Menu Collection
Call Number: MG-339
1 box 6 folders .25 cubic ft.
Repository: LancasterHistory (Organization); PV7
Shelving Location: Archives South, Side 8
Scope and Content Note: Menus of local restaurants dating from the mid-nineteenth century show changes in fare and the price of meals. Some menus have tourist or historical information.
Creators: LancasterHistory (Organization)
Conditions for Access: No restrictions.
Conditions Governing Reproductions: Collection may not be photocopied. Please contact Research Staff or Archives Staff with questions.
Language: English, German
Source of Acquisition: Menus were collected by the Lancaster County Historical Society and LancasterHistory unless otherwise noted at the item level.
Folder 1
Insert 1 Hotel Brunswick, Lancaster
Card showing daily fare and specials for each day of the week, in English and German. “Pennsylvania Dutch dishes served on days specified.” Paul Heine, manager. Image on front by Howard Imhoff. On back: “Loading for Market” with explanation. Yorkcraft—2312. 1949.
Snacks ‘n’ Sweets featuring “Chicken in the Rough,” “Bull in the Pen,” and Mr. Five by Five.” Items listed in English and German. Paul L. H. Heine, manager. (2 copies) 1949.
Yonnie’s Pennsylvania Dutch Week Ends and Favorite Foods. Shows daily fare and specials for each day of the week, in English and German. Days of the week are indicated as wash day, ironing day, etc. Information about the “Plain People” and “High Spots of All-Expense Tour.” Paul L. H. Heine, manager. 1952.
Today’s Delicious Desserts and Fountain Drinks. 27 September 1952.
Menu of Chef Horn’s dinners. Brunswick Hotel’s King Cole Coffee Shop, English Grill, Pennsylvania Dutch Room, Baron Stiegel Room, and George Ross Room. 13 October 1952.
Menu of Chef Horn’s luncheons. Brunswick Hotel’s King Cole Coffee Shop, English Grill, Pennsylvania Dutch Room, Baron Stiegel Room, and George Ross Room. 22 October 1952.
Insert 2
Dinner menu, Merchants’ Hotel, Philadelphia. Shows hours for gentlemen’s ordinary and ladies’ ordinary. Wine. Shows times for trains and mail. 31 July 1857.
Souvenir menu, 1874-1963, The Stevens House. “At the crossroads of American history.” [1963].
Insert 3 Menu Cards
American House, Lancaster. John H. Ridenour, proprietor. 30 December 1898.
City Hotel, Lancaster. H. R. Commings, proprietor. 19 December 1898.
City Hotel, Lancaster. H. R. Commings, proprietor. 30 December 1898.
Hoster’s Café, Lancaster. Formerly Copeland’s. Entrée is calf liver. No date.
Hoster’s Café, Lancaster. Formerly Copeland’s. Entrée is fried oysters. No date.
Insert 4
Hoar House, Lancaster. The origin of the name is explained on the back. (2 copies) No date.
The Kandy Korner, Lancaster. Lunch, sundaes, beverages. Menu printed by Landis Art Press. [1935].
The Kandy Korner. Corner of Chestnut St. and Duke St., Lancaster. “Your headquarters for fresh candies, confections, cigars, cigarettes, daily and Sunday newspapers, delicatessen products.” Served Pensupreme ice cream and milk from Rohrer’s Med-O-Farms Dairy. No date. Gift of Barbara Breneman, in memory of Robert Posey Breneman, Sr., 12 April 2014.
Insert 5
The Village, 28-34 East Chestnut St., Lancaster. “Lancaster’s leading restaurant.” With a menu of specials for 29 May 1939. Contains a map of the county and points of interest. Gift of Debby Spence, 20 August 2003.
The Village, 28-34 East Chestnut St., Lancaster. “Nationally famous.” Contains a map of the county and points of interest. ca. 1940s/1950s. Gift of Roe Huddy, December 2016.
Folder 2 All items in this folder were transferred from the York County Heritage Trust, 11 October 2007.
Insert 1 Hupper’s Confectionery, Lancaster. Ice cream, sodas, and sundaes. No date.
Insert 2 Colonial Tea Room, Marietta. Mrs. George R. Naylor, manager. “The banquet may be large or small, It matters not, we serve them all.” Printed by The Bulletin, Mount Joy. Soups, sandwiches, steaks, eggs, oysters, vegetables, sundaes, desserts. Also advertising “best brands of cigars and cigarettes.” No date.
Insert 3 Two menus for Bucher’s Central Drug Store, The Rexall Store, Columbia. Fountain menu with sodas, sandwiches, sundaes, specials, and Breyers ice cream. “A full line of Liggetts’ and Whitman’s candies.” No date.
Folder 3 All items in this folder are a gift of Jay M. Eberly, 13 April 2009.
Hotel Willows Restaurant, four miles east of Lancaster on the Lincoln Highway. Specials (pinned to menu) include Southern Chicken Pie, Ham Platter and Turkey Platter. With Wine List. No date.
Smitty’s, Lancaster. Sandwiches, steak, oysters, beer, cigars, cigarettes and candy. “2 floor shows, dancing every night.” Serving Olde Lancaster Quality Brews, Steinhaus Beer and Sylvan View Dairy products. Ads for other local businesses. [1938].
Miesse Restaurant, Lancaster. Sandwiches, salads, appetizers, pastries, sundaes, and fountain drinks. [1943]. Postcard from A. C. McLoon & Co., Rockland, Maine, for Maine lobsters. 1937.
Whelan’s, Lancaster. Sandwiches, sundaes, fountain drinks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. No date. United-Whelan, Lancaster. Lunch menu. 1941.
Jane Louise Grill, Lancaster. Sandwiches, fountain drinks, seafood, steak, salads, waffles, spaghetti, omelettes and sundaes. No date.
Folder 4 Ye Village Restaurant and Hotel, Terre Hill. Harry E. Althouse, owner and manager. “Serving the very finest food to the very finest people…our patrons.” Menu cover furnished by Earl C. Groce, Harrisburg. The restaurant was owned by Harry E. (d.1977) and Lillian M. (d.2010) Althouse from 1947 to 1977. No date. (some mold damage) Gift of Gary Hawbaker, 2011.
Folder 5 Souvenir menu from the Hilltop Hotel, 1 mile north of Columbia on Old Route 441, Klinesville, PA. Bill Strube, proprietor. No date. Gift of David Heckman, 29 September 2018.
Folder 6 Hupper’s menu. “Hupper’s candy and ice cream, traditionally… flavor at its finest!” Includes dessert and lunch items. 1950s. Gift of Suzanne M. Kohler, 7 February 2019.