The American Menu

S.S. Liberté,  1959  The great luxury liners were never more glamorous and exciting than on the day of departure. As passengers arrive...

Neuilly-sur-Seine , 1915-1917  A hundred years ago this week, Serbian nationalists assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria-Hung...

New York City,  1858  In October 1857, philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote about a chance encounter with a nearby farmer who was twi...

New York City,  1890s  When eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon asked her father in 1897 whether Santa Claus really existed, he suggested...

U.S.S. Helena,  1906  The chronology of holiday menus from the U.S.S. Wilmington begs the question as to what the sailors in the Asia...

U.S.S. Wilmington ,  1906-1918 Caught in a storm off the coast of Luzon on the night of December 20, 1915, the U.S.S. Wilmington rol...

New York City,  1869-1881  Antonio Savori a chieved some degree of notoriety during his lifetime. He was perhaps best known for the c...

New York City,  1869-1881  Despite the onslaught of a severe depression, Antonio Sivori got a job in early 1874 as the steward of t...

New York City,  1869-1881  By June 1872, Antonio Sivori was the proprietor of St. Mark’s Restaurant at 27th Street and Broadway, situa...

New York City,  1869-1881  One morning last spring, while combing through a box of old menus, I stumbled across a lost chapter of Amer...