over the world, visit Sepia Scenes.
That’s very interesting.
I also find it poignant that these lucky people (assuming that they were real potential US immigrants and not just staged for the photo) inadvertantly saved themselves and their offspring from a very dubious fate not too many years later.
I am looking for my relatives in that photo. I have many relatives who made the trip.
I rather enjoy the composition, especially with the image in an image context. The sepia highlights the tones.
I like the humanistic aspect of this, if the individuals weren’t posed.
Thanks for the bit of history behind the photo, also.
Thans for sharing a bit history. Suitable post for sepia and different. Like it!
A somehow bittersweet glimpse of a bygone period in our human history. I can’t think of anything comparable that exists today.
Yes, a bit of history in our world ..
Lovely photo of the photo:)
I like this sepia picture – interesting.
http://foto.rudenius.se/post/2010/08/10/Sepia-Scenes-95.aspx
I think this is a real sepia color. And I also wonder and I hope that many made it. Happy Wednesday!
SepiaScene~Welcome
What an exquisite photo.
Very nostalgic. Great shot.
That is a great picture! It was true back then that the transatlantic passenger ships really made their money on steerage class passengers, not the rich passengers. A good meal before the crossing was probably the only good and tasty food they would eat until they landed in New York and got settled. Great history, perfect in sepia!
I never thought about kosher food and the immigrants. But, it is logical that there would be. What a challenging trip it was!
How interesting that the tablecloth was used just for the photo. Hmmm. It’s amazing they could feed so many people in such a short time!
What an interesting piece of history you’ve shared. The photo is intriguing. We wonder if the passengers had to pose..
Great picture. I always wondered how they ate and what.
ilana, great shot! Serving 3000 meals in an hour… Wow!
A real sepia picture!
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