1937 Southern Pacific Menu

This is the first in a series of menus that feature a silhouette of some scene along the SP. The menu cover is narrower than page three so a colored stripe on the righthand side of page three that designates the meal appears when folded.

Click image to download a 1.0-MB PDF of this menu.

Unfortunately, I don’t recognize the silhouette on this cover. Most likely it is meant to represent Guaymas, Mexico, where the SP owned the Hotel Playa de Cortes. But it could be somewhere in southern California such as Laguna Beach or Catalina Island.


Comments

1937 Southern Pacific Menu — 3 Comments

  1. You have it right. It’s Guaymas. Hotel Playa de Cortes was laid out in the shadow of Tetakawi Mountain, an isolated peak across the entrance to the harbor. I assume the buildings to the left are supposed to represent the town of Guaymas with the hotel on the hillside. The town is built at the edge of the cliffs that surround the bay. It has a lot of artistic license but it’s still recognizable (to me) as Guaymas.

  2. Check the codes. S-1-E likely reads as Train Name-# of Meal-Direction of Train, as like in Sunset Limited-First Meal Out-Eastbound (Espee trains are always east or west, never north or south). The image on the cover will reflect the territority being passed through, likely the coastline south of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles in this case. The one you listed as Shasta is coded for the Pacific Limited, I believe a heavyweight train in 1937?

  3. Looked at all the menus..looks like Espee might have had a master list to interpret the codes. Some diners were entrained the entire distance, but some were cut-out at intermediate points and returned home on another train. Codes allowed for menus to be re-used and placed with the correct meal being served. The system employed here is not clear enough to interpret even though “S-1-letter” seems to be consistent.

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