Collectors savor the flavor of old menus

Reprinted in part from “Press of Atlantic City”

Question: My parents traveled frequently and enjoyed collecting restaurant menus. The large menu cover I photographed is empty, but a list of “Russian Specialties” appears on its back. I hope you can tell me what restaurant is related to the cover, and if old menus are valuable collectibles. – F.F, Linwood

Answer: The logo on your colorful menu cover identifies it as associated with New York City’s famed Russian Tea Room. Once advertised as standing “slightly to the left of Carnegie Hall,” the West 57th Street restaurant opened in 1927 as a chocolate shop and tea room where expatriate members of the Russian Imperial Ballet gathered.

A favorite haunt of New York high society and showbiz regulars from the mid-1950s through the 1980s – Madonna worked there as a coat-check clerk in 1982 – the Gotham landmark’s crimson banquettes, samovar collection and 15-foot acrylic bear aquarium still dazzle patrons.

Classified as ephemera, antique and vintage menus are found in small, specialized collections as well as the huge New York Public Library assemblage of more than 25,000 pieces. Menus associated with cruise ships, railroad dining cars, renowned restaurants and special feasts such as Presidential dinners are very collectible, as are examples autographed by celebrities or signed by artists who designed the covers. Prices range from $15 for a vintage ocean liner menu to $35,000 for a Mets Diamond Club bill of fare signed by Joe DiMaggio. Other important factors related to value are cover art and condition.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.

Tom
Have a look at my eBay Ephemera site
or have a look at my eBay Auction sites

Technorati tags: Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, Russian Tea Room

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