Mess Halls and Ward Rooms, 1880s to 1950s features New Books in the Library on Food at Sea.
View the compartments of an Indiana-class Battleship from the late 1800s,in an illustration in The American Steel Navy by John Doughty Alden, showing five decks with most of the over 200 storerooms, and the gunnery which doubled as the mess hall in some ships. Images of kitchens, both on deck and in a dedicated compartment, ships’ cooks preparing beef stew and potatoes, and advice given by recipe books from the mid-twentieth century highlight new additions to the Library on food in the U.S. Navy and on merchant ships. Now through August, 2013.
More new books in the Library.
Three intriguing new books in the Library have details about mess halls on ships during World War II and much earlier. Collingham’s “The Taste of War” offers a new look at strategies and battles, how food, or the lack of it, persuades history. Purchase a book, “Beef Stew for 2500” by Rudy Shappee in the Sea Chest Gift Shop.