It was rescued by a first-class passenger
A menu from the last first-class lunch served aboard the RMS Titanic sold for $88,000 at a Sept. 30th online auction. The menu exceeded the auction house’s expectations by selling for $18,000 more than the maximum price of $70,000.
The artifact was rescued from the ship by Abraham Lincoln Salomon, a New York businessman, according to the Associated Press.
Salomon was among a small number of first-class passengers who climbed aboard a lifeboat that was later nicknamed the “Money Boat” or “Millionaire’s Boat” by press due to baseless rumors that one of the passengers bribed crew members to row away from the sinking ship rather than stay to rescue others.
The menu lists an abundance of dishes—like grilled mutton chops and custard pudding—that were available for passengers to eat on April 14, 1912, and is signed on the back in pencil by another first-class passenger, Isaac Gerald Frauenthal.
The New York auction house listed the item for sale from an unidentified person who it said was a descendent of one of the survivors of the boat. The menu sold to a private collector.
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