Here are two more menus from the Ira Silverman Collection. These were used on the Florida Special, a winter-only all-Pullman train (in contrast to the Champion that initially was coach-only but later added sleeping cars). Like the Champion, the Florida Special went from New York (over the Pennsylvania) to Jacksonville, continuing to Miami over the Florida East Coast with a section (in some years) going to Tampa.
Click image to download a 434-KB PDF of this menu.
First we have a breakfast menu showing speed boats in the cover photo. The cover also notes that 1963 was the Florida Special‘s 75th anniversary, having made its first run in 1888. (However, it didn’t run during some of the war years.) This menu offers the usual breakfast dishes; “North Carolina country ham and eggs” cost 25 cents more than regular ham and eggs, and hominy grits are also on the menu, but otherwise most items could be found on a dining car breakfast anywhere in the country.
Click image to download a 494-KB PDF of this menu.
Second we have a 1963 lunch menu. Like yesterday’s lunch menu, this one has four table d’hôte entrées and nine a la carte “suggestions,” all of which come with a beverage and some with side dishes. These include a hamburger, a turkey sandwich, Welsh rarebit, and several others, some of which were also on the a la carte side of the dinner menu. Most of these suggestions were on both menus, but a few are unique to this one, including a chef’s salad with ham, turkey, egg slices, and a fruit cup. Multiply prices by 8.5 to get today’s dollars.