Totem Pole Dinner Menu

The cover of this menu says “Monument Valley,” but the spire in the painting is a specific formation known as the Totem Pole. While it is far from obvious in the painting, it measures a full 381-feet tall. The photograph below indicates is also isn’t as isolated from other rocks as the painting would suggest.

Click image to download a 585-KB PDF of this menu.

The painting is by Gerald C. Delano, who also did a painting of Indian ponies featured on another Santa Fe menu. The menu itself is for an unspecified train and has a code “8-11-1.” Since the prices are similar to a Santa Fe menu coded 10-11-50, and the prices on the two menus are similar, I interpret this one to mean August 11, 1951. The Texas Compound has the same cover on a 1952 menu.


The Totem Pole next to another formation called Yei-Bi-Chei. Photo by Frank Kovalchek.


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