Vintage Menus: Part I (1955)

My mother and her family took a family trip during the summer of 1950, and at some point along the line, it was decided to save the menus from this trip. Rescued from a haul to the dump, these wonderful menus from restaurants and other eating establishments across the country are a unique view into the style and design of the 1950s. In our first segment, we will feature The 4-B's Cafe, The Domeliner of Portland, Carder's, Childs, and the Sheraton Cafe Cadillac.

The 4-B's Cafe, "Original Home of the Guaranteed Steak," was a staple of downtown Helena, Montana for over 30 years. Helena as She Was has a wonderful set of photos on their site.

The Domeliner of Portland was the name of the Union Pacific Railroad train that went from Seattle, Washington to Chicago, Illinois. Here we have the dining menu and the beverage service menu.

Carder's appears to have been a restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, though I can find no information about it. The menu is dated "Thursday, June 16, 1955".

Childs appears to have been a steak house in Boston, Massachusetts, though I can also find no information about it. I especially love the cover with the filet mignon -- looks better than Denny's, that's for sure!

The Sheraton Cafe Cadillac was located in the Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. This was undoubtedly acquired on the family trip to pick up their new Cadillac car.

I hope you enjoy these! Stay tuned for more! As always, click through for full-sized versions.

AGS Around the World Program: Series Overview (1950s)

Welcome to the series overview for the American Geographical Society's Around the World Program, a wonderful set of books published in the 1950s discussing various countries across the globe. How I acquired this set is discussed in my first post, but as I've now added all ten volumes in my possesion, it's now time to give all these posts a hub for the many links associated with these illustrations. From now on, this will be the starting point for the Around the World Program books, and should I acquire more, I'll add them here as well.

Summary: Book Covers
Summary: Title Pages

Illustrations: Belgian Congo (1958)
Illustrations: Burma (1959)
Illustrations: France (1956)
Illustrations: Iran (1958)
Illustrations: Malaya (1958)
Illustrations: Pakistan (1958)
Illustrations: Russia (1958)
Illustrations: Scandinavian Countries (1958)
Illustrations: Surinam (1958)
Illustrations: Virgin Islands (1958)

Batman LP Cover Illustrations (1966)

Like most kids, I group up on the staples of Batman and Superman from the DC Comics world. Once the TV show got popular, lots of bands recorded versions of Batman songs, and the "Dan and Dale" album from 1966 is one of the more memorable, especially in light of the fact that it was a studio album including member of Sun Ra and Al Cooper's bands. The original cover featured these five great illustrations -- I have no idea who did them -- but I thought they belonged here.

AGS Around the World Program: Book Covers (1950s)

Here's a round-up post of all the covers from the American Geographical Society Around the World Program books. Clearly done by the same illustrator, these covers unfortunately have no credit as to who did these magnificent maps. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these wonderful illustrations and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

AGS Around the World Program: Title Pages (1950s)

Here's a round-up post of all the title pages from the American Geographical Society Around the World Program books. Of the ten volumes that I own, only one doesn't have an illustration on the cover pages, the volume on Scandinavian Countries. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these wonderful illustrations and click through for full-sized images.

Postcards: Big Trees State Park (1950s)

I've spoken about postcards before, and this group is another one of those "looking-for-something-besides-what-Mom-is-looking-for" sets: five postcards of Big Trees State Park in Calaveras, California. I've always loved the colors on these cards -- I've tried to preserve the colors as much as possible and have not attempted any photoshopping of these images or any on the site. I hope you enjoy, and be sure to click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

AGS Around the World: Pakistan (1958)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful Lawrence B. Smith illustrations from the volume on Pakistan. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these orange illustrations and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Liberty Magazine: Vox Pop Illustrations (1939)

My uncle is a paint contractor in Port Townsend, Washington, and he is always being given "junk" from clients' old houses. These images are from a couple of old issues of Liberty, and the regular column "Vox Pop". I was going through them recently and these images just looked so special! I hope you enjoy, and be sure to click through for full-sized images. If you'd like to see dozens of other covers, be sure to visit Nostalgiaville at http://gono.com/ and check their giant gallery of Liberty covers.

 

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

AGS Around the World Program: Belgian Congo (1958)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful uncredited illustrations from the volume on Belgian Congo (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these red illustrations and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Postcards: Homes of the Stars (1950s)

When you are a kid tagging along with your mother to antique malls, it's nice when you can find something of your own to look out for, and one cheap way to get started is postcards. I found a batch of movie star home postcards -- I'm only guessing they are from the 1950s based on the people -- and I had them in frames for a while, but they just had to be scanned for the site. I've got some more in storage I think, so stay tuned for more, and be sure click through for full-sized images. Enjoy the homes of Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and Mickey Rooney.

AGS Around the World: France (1956)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful de Lattre illustrations from the volume on France. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these blue illustrations and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Sight-Reading Music Classes Ticket (1894)

This amazing little item has been saved for over 100 years -- why I'm not sure, if only to demonstrate the role of music in my family's history for many years. This belonged to my great grandmother on my father's-mother's side, and dates from 1894. I'm not sure where this comes from, but my data suggests Missouri. If you are not sure what exactly this is, it's a punch card for music lessons, specifically in the skill of sight reading (or playing music on first reading), and by the looks of it, she took eight lessons. I hope they helped!

 

  

AGS Around the World Program: Russia (1958)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful Don Sibley illustrations from the volume on Russia. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these red illustrations -- red illustrations for Russia, not too subtle -- and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Bob Marriott Band Posters (1930s)

My grandfather was a dance band musician starting in the early 1930s, and thankfully he was stalwart collector throughout his life. As I'm going through the many things he left behind, I'm finding how much I was like him. Many of the items you'll be finding her come from him and my other grandparents. Here are some wonderful posters and advertisements for some of his bands in the 1930s, most likely between 1932 and 1935. This is the first batch I turned up -- hoping to find more. Be sure to click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

 

AGS Around the World: Virgin Islands (1958)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful Don Sibley illustrations from the volume on The Virgin Islands. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these blue illustrations, and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

AGS Around the World Program: Scandinavian Countries (1958)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful Don Sibley and Georgette De Lattre illustrations from the volume on Scandinavian Countries (Sweden, Norway and Denmark). Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these blue illustrations, and click through for full-sized images.

Marvel Comics Superheroes Game Card (1978)

Does anyone out there remember the Marvel Comics Superheroes Card Game? I was pretty little when I got this, but basically it's "Old Maid" with Dr. Doom as the Old Maid. I played this quite a bit as a kid, and somehow it just got relegated to a shelf at my grandparents' house. When my grandmother passed away, I discovered it, and low and behold -- here it is for you. It is by far the most popular set of images I have on Flickr and a friend even used them in some cool videos he made. Be sure to click through for the whole collection of full-sized images.

Expo 86 Passport Book (1986)

When I was twelve, my whole family -- plus my uncle's family -- drove up to Vancouver, B.C. for a few days to attend Expo 86, the World Exposition on Transportation and Communication. It is the only World's Fair I have attended in my life, but I have such fond memories, mostly thanks to this wonderful passport book. I remember my brother and I hitting the stamp spots at every pavilion we could find. Many thanks for Draplin Design for sending some traffic our way on this. Be sure to click through for the whole collection on Flickr for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

AGS Around the World Program: Malaya (1958)

In my next edition of the American Geographical Society Around the World Program series, we will see the beautiful by Don Sibley illustrations from the vo