On the menu

"On the menu" blog banner

Detail of a vintage menu showing bottles and drinking glasses

 We’ve mentioned our ever-expanding collection of vintage cookery books in previous blog posts.

1960s BOAC drinks menu 1960s BOAC drinks menu

detail from 1960s BOAC drinks menu

An offshoot of this collection consists of a number vintage menus.

1950s Porterhouse steakhouse menu from our collection of vintage menus

detail of 1950s Porterhouse menu

menu items from the 1950 Porterhouse menu

detail of 1950s Porterhouse menu cover

It’s interesting to peruse the dishes on offer… in fact, it’s made us feel quite hungry writing this post.

detail of KLM menu illustration by Otto Dicke depicting a girl in traditional Dutch costume

KLM menu illustration by Otto Dicke depicting girls in traditional Dutch costume KLM menu illustration by Otto Dicke depicting a girl in traditional Dutch costume

KLM in-flight menu items

However, it’s the period graphics, fonts & illustrations that we really look out for.

1960s Polish Ocean Lines menu

detail from 1960s Polish Ocean Lines menu cover

menu items on the Polish Ocean Lines dinner menu

detail from 1960s Polish Ocean Lines menu cover

Some of the artwork is stunning – and the menus themselves are very frameable.

1960s/70 Trattoria menu

selection of dishes from 1960s/70 Trattoria menu

detail from 1960s/70s trattoria menu

We have menus from restaurants, bars, airlines and cruise ships.

1950s/60s KLM trans-Atlantic menu

flight plan on 1950s/60s KLM trans-Atlantic menu

detail from 1950s/60s KLM menu cover

Due to their ephemeral nature, interesting examples are often quite hard to get hold of.

1960s Trans-World Airlines London flight menu

detail from Trans-World Airways London flight menu

…but we enjoy the hunt!

7 thoughts on “On the menu

  1. Hi Jess & Courtney,

    Thank you both for your lovely comments! This post took a long time because of all the images… but the next one to come will have even more – so keep an eye out!

  2. I love all of them!! The graphics are fab and I love old menus and cookbooks cos it's so nice reading what food was "en vogue" back then, much heartier nosh than now!

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