A few years ago I was at one of my favourite antique stores and stumbled up on this really cool vintage menu for a restaurant in Toronto, called ‘The Flamingo’ (photo below). I just loved the imagery on the front and of course the food menu inside was a blast to browse (see inside at end of post).
The memory of this vintage find has inspired today’s post on Vintage Menu’s from the 1920’s-1960’s.
Let’s begin!
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Vintage Lunch / Dinner & Cocktail Menus
1920’s -1960’s
‘The Savoy, London 1923’ (Lady with Pearls), a private luncheon menu shared by a group of American friends on a European tour. Beautifully designed with a period motif, they were probably kept by one of the guests as a souvenir and brought back to the US (Source).
About:
The Savoy was London’s first luxury hotel and was opened in 1889 by theatre impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte. It was an immediate success thanks to innovations such as electricity, hot and cold running water and bathrooms in the lavishly furnished rooms and suites. More important than these modern amenities, however, was the refined and elegant atmosphere created by general manager Cesar Ritz and French chef Auguste Escoffier. Wealthy patrons, including royalty, flocked to the hotel for its superb levels of service and dining.
Even after Ritz and Escoffier left, The Savoy remained a high society favorite and was on the radar of many rich and self-made American visitors.
The Savoy remains one of London’s luxury hotels and is now owned by The Fairmont Group (Source).
Source: Vintage Menu Art – (FANTASTIC WEBSITE! Check them out!)
1934 drink menu from Terrace Garden Morrison Hotel Chicago, printed just a year after the end of Prohibition!
About:
The Terrace Garden at Chicago’s Morrison Hotel, the world’s tallest hotel for thirty years, which stood (until its demolition in 1965) at the corner of Madison and Clark Streets in the Loop. The building, which was designed by Marshall & Fox, was built in 1915. It was expanded in 1918 and 1925. The hotel had 1800 rooms in 1931, and the Terrace Casino (an important Big Band venue) opened in 1936, and the building was the headquarters of the Cook County Democratic Machine starting in 1932. The building was sold in 1937 and its name was changed to the Hotel Chicagoan. The 60-story First National Bank Building now occupies the former hotel site.
The imported champagnes listed in the menu have dates ranging from 1921 to 1928. The Bordeaux wines date from 1926-1928, and the Burgundys from 1923-1928. There is an Italian wine from 1929, and an Anjou from 1923. The Rhine wines date from 1926-1931, and the Moselles from 1929-1931. Also listed are Cordials, sweet wines, Cocktails, Apertifs, Sours, Rickeys, Mixed Drinks, Cobblers, Flips, Toddies, Fizzes, Punches, Smashes, Juleps, Whiskies, Scotch, Canadian, and Irish Whiskies, Gins, Rums, Cognacs, Ales, Beers, Ginger ale, Still and Sparkling Waters, and Iced Beverages (Source).
Source: Etsy
1940’s menu for “Sarasota Lido” in Florida. Fantastic late 1930s / early 1940s beach fashions on display on the cover.
About:
The iconic Sarasota Lido was situated on two acres of the city’s Lido Beach and opened amid great fanfare in 1940.
Designed by architect Ralph Twitchell as one of Florida’s Works Progress Administration projects (WPA employed millions of job-seekers to carry out public works projects, by Presidential Order) there was a pool, a ballroom, casino, cabanas and a bandstand. A balcony, fronted by iconic sea horses, was its most famous symbol.
By the late 1950s the property was aging. Despite attempts to raise money to restore it back to its glory days, the Lido was razed in 1964 (Source).
Liz Note: This hotel is so cool with lots of awesome photos, that I think I need to do a seperate blog post. So stay tuned!
Source: Vintage Menu Art
Jeff La Hurd, writing on jacksonville.com in 2018, describes it beautifully.
‘It stood on the beach as an architectural gem, as blindingly white as the surrounding sand. Designed by Ralph Twitchell, considered the dean of what became known as the Sarasota School of Architecture, it provided a unique Art Deco playground, a multifaceted recreational haven that became the hub for all manner of events in Sarasota: political rallies, dining, drinking and dancing, proms, club meetings, sporting events, beauty pageants — everything.
‘If you visited there as a child, you remember splashing in the shallow round wading pool; as a teenager the AAU size swimming pool with its high and low diving boards, and snack bar; as an adult the Low Tide Bar & Grill, or dancing in the Casa Marina Lounge to the music of popular bandleader, Rudy Bundy and his “sizzling clarinet.”
‘The second-floor balcony with its stoic sea horses (seen below) starring in the distance provided the perfect spot to sit and watch the goings on below.
