The American Menu

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...

New York City 1901-1912 By the late 1890s, the neighborhood surrounding Madison Square Park had lost some of its luster. After being the ce...

New York City, 1903 In the nineteenth century, Europeans visiting the United States were fascinated by how quickly Americans ate their meals...

New York City & Chicago 1904-1911 In the early twentieth century, there was a growing awareness that exercise and diet played an ...

New York City,  1903-04 The Laurel was one of only a few vegetarian restaurants in New York at the turn of the last century. Techni...

Iowa, Kansas, New Jersey & New York The major happenings of 1885 involved large things—the Statue of Liberty arrived from France; th...

Washington, D.C. & San Francisco Christmas, 1890 Two menus from Christmas Day in 1890 reflect regional differences in cuisine at a...

San Francisco,  1940 Working from drawings of ordinary restaurants in New York, Edward Hopper painted Tables for Ladies in his stud...

Philadelphia,  1854    This November is the 329th anniversary of the landing of William Penn. Today, a statue of the entrepreneurial...

Chicago, 1900 “ …The works of religion and charity have everywhere been manifest. Our country through all its extent has been blessed ...