The American Menu

Time 2020-11-04 11:04:11

Web Name: The American Menu

WebSite: http://www.theamericanmenu.com

ID:104606

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Savannah, Georgia 1896-1907 The message inscribed on the back of this postcard from the De Soto Hotel in Savannah, Georgia closes with the exclamation, Plenty sight-seeing! Unfortunately, the guest did not mention what he or she had seen in 1907 that prompted the enthusiasm. Tourist sights change over time based on the evolving interests and needs of visitors. A menu from this hotel provides a clue, revealing at least one of the local attractions at the turn of the last century. Washington, D.C., 1859 One of the last glittering events of the antebellum era occurred in February of 1859 when a ball was held for British ambassador Francis Napier and his wife.1 The ballroom at Willards Hotel was festooned with flags and adorned with portraits of George Washington and Queen Victoria for the occasion. At midnight, a curtain was raised to the adjoining dining room where almost a dozen sugar sculptures decorated the buffet tables. However, there was some question about the quality of the food, at least according to the correspondent from the New York Times who reported it was an intolerably bad supper, intolerably ill served For journalists who wanted to hail the ball as a triumph, describing the problematic supper would require a fair amount of artistic license. Americans had become sensitive to the negative perception held by many Europeans about the eating habits in the United States. The Washington Evening Star put a positive spin on this gastronomic inferiority complex, reporting the supper and wines were upon a scale of magnificence rarely seen at such an entertainment on this side of the Atlantic. One publication employed so much hyperbole that it unwittingly articulated a new way to define the national cuisine. The South and West April 14 May 15, 1891 In the spring of 1891, two years after being in office, President Benjamin Harrison embarked on a month-long political tour by rail through the South to the West Coast.1, 2 He was accompanied by First Lady Caroline Harrison, their daughter Mrs. Mary McKee, Postmaster General John Wanamaker, Secretary of Agriculture Jeremiah Rusk, and eleven other close officials and family members.3 Thirty-one menus from the train convey the length and rhythm of this unprecedented journey through numerous states, some of which had only recently entered the Union.4 New York City, 1905 John W. Gates (1855-1911) was a steel magnate, financier, and gambler. He became widely known as Bet-a-Million Gates after falsely claiming to have bet a million dollars on a horse race in England. Nevertheless, he did gamble large amounts and would bet on practically everything. From 1894 onwards, Gates maintained a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel where he conducted high-stakes poker parties and baccarat games. A hotel account book shows that the storied capitalist and his wife were in residence on Christmas in 1905 when they hosted two dinners. Oddly, the cost of the meals was not recorded. The Waldorf Hotel was built with women in mind. Proprietor George Bolt s wife, Louise, was herself a hôtelière who supervised its interior design, adding homey touches she thought would appeal to women. Astonishingly, when the Waldorf Hotel opened in 1893, it did not have a bar, then a male sanctuary at such establishments. The hostelry finally acquired one in 1897 when it was connected to the Astor Hotel and renamed the Waldorf-Astoria. One of the most popular features of the enormous hotel was its crystalline Palm Garden which proved to be an ideal setting for the latest customs of lunching out and having afternoon tea. What is more, the management tried to create a hospitable environment for women. In addition to employing the standard rule that the customer is always right, the staff was instructed to never speak abruptly to a woman guest nor be indifferent to her complaints. 1 An account book from the social season of 1905-1906 shows the hotel was successful in attracting all manner of women s groups, including Sorosis, the first professional women s club in the United States. A look at three of their luncheons reveals the degree to which the hotel wanted to retain the business of this prestigious association. This manuscript account book bearing a typed label reading Property of Mr. Oscar recently came to market. The 300-page volume is written in the hand of Oscar Tschirky, the famed maître ďhôtel at the Waldorf-Astoria. It contains the particulars of private events at the hotel from mid-December 1905 to mid-May 1906, including the date, organization, number of guests, bill of fare, and cost. The manner in which the name is expressed on the cover and its worn condition indicates the culinary staff may have referred to it as part of their daily routine. My first step in processing this wealth of social information was simply to compare the entries for two dinners with menus already in the collection. Novelist Gertrude Stein returned to the United States in 1934 after a 30-year absence. While crisscrossing the country on a speaking tour, the celebrated Parisian expatriate visited Oakland to see the farm she grew up on and the house where she once lived. After learning that her childhood home had been razed and the farmland developed, Stein famously wrote there is no there there. The significant places in California that helped define her no longer existed. The Stein family had moved to Oakland in 1880, when she was six, and lived for the first year at the Tubbs Hotel. Situated just east of Lake Merritt, the 200-room hostelry had some prominent guests in its day.1 Former president Ulysses S. Grant and his wife dined there in 1879 while on the final leg of their trip around the world. And author Robert Louis Stevenson stayed at the Tubbs Hotel from March to April 1880, the same year the Stein family was in residence. Nevertheless, a table d hôte menu from the period reveals that it was a middling establishment where the meals were basically the same as those at other hotels in its class. Indeed, there was no there in the dining rooms of American hotels where the standardized cuisine reflected few regional influences. Menus generally first appeared in the United States in the late 1830s. They came into being with the earliest hotels and restaurants, and at a time when service à la russe the serving of dishes in courses rather than all at once was growing in popularity. For the first time, diners were granted choice and anticipation.Menus aid our cultural memory. They provide unwitting historical evidence not only of what people were eating, but what they were doing and with whom they were doing it; who they were trying to be; and what they valued. Deciphering the story behind a particular menu often requires great sleuth-work. That s what I'll be undertaking on this website.My collection of menus illustrates American history and culture beginning from the mid-19th century. It contains bills of fare from a wide variety of venues, ranging from restaurants and hotels to private organizations, military units, steamships, and trains. From the start, the menu has been an art form. Some were beautifully crafted by printers or high-society stationers to celebrate special events. Others simply expressed the whimsy of everyday life. Even when saved as personal souvenirs, menus were frequently discarded by subsequent generations for whom they had no special meaning. As with other types of ephemera, one aspect of their appeal lies within the notion of their improbable survival. Collecting menus reflects my interest in American history and culture, including the social and food customs of everyday life. I am a member of the Grolier Club, Ephemera Society of America, and Delaware Bibliophiles. You can contact me at Henry.B.Voigt [at] gmail.comView my complete profileThe Café MartinNew York City 1901-1912 By the late 1890s, the neighborhood surrounding Madison Square Park had lost some of its luster. After being th...Rector sNew York City, 1899-1919 Rector s is one of the most important restaurants in American social history. Established on Broadway at t...Ma, Ma, Where s My Pa?New York City 1884 Two national political conventions were held in Chicago during the summer of 1884. In June, the Republicans nominat...Ortolans Washington, D.C. New York City 1879 Ortolan is the French common name for a finch-like bunting that is a native of Europe and...

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