We’ve seen this menu before with a red background and blue and white illustrations of dinnerware. CN also had one with a black background and red and white illustrations. Today’s menu is undated, but I estimate these menus were issued in around 1970.

Click image to download a 666-KB PDF of this menu.

The red menu was used on a full diner, but this one says it was used on a dinette. Both had entrées that could be purchased either a la carte or table d’hôte (meaning it included an appetizer, dessert, and beverage). The dining car menu had five entrées while the dinette has only four. Upgrading from a la carte to table d’hôte Today’s menu cost $1.10 on the dinette menu but $1.45 on the dining car menu. Entrée prices in the dining car were higher too: halibut steak with potatoes and peas was $3.65 while filet of sole with potatoes and carrots on the dinette menu was $3.00. Multiply prices by 6 to get today’s U.S. dollars.

The dining car menu has roast rib of beef with baked potato and peas for $5.45. The dinette menu has roast rib of beef with mashed potatoes and green beans for $4.40. Is a baked potato really worth an extra dollar? Everything else was also a little more expensive in the diner, from soup (50¢ vs. 40¢) to pie (65¢ vs. 55¢). I suspect the real difference was the dining car had cloth tablecloths and napkins and heavy dinnerware and utensils while the dinette had paper placemats and lightweight, possibly even disposable, dinnerware. An alternative explanation is the red menu came out later and the higher prices are due to inflation, but I lean towards the cloth vs. paper explanation.