Very cool! I found the NY Public Library’s collection, but didn’t know about this one. I wonder how many hours I can lose down that rabbit hole? 
It’s been a while since I, myself, wasted hours there! 
But I seem to recall the LA site being more extensive than the New York one, although it has a bigger emphasis on west coast eateries. There are also menus from ships.
The prices on those old menus never cease to amaze me. The Armstrong-Schroder was considered an expensive, upscale restaurant!
Good one! Not much jellied soup or drumsticks on menus anymore.
I saw this 1951 menu this morning.
https://old.reddit.com/r/VintageMenus/comments/1900vog/jacques_french_restaurant_900_n_michigan_ave/
Perhaps they were only sold in the test market I was living in at the time (Pittsfield, MA), but back around 1975-76, Kentucky Fried Chicken sold beef ribs. They were huge, meaty, fatty hunks of beef with a barbeque sauce that has stayed in my taste memory for 30 years and counting. Required lots of wet-naps. They served the meals like their chicken: in white and red boxes with styrofoam cups of peppery mashed potatoes and gravy and cole slaw. And don’t forget the spork! My mouth still waters when I think of those ribs.
I hesitate to say this, but 1975-76 is almost 50 years ago now.
Well, that was a quote from someone else i quoted, but yeah, I loved those ribs, but I think I ate them in the late 1970s.
Speaking of fine hotels, no one is really doing Waldorf salads anymore (without checking, I would guess maybe the Waldorf Astoria still has it on the menu just because they invented it).
I wouldn’t say the Waldorf salad is my favorite exactly, but it is a retro food that deserves mention in this thread.
Apples, celery, walnuts, grapes, in a mayonnaise sauce! 
Good call. I love me some Waldorf Salad.
My mother always made her Waldorf salad with mini marshmallows and tinned mandarin oranges (in addition to the ingredients listed above).
I understand that a Waldorf salad may be had at Fawly Towers in Torquay, but not easily! 
I think I’ve seen chicken salad with the Waldorf components sold at nicer grab & go grocery coolers. Possibly minus the grapes which might be too wet.
Salmon Croquettes. When we would make the 8 hour drive to visit, my grandmother always had these hot delicious croquettes waiting for us. An indelible part of my childhood. I’ve never bought nor cooked with canned salmon, but would dearly love to taste that delicacy again.
If you’re looking for old menus from old places, you cannot go wrong with “reddit vintage menus”:
https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageMenus/
All kinds of menus from all kinds of places covering all kinds of cuisines, including railway dining cars and steamship lines. Surprising how many dishes have been forgotten; with others still existing, but hard to believe they could be as inexpensive as they were. Ah my gosh, when was the last time you saw a martini for 60c on a menu?
Aside to @wolfpup : do a search in there on “Toronto,” and you recognize a lot of well-known old Toronto places. Ed’s Warehouse, the Imperial Room, Crock ‘n’ Block, the Corkscrew—if you’ve been in Toronto for years (as I was), these should bring back a lot of memories, even if you never ate there.
Thanks for that, @Spoons. There’s some great stuff there I haven’t seen before. I’m sure that, if travelling in a Pennsylvania Railroad dining car in 1894, I would have greatly enjoyed the “jowls with spinage”!
There’s something inexplicably time-travel-ish about seeing images of those old menus. Now all I need to do is become a zillionaire and invent a time machine and see what that stuff actually tasted like. I bet many of us would be quite surprised, and not necessarily in a pleasant way.
For instance, I present here – for probably about the tenth time on this board (I don’t claim originality!) the Gallery of Regrettable Foods from our collective past. I would particularly draw your attention to “Eww La La: French Cuisine” which is possibly even more disgusting than the 50s trend of putting everything in Jello.
For those who may not have explored this treasure trove, after “Eww La La” I especially recommend “Aunt Jenny’s Real-Life Stories”, featuring the life-changing qualities of “Spry” brand lard.
Clown pickles.
Love the Gallery of Regrettable Foods—my Mom actually had a copy of the 10 PM Cook Book!
How … in the fuck … I mean, the logistics alone …
Beef ribs are about 8 inches long, sometimes longer; that’s the length of my forearm.
I’ve never used canned salmon, either, but I like to pan-sear me a skin-on salmon fillet sometimes, and if I gorge myself on enough crispy skin, I get too full to eat all the fishy goodness, and … well … the next day, ya just need a bit of mashed potatoes (instant from flakes works fine for this) and breadcrumbs for a crunchy coating, plus one egg to bind them all.
Gently mix the fish with the egg and 'taters, and maybe a bit of poultry seasoning (really!) or Old Bay or what have you, depending on how salty the salmon was originally prepared, and then mush into thick discs. Roll/pat with breadcrumbs.
Helps a lot if you let the patties sit in the fridge for a bit, maybe between 10 minutes and half an hour or so - they’ll hold together better.
Shallow fry in not too much oil, flipping very gently, and you’ll have your beloved croquettes again.
actually last year I ordered it shipped from Commanders Palace in New Orleans, where it’s featured. Don’t know if any NYC restaurants still offer it
I don’t know where you live but Croquettes are quite common here in Midwest (St Louis), usuallly for breakfast