The Casino was situated on two acres of property with 1,300 feet of beach frontage. Its presence all the more the striking because it stood nearly alone on the entire beach; the only other nearby building, the two-story Lido Beach Hotel that was barged there in sections by Sam Gumpertz in 1932.’ (Source).
“The Sugar Bowl -Amersterdam NY”. “Soda-Luncheon & Bowling. Open till the wee hours of the morning”. 1940s Menu.
Source: eBay
El Rancho Diner Menu, Las Vegas, 1946.
About:
El Rancho was the first casino resort on the Strip in Las Vegas and was established in 1941. Its Western theme was considered the height of sophistication at the time and was duplicated throughout the resort’s dining establishments.
It boasted of a “carefree atmosphere” where you could have a “vacation chuck full of Western charm of Sun-Lazing, Horseback-Riding and Casino Thrills”. The resorts slogan was “Stop at the Sign of the Windmill.”
El Rancho burned down in 1960 (Source).
FURTHER READING: Vintage Las Vegas Photos 1940s-1960s
This post World War II era menu, complete with a cowgirl on the front cover, has a prime rib dinner for the handsome sum of $2, spaghetti Caruso named in honor of the famous Italian tenor for $1.50 and coffee at ten cents.
Source: Vintage Menu Art
Glendale House Black Cocktail Menu, Indianapolis 1950s. Cool Mid Century Art.
Glendale House 1950’s Cocktail Menu List – “Pimm’s Cup: Coolest Drink in Town”.
Source: Vintage Menu Art
This vintage menu cover makes me laugh! ‘Shrimp in Shorts, St Regis Restaurant, New Orleans‘, 1950s.
“Selected Shrimp, peeled to their shorts for dunking”
About:
This great menu is from the St Regis restaurant on Airline Highway five miles from downtown New Orleans (Source).
Source: Vintage Menu Art
Milk’s Restaurant, on Fremont Street Las Vegas 1950s/1960s.
About:
Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas is located in the heart of the casino corridor and is named in honor of explorer John Charles Fremont. It was, or is, the address of many famous casinos such as The Golden Nugget, The Mint, The Pioneer, Golden Gate Hotel and Casino and Binion’s Horseshoe.
It was also the location for Milk’s restaurant which looks like it was fun place, judging from the whimsical illustrations on the interior menu (next photo) and phrases like “Our Reputation is Eaten Not Written” and the dish for dieters entitled the “Waist Away plate” (Source).
What fun illustrations of people having a blast at ‘Milk’s’. I want to go here! Especially with prices like 10 cents for coffee and 75 cents for Bob’s special hamburger.
Source: Vintage Menu Art
1953 Eaton’s Restaurant Lunch Menu – Colorado Boulevard Santa Anita.
Source: eBay
I love Tiki bars, and Tiki drinks (and everything that goes with that love), so seeing this cool 1960’s menu from ‘Tiki Bob’s’ in San Francisco, makes me wish I had a time machine.
About:
Tiki Bob’s restaurant and bar was opened in San Francisco in 1955 by entrepreneur Bob Bryant, who had previously worked for Trader Vic’s. At the time – the mid-20th century – America was in the grip of a Tiki obsession, created after US soldiers stationed in the South Pacific during WWII returned home with tales of exotic island culture.
The tiki that was created for Tiki Bob’s, greeting guests as they entered the establishment, was different. Whimsical and charming, it had been given a friendly and mid-century modern twist by its creator Alec Yuill-Thornton (1917-1986).
The Tiki craze died out as America embraced The Swinging Sixties but Tiki Bob’s remained open at the corner of Post and Taylor Streets until 1983. Successive businesses left the Tiki Bob’s in but did not give this icon the care it deserved. Through the ensuing decades, it was painted different colors, and someone even gave it a pair of spectacles.
That changed when Tiki fans and preservationists Heather David, Martin Cate and Donald Harvey restored Tiki Bob to glory in 2019. The friendly Tiki remains a San Francisco landmark and, in this new wave of appreciation for the Tiki aesthetic, is a focal point for Tiki fans who travel to the city by the bay to see this wonderful relic (Source).
Source: Vintage Menu Art
As a Lindy Hopper (swing dancer) this menu while not particularly interesting to look at, it does have the best name…’Lindy’s‘ and loads of 1950’s cocktails & drinks to chose from.
Source: eBay
To end this post, here is the inside of the “Flamingo” the vintage menu in my collection. Yummy choices!
Now that was fun post to put together and I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry all of a sudden. Ha!
I hope you enjoyed browsing these vintage menus. Please share what your favourite ones were in the comments section or any other cool things you wish to talk about. I love hearing from my readers!
Thanks for dropping by!
Further Reading:
- How to Host a Vintage Cocktail Party
- Vintage Advertising 1920s-1960s (Archived blog posts)
Liz