This engraving, like the first Forty-Niner menu presented here a few days ago, is by AndrĂ© Castaigne. Like the previous one, it is dated 1891 and was probably used in Century magazine. Click image to download a 832-KB PDF of … Continue reading
Category Archives: Southern Pacific
The engraving on today’s cover is by Hugo Nahl, who was born in Germany in 1833 and, along with his brother Charles, were considered California’s first major artists. Their parents must have been the first hippies: Charles was the son … Continue reading
Today’s menu features an engraving by Harry Davidson (1858-1924), an artist who was well-known enough to rate an obituary in the New York Times. Born in Philadelphia, he lived most of his live in New York where he was also … Continue reading
As previously noted here, the Forty-Niner was a heavyweight train run to handle first-class passengers during the 1939 and 1940 Golden Gate Exposition. This is one of a series of menus, all of which have notable engravings on the covers, … Continue reading
Unlike most menus in this series with black-and-white photos on the covers, this one’s cover photo didn’t wrap around to the back. Instead, the front cover shows a scene outside of Mexico City while the back cover photo shows a … Continue reading
With a 1935 date, this is the oldest menu I’ve found in this series of Southern Pacific black-and-white photo menus (the newest I have are from 1939). Every menu I’ve found in this series was used for a special tour … Continue reading
This isn’t really railroad memorabilia: the cover says “with compliments of the Southern Pacific,” but it wasn’t published by the railroad. In fact, it doesn’t say who it was published by, but there is a large ad on the back … Continue reading
The Californian was the local counterpart to the Golden State Limited on the Rock Island-Southern Pacific route between Chicago and Los Angeles. It began operating in 1910, was cancelled in 1930 due to the Depression, then was revived in 1937 … Continue reading
Like yesterday’s cover, this menu cover showing the “fountain of phantom arches” exaggerates the gold and yellow colors of the subject matter. Known as the Tower of the Sun, the tall building in the background was the centerpiece of the … Continue reading
In 1939, Southern Pacific issued a series of menus advertising the Golden Gate International Exposition, which was held on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. This menu features a large statue called “Pacifica,” which was meant to symbolize the connections … Continue reading