This 1948 menu for an unspecified train suggests that the end of the war allowed Southern Pacific to offer a greater variety of meals. The table d’hôte side has six different entrées (compared with just three in a 1944 menu), including shrimp a la creole, veal, lamb casserole, and Southern style chicken stew. The a la carte side has sirloin steak, lamb chops, ham, ox tongue, and many more entrées and side dishes.
Click image to download a 1.7-MB PDF of this menu.
With the end of price controls, prices were significantly higher than in 1944 even after adjusting for inflation. The a la carte steak was $2.75 (more than $28 in today’s dollars) as compared with $1.75 (about $25 today) on yesterday’s Lark menu.
The back of this menu has an advertisement showing a farmer purportedly viewing Southern Pacific as “my business partner.” Given the many decades of hostility between farmers and the “Octopus” — the name of a 1901 novel by Frank Norris castigating Southern Pacific for overcharging farmers and sometimes violently reacting to farmer protests — the friendly attitude described in this ad is unlikely.