Today we have two Jasper Lodge menus showing the same photograph. While that sounds boring, it is always interested to compare the menus.

Click image to download a 343-KB PDF of this menu contributed by Brian Leiteritz.

The first is a 1953 lunch menu. It included eight entrées including haddock, chicken patty, pork tenderloin, and rump roast.

Click image to download a 537-KB PDF of this menu contributed by Brian Leiteritz.

The second is a dinner menu from 1958 that has seven entrées. I’ve noted before that these lodge menus usually offered a wider variety of entrées than dining cars, a fact that I attributed to the limited amount of storage space on dining cars.

However, it could also be because people normally spent no more than two or three days on a passenger train but might often spend a week or more at a resort such as Jasper. While the menus changed every day, they always consisted of two or three red meats, one or two fish, and one or two poultries, so more variety would have been called for to keep meals from being repetitious.