Menu Collection, Part One: Las Vegas
Published June 5th, 2006 in Oddities, Treasure Tags: Kitsch, Photos, Print.
Back when I was very small, my parents would sometimes put me down in my grandparents’ den while they continued to socialize late into the night. As I lay there, chairs propped up against the couch to keep me from dropping to the floor, I would gaze with fascination at all the menus that covered the walls of the room. From these wall, I gained my first inkling of the exciting world awaiting me in adulthood.
My grandparents were fairly typical middle-class lifestylers of the period. They had all the standard bourgeois trappings of “the good life” — the tacky faux-opulent drapes, carpeting, furniture, table settings, etc. that bespoke of “quality” and gracious leisure. They had “Jokes For The John” in the guest bathroom. They even had a “Guest Register For The John,” where their friends would scrawl such hilarious commentary as “nice place you have here” and “hated to leave.”
It’s a shame that so much of that stuff was lost over the years. But who knew from kitsch back then? As my grandparents proceeded from retirement to convalescence and finally to the grave, most of their possessions were dispersed along the way. But their large collection of menus from the sixties was something I ways kept track of. When they died, I claimed the collection, wrapped it up, and put it away.
Over a decade and a half has passed, and I recently pulled the collection out of storage to have a look at it again. While they still hold strong personal significance to me, what also strikes me about many of these menus is their striking beauty and elegant simplicity. They are marvelous souvenirs of an exciting, multi-faceted world of entertainment opportunity that was already extinct by the time I reached adulthood.
In short, they are the kinds of cultural artifacts that blogs were made for. To start our exhibit in Las Vegas is merely a no-brainer, since Vegas is the original Disneyland of dining for grownups. Since so many of that city’s classic casinos are gone now, it’s almost a miracle that both the Sahara and the Tropicana still stand (though for how much longer is a matter of speculation). But while the Sahara embraces its history, the Tropicana seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
23 Responses to “Menu Collection, Part One: Las Vegas”
- 1 Trackback on Jun 13th, 2006 at 6:09 am
- 2 Pingback on Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Those are pretty cool.
Some of them would make great t-shirt designs. Talk about loungwear.
Those are vintage “Lounge”.
That era in Vegas is an interesting time to me, and things such as this bring me there. I have an album called “Ultra-Lounge” that functions as a virtual time capsule as well. The cover is immitation Leopard skin. The imagery of the illustrations, and even the font of the liner notes provide a strong visual, and of course there is the music.
“Oceans 11″ on DVD (the original of course, from 1960) also does the trick. It was expertly re-mastered for DVD a few years ago, and is the colors are so vivid (especially compared to the grainy condition of the flick before re-mastering), it’s amazing.
For some reason I love to read menus, not just old ones, but even new ones for pizza places. I often find jammed under my wihdsheild wiper blades when I park in some mall. Those Vegas ones were a good read. There is a website devoted to old menus. I don’t know the exact address but fellow menu lovers will certainly be able to find it…
Grandparents are always good for giving cool stuff. My grandparents gave me old newspapers of historic events like walking on the moon and Nixon resigning. That sparked an interest in me to colect papers from historical events as they happen.
I’ve got those too. I’ve got Kennedy assassination ones as well.
The best online (and vintage) menu resource that I am aware of is the Los Angeles Public Library’s Regional History Collection.
Be amazed: http://www.lapl.org/resources/en/menu_collection.html
(I just performed a quick search and found “The Burger that Ate L.A.”! http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/fullsize/j/rb03078-01.jpg)
Nice!
I have some cool California menus as well; I’ll have to see if they’re in this collection.
Another great online menu collection is at the New York Public Library Site at:
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/grd/resguides/menus/
I occasionally use historic menus as triggers for my blog food history stories - but I am more interested in the food content than the design elements!
I’m glad you featured this ephemera. Old paper is often under-appreciated. I feature similar ephemera on my blog at http://www.ephemera.typepad.com
I enjoy your blog and thought this was a very cool post. Thanks for featuring it.
These are some classic designs. Vegas seems to be loosing some of it’s charm these days now the corporations have taken over.
I have an ashtray with that Sahara logo on it. My parents stole it when they were young and I’ve had that image in my head since early childhood. Smoking accessories — always cool.
This site is fantastic.
Gracias!
I have a set of Desert Inn menus from the early 50’s. There are 8 of them in what is called the Desert Flower Collection. I have all 8 covers. I’m looking to get more info on them and was wondering if anyone was aware of a method of contacting a collectors group or any type of organization that could help me value them.
Thanks
RB
I have aquired an old menu of Vic Damone’s. There is no address, city or any other information on it. I can not find any information about that restaraunt anywhere. Any info would be appriciated.
The neon museum loves anything that displays vintage signs.
Hey- I just found your site by some google searching….I am getting married in November. The reception is going to be held at a Casino in the midwest. I was thinking of trying pull of the 1960’s casino lounge feel (not too over the top) and I am looking for photos of tables for ideas of how what kind of centerpieces to use. I was thinking I could find some sort of lamps where I could put those rechargable candle lights with votives for a real “loungey” feel. I have photos of the space if you have some ideas. I was also thinking about surprising the guests with an Elvis impersonator and let him sing a few songs…thoughts?
I’m not expert on lounge culture, but I’ve been to a wedding or two. My advise to you is to do as little as you can to distract your guests’ attention from the bride.
If anyone is interested, I have a collection of 4000 menus dating from 1752 to the present. In addition, I ahve the opoening day Flamingo and the re-opening the following year. We are going to sell the entire collection at one of the large auction houses this summer. If you are looking for anything intersting we may have it and would be willing to break the piece out of the collection for the right price.
I have a box of menus collected by my parents in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.many of them are in excellent condition. Is there a market for menus? I would like to sell them.’
Thanks.
I have hundreds of menus from around the country, going back 30 some years.
Remember when coffee cost 20 Cents?
Remember when a hamburger cost 40 cents?
I have those.
Who’s interested?
Thanx
Hi, I have an incredible collection of 240 antique menus and I´d like to sell them. Are from:
Mexico City
New York
Paris
London
Ships
Trains
Europe
Most of thems are 1930´s if you are interested in them please contact me by mail or you can call me at: (+5255)55258050 in Mexico City. Thank you