We’ve already seen a 1956 version of this 1954 menu, which I photographed at the Minnesota History Center. The cover shows the International Peace Arch that was built in 1921 on the border between the United States and Canada a short distance from the Great Northern line. The arch was funded by Sam Hill, James J. Hill’s son-in-law, who for a time was an executive of the Great Northern but gave it up (along with his wife) to move to Washington.
Click image to download a 562-KB PDF of this menu.
The menu itself offers plate dinners with soup or juice, entrée, salad, vegetables, bread, dessert, and beverage. The entrées included fish, roast meat, lamb chops, and chicken pie, with prices ranging from $2.00 to $2.50 (multiply by nine to approximate today’s dollars). For $1.50, a variety of entrées were available including fish, tongue, and omelet with vegetable, bread, dessert, and beverage. The a la carte side offered several sandwiches, salads, and other items.
In the 1950s, the streamlined Internationals operated three times a day in each direction. The morning trains arrived at their terminus before lunch time; the afternoon trains went between lunch and dinner; while the evening trains went around dinner time. So this is probably a dinner menu, but the 24-seat café might have been open for people who were hungry at other times as well.