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Take the Red Star Line home with you

De Loods (The Shed) was the name of the old baggage shed. Today it is the entrance to the Red Star Line Museum. You can enter De Loods for free. It is open one hour later than the museum itself. It houses an attractive museum café and a museum shop. You can also look at the temporary photography exhibition. De Loods is a great place to relax before or after visiting the museum. You can also pop in if you are in the neighbourhood.

Do you want a bit of the Red Star Line to take home? No problem! A world of irresistible gadgets awaits you in the museum shop: vintage posters and postcards, pens and paper, books about the history of the Red Star Line and its passengers, souvenirs for young and old, and lovely items from the ‘Cleaned and Disinfected by the Red Star Line’ collection, which includes a perfume inspired by the voyages of the Belgenland II. 

Red Star Line stories

Red Star Line. Antwerp. 1873-1934

The book tells the history of the Red Star Line based on 14 essays; it's illustrated with fascinating records and beautiful photographs. Cultural journalist Eric Rinckhout and history professor Eric Vanhaute and others make valuable contributions to the fascinating history of the legendary shipping company, with the red star in its flag, that brought more than two million emigrants, adventurers and fortune-seekers from Antwerp to America.

The Red Star Line Museum. Millions of people with one dream

The museum guide summarises the different themes that are covered in the Red Star Line Museum. Thanks to Robert Vervoort’s fascination with the Red Star Line (and thanks to his passion for collecting) the museum has an extensive collection of Red Star Line artefacts. Several of them are presented in the book. Red Star Line passengers play an important role in the museum. The guide also presents the personal stories of famous and less famous Red Star Line passengers. Benjamin Kop, Basia Cohen, Ita Moel, Reinhold Liebau, Eugeen Venesoen, Irene Bobelijn and Irving Berlin all tell their stories.

Red Star Line Museum. In the Footsteps of the Emigrants. 

RED STAR LINE MUSEUM. In the Footsteps of the Emigrants bundles 10 powerful stories from the Red Star Line Museum. This publication is your guide through the rich collection of stories that the Red Star Line Museum has gathered.

Pens and paper

Nowadays, when we travel, we keep in touch with friends and family via Facebook, twitter or e-mail. Long-distance travellers often write a blog about their adventures. Red Star Line passengers wrote letters and postcards to their friends and families at home or kept a journal. Old postcards were illustrated beautifully by ‘maritime’ illustrator Henri Cassiers or by other artists in the Art Nouveau movement. The Red Star Line Museum offers a lovely selection of postcards that are suitable for every occasion. The museum also offers handy bureau accessories: diaries, calendars, notebooks, stationary, bookmarks, and more.

Your own belle époque poster

Publicity for the shipping company resulted in exquisite commercial printed matter. The posters were designed by the master poster-makers who were popular in Belgium at that time. Henri Cassiers, who also designed a majority of the picture postcards, is one of the most famous poster artists from the belle époque. The printed matter emphasises the link with Antwerp: an image of the harbour of Antwerp, sometimes in combination with the skyline of New York, was very popular. Reproductions are available in different sizes from the museum shop.

Cleaned and disinfected

Before they boarded, passengers had to bath and their baggage was disinfected. Disinfected baggage and goods were wrapped in brown paper and stamped with “Cleaned and disinfected by Red Star Line”. This ‘label’ inspired the museum to create its own ‘line’ of Red Star Line products: from soap and linen to kitchen towels.

I am going on a trip and I am taking with me ...

Red Star Line passengers went on the voyage of their lives. In our museum shop you'll find a large assortment of travel requisites for your major voyage. The shop offers everything to spoil the globetrotter in you and the perfect gift for everyone who loves to travel.

For small sailors

We don't forget the small sailors. Items that can be used at school, a colouring book filled with ships, a snow globe, a bib and T-shirts. Fun souvenirs for little ones. Gifts ahoy!

To be displayed

A first-class journey on a Red Star Line ship was a 14-day adventure in great luxury. The museum shop offers cuff links, perfume and watches, all in the style of bygone days, to contemporary first-class travelers.

